SEPTEMBER 1, 1899.] 
importance. Only fifty years ago Malthusian- 
ism reigned. But applied science showed that 
the means of subsistence could be increased far 
more rapidly than the population. Now, in 
spite of the lowered death rate, the native pop- 
ulation is actually decreasing in France and 
in New England, and is probably tending in 
this direction everywhere. The causes are not 
physiological, but psychological and social. 
M. Dumont blames the selfishness of democra- 
cies; he thinks that they are really aristocracies 
in which everyone wants to be an aristocrat and 
live in luxury. But it would probably be just 
as correct to blame ouraltruism. Our improved 
means of production, our improved hygiene, 
' our charities and our sentimentalism have inter- 
fered with the struggle for existence, and fer- 
tility—physiological or psychological—has no 
longer a high selective value. It is doubtful 
whether M. Dumont will accomplish anything 
by preaching the patriotism and morality of 
large families. M. Bertillon’s recent sugges- 
tion that an inheritance tax be imposed in- 
versely proportional to the number of children is 
more reasonable, but it would only give a slight 
and temporary alleviation. The State would 
be more likely to succeed by the encouragement 
of early marriages, especially in the case of 
children from large families. But the whole 
problem is extremely difficult. 
J. McKEEN CATTELL. 
GENERAL. 
W. Scumipt’s Heron von Alexandria (B. G. 
Teubner; 15 pp., 3 plates; .80 M.) is a review 
of the first volume of a new edition of Heron’s 
works. The article contains 39 figures (partly 
conjectural) illustrating the many curious and 
ingenious automata designed by Heron for pub- 
lic amusement in gardens and theaters. The 
article gives a good idea of the subject and is 
interesting to the philologian as well as.to the 
_ mechanic and physicist. 
NuMBER VI. of the Studies from the Yale Psy- 
chological Laboratory has just been issued. It 
contains: ‘A color-illusion’ (with colored plate), 
by Professor G. T. Ladd; ‘ Researches in cross- 
education,’ by Professor W. W. Davis, and 
‘Researches in practice and habit,’ by Dr. W. 
Smythe Johnson. A number of copies has been 
SCIENCE. 
297 
set aside for gratuitous distribution to persons 
who may be interested; a copy can be obtained 
by application to Dr. E. W. Scripture, New 
Haven, Conn. 
BOOKS RECEIVED. 
Proceedings of the U. S. National Museum. Published 
under the Direction of the Smithsonian Institution. 
Washington, Government Printing Office. 1899. 
Vol. xxi. Pp. xiii + 933. 
Analyses électrolytiques. AD. MINET. Paris, Gau- 
thier-Villars. 1899. Pp. 176. 
Magnetical and Meteorological Observations made at the 
Government Observatory, Bombay, 1897, under the 
Direction of N. A. F. Moos. Bombay, Government 
Central Press. 1898. Pp. xviii-+ 12 tables. 
Price, 2s. 6d. 
SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 
Appletons’ Popular Science Monthly for Septem- 
tember opens with an article on the plague by 
Professor C. VY. Vaughan, of the University of 
Michigan. In discussing recent legislation 
against the drink evil, Dr. Appleton Morgan 
argues that high licenses, damage laws and 
laws against adulteration are a sufficient remedy. 
Among the other articles is one on the milk sup- 
ply of cities by Professor H.W. Conn ; on the in- 
fluence of the weather on crime by Dr. Edwin 
G. Dexter; on the survival of African music 
in America by Mrs. Jeanette R. Murphy, and a 
sketch of the zoologist Oscar Schmidt with a 
portrait as frontispiece. 
Dr. L. VY. Pirsson, professor of physical 
geography in Yale University, succeeds the late 
Professor O. C. Marsh on the editorial board of 
the American Journal of Science. 
THE Atlantic Monthly, ‘ devoted to literature, 
science, art and politics,’ but not in equal meas- 
ure, has again changed editors. Mr. Walter H. 
Page has accepted a position in a New York 
publishing house and is succeeded by Professor 
Bliss Perry, of Princeton University. ; 
DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. 
SCHEDULE FOR PSYCHOLOGY OF THE INTERNA- 
TIONAL CATALOGUE, 
To THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: Professor 
Cattell is right in saying (SCIENCE, Aug. 11) 
that no scheme of classification for psychology 
