188 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. II. No. 33. 



editor. Among the more important topics 

 assigned to Professor Baldwin are Intelligence 

 and Heredity. 



The question whether a child is naturally 

 moral or immoral will be taken iip by Pro- 

 fessor James Sully in The Popular Science 

 Monthly for September. This article will be 

 devoted to primitive egoism and altruism, 

 and will show that many of a child's acts 

 that seem perverse or cruel are explained 

 when we try to look at things from the 

 child's personal standpoint. 



The first number of the American Jour- 

 nal of Sociology has been issued from the 

 press of the Universitj^ of Chicago under 

 the editorship of Professor Albion W. Small. 

 The number opens with an editorial article 

 entitled ' The Era of Sociologj^,' followed 

 by an article on ' The Place of Sociology 

 Among the Sciences ' by Lester F. Ward. 

 The other articles are contributed by mem- 

 bers of the University of Chicago. 



SiE John Tomes, a distinguished dental 

 surgeon and writer on dental anatomj^, died 

 at Caterham, England, on July 29th. He 

 was born at Weston- on- Avon in 1815. In 

 addition to a large number of scientific pa- 

 pers he published in 18-48 a ' Dental Physi- 

 ology and Surgerj' ' and in 1859 'A System 

 of Dental Surgery.' In its latest edition 

 the latter work is regarded in England as 

 the standard text-book on the subject. 



Joseph Derenboueg, professor of orien- 

 tal languages at the Ecole Pratique, died at 

 Paris on August 5th in his Sith year. 



Dr. Geokge Stevens, professor of Eng- 

 lish language and literature in the Uni- 

 versitj' of Copenhagen, died in Copenhagen 

 on August 9th at the age of 82 years. He is 

 known for his writings on historj^, folklore, 

 linguistics and runolog}'. 



Dr. von Gneist, professor of jurispru- 

 dence in the University of Berlin, died on 

 July 21st, at the age of 79. 



C0BEE8P0NDENCE. 

 CAUSES OF THE GULF STREAM. 



I AM convinced that one of the most im- 

 portant functions of such a journal as Sci- 

 ence is the friendly criticism of articles 

 whether appearing in its own pages or in 

 those of other j ournals. Much harm is done 

 by allowing to go unchallenged even slight 

 inaccuracies in scientific statements. Per- 

 mit me then to draw attention to some such 

 inaccuracies in our issue of July 26th. 



1. In Mr. R. Meade Bache's excellent 

 article on the ' Causes of the Gulf Stream,' 

 which I have read with the greatest inter- 

 est and satisfaction, on page 89, 2d column, 

 in speaking of these causes the writer says: 

 " One of these, the centrifugal force of the 

 earth's rotation, drains the water as a subma- 

 rine floxo from the poles to the equator. " And 

 again on page 92 he criticises Carpenter for 

 omitting ' this agency of rotation.' Now, to 

 say the least, this is an inaccurate mode of 

 statement. For on the equilibrium theory, 

 which he is sustaining, the only force which 

 determines the exchange between poles and 

 equator is difference of density. Rotation 

 cannot generate, but only deflect a current 

 already generated by some other cause. 

 Centrifugal force determines the form of 

 equilibrium, but does not disturb the equi- 

 librium, and therefore cannot generate a 

 current. 



2. Again, on pp. 92 and 93, he says: "Both 

 the Northei'n connecting current and the 

 Southern connecting current run for the 

 greater portion of their course due east, and 

 therefore the direction of their courses is 

 not, for that portion of their journey, influ- 

 enced (deflected) by the rotation of the 

 earth." Here we have again the very com- 

 mon but whoUy false idea that deflection 

 by rotation takes place only in bodies mov- 

 ing northward or southM^ard. The fact is, 

 the deflection is a function of latitude, but 

 wholly independent of the direction of motion. 



