Febbuaet 16, 1917] 



SCIENCE 



167 



they are academic rather than practical. They 

 will probably confuse the elementary student 

 and will not be of great help to the advanced 

 student. This painstaking analysis of the 

 subject, however, has resulted in an admirable 

 selection of material and an unusually logical 

 presentation. 



Mention should be made of the excellent 

 block diagrams, of which there are more than 

 100, and of the nimierous sections. Many of 

 these drawings are new and are of great value, 

 especially in the presentation of structural 



The typographical mistakes and occasional 

 slight errors in statement which seem impos- 

 sible to eliminate in a first edition will, 

 doubtless, be absent in the second printing. 

 Many who use the book will regret that 

 a fuller discussion of the plane table is not 

 given. 



The limp covers, small size and light weight 

 make this a convenient volume to carry about 

 in the field, and both students who have only 

 an elementary knowledge of geology and sea- 

 soned geologists will find the book a useful 

 field companion. 



Herdjian F. Clelanb 



"Williams College, 



WlLLLiMSTOWN, MASS. 



The Endocrine Organs. By E. A. Shafer. 



Longmans, Green and Company. London, 



1916. Pp. 156. 



The author has endeavored to compress into 

 this book a great number of observations con- 

 cerning the organs of internal secretion. He 

 has not published a bibliography, this task 

 having been recently performed by Biedl and 

 by Vincent. As each of the organs is taken 

 up the facts of its embryology and structure 

 are briefly presented. Then we have an ac- 

 count of the properties of the extract and of 

 the conditions produced by excessive and defi- 

 cient activity, ablation furnishing the limit- 

 ing case. There are well-chosen plates and 

 tracings to the number of 104. 



The attempt to read the chapters consecu- 

 tively results in an oppressive realization of 

 the magnitude of the subject. During the last 



few years emphasis has been increasingly upon 

 tbe reciprocal relations of the several organs. 

 As each may reinforce, oppose, or otherwise 

 modify the influence of every other, we have 

 here a number of possibilities which increases 

 according to the principle of permutations and 

 combinations. The writer of the book has not 

 neglected this aspect of the matter, but has 

 wisely restricted his discussion to the more 

 striking instances. His condensed account of 

 the work of hormones and chalones (excitants 

 and inhibitors) in the animal economy will 

 give any reader a wide, preliminary view of a 

 field the importance of which we are but just 

 coming to appreciate. 



P. G. Stiles 



RACE HYGIENE IN NORWAY 



The JSTorwegian government under the lead 

 of Professor Jon Alfred Mjoen, of Christiania, 

 well known for his researches in race hygiene, 

 and on the direct efl^ect of alcohol on the integ- 

 rity of germ cells, has under way a program 

 of Applied Eace Hygiene. As planned by Pro- 

 fessor Mjoen this will involve : 



a. negative race hygiene 

 Segregation, optional for feeble-minded, epi- 

 leptics and other individuals physically or men- 

 tally crippled, obligatory for drunkards, ha- 

 bitual criminals and professional beggars and 

 all who refuse to work. 



Sterilization. — Professor Mjoen is opposed 

 to compulsory sterilization. But for certain 

 types of crime, there is earnest need of con- 

 sidering methods of treatment more effective 

 than those now in use. 



B. POSITIVE RACE hygiene 



Biological Enlightenment. — The study of 

 race biology in school and university. The 

 development of an institute for genealogical 

 research. A state laboratory of race hygiene. 



Decentralization. — Colonization from con- 

 gested districts. 



A regressive tax and progressive wage sys- 

 tem in certain conditions. 



Maternity Insurance and other protective 

 measures for the welfare of the infant. 



