966 
Professor Barr has placed within reach of the 
teachers of the subject a concise, yet, within its 
range, very complete and a very admirably 
planned and well-written, treatise on kine- 
matics. The book is the outcome of a number 
of years experience in the methods of instruc- 
tion adopted, and, privately printed, has been 
kept under revision until it was thought suffi- 
ciently well settled as to form and extent to 
justify its more general use. These years of 
experience in class-room work before publica- 
tion insure the elimination of probably substan- 
tially all those inevitable errors of omission and 
of commission which mark a first edition of 
practically all works not thus first well pruned 
out in advance. The substance of the book 
consists of a clear and concise presentation of 
those main principles which find most frequent 
and general application in the work of the de- 
signing mechanical engineer; it is a work of 
application rather than an attempt at complete 
and purely scientific development. 
The systems of treatment and application are 
standard with the engineer and follow the best 
authorities wherever practicable, and credit is 
frankly given to Willis, Rankine, Reuleaux, 
Kennedy and others, in all departments. 
The discussions of fundamental concepts, 
methods of transmission of motion, gearing, 
cams, linkwork and wrapping connectors, are 
all excellent and the treatise gives internal 
evidence of preparation by an author practically 
as well as theoretically familiar with his subject. 
There is presented just such a combination of 
the purely scientific with the applied science of 
kinematics in mechanical engineering as is now 
in most general demand among the technical 
departments of our colleges and universities. 
At its close is appended a very useful collection 
of exercises and problems in illustration and 
application of the principles enunciated in the 
body of the text. Such a collection of ex- 
amples has been much needed in this subject 
and its preparation reflects great credit upon 
Professor Brigel, who supplied the:greater part 
of this division of the work, and entitles the 
author of the book to hardly less credit for his 
good judgment in making use of them. 
The illustrations are well-chosen, well-made 
and well-printed, and the book, as a whole, is 
SCIENCE. 
[N.S. Von. X. No. 261. 
a very excellent piece of book-making and 
a credit alike to author and publishers. 
R. H. THURSTON. 
Darwinism and Lamarckism, Old and New. By 
FREDERICK W. Hurron, F.R.S., etc. New 
York, G. P. Putnam’s Sons. 
This book embodies some four lectures, in 
which are discussed the general subject of evo- 
lution and, as indicated in the title, its Dar- 
winian and Lamarckian aspects. Delivered at 
rather widely separated intervals from 1882 to 
1898, they naturally lack somewhat in that con- 
tinuity of thought and treatment desirable in a 
series of consecutive chapters. The author’s 
apology for ‘‘adding to the already voluminous 
literature on Darwinism is that the subject is 
always advancing, and any attempt to convey 
that knowledge in simple language can hardly 
fail to do good, provided it be sufficiently clear 
to be understood at first reading, and sufficiently 
short to discourage skipping.’’ His purpose is 
confessedly that of the expositor, and his treat- 
ment of the subject is generally directed to that 
end. At times, however, he assumes the atti- 
tude of the advocate, sparing no pains in using 
favorable evidence to the best possible advan- 
tage, and discounting that of an opposite char- 
acter in corresponding measure. 
A brief introductory chapter is devoted to the 
correction of certain misconceptions of Darwin- 
ism and answering objections urged against it, 
which, though old, are constantly being reiter- 
ated, as, for instance, the strictures of Lord 
Salisbury in his presidential address before the 
British Association in 1894. He also refers to 
evident advances which have taken place in 
biological thought within recent years, follow- 
ing his earlier lectures on the subject, notably 
the discussion of acquired characters, and to a 
less extent concerning social evolution. The 
concluding pages of this chapter he devotes toa 
‘discussion of ‘The Objects of Evolution,’ in 
which there are apparent certain teleological 
aspects and tendencies of a somewhat anti- 
quated type; as, for instance, when he under- 
takes to show special design in the presence of 
gold, silver, lead, zinc, etc., which, but for the 
presence of man, could have had no place in 
the economy of nature! To say that ‘‘ not only 
