968 
measure to extend interest and prompt further 
inquiry. But asa serious contribution to ‘the 
already voluminous literature on Darwinism,’ 
their value may be seriously doubted. 
Cuas. W. HARGITT. 
The Growth of Cities in the Nineteenth Century : 
A Study in Statistics. By ADNA FERRIN 
WEBER, Ph.D., Deputy Commissioner of Labor 
Statistics of New York. (Studies in History, 
Economics and Public Law, Columbia Uni- 
versity.) New York, The Macmillan Com- 
pany. 1899. Pp. xvi-+ 495. 
It is one thing to know in a general way that 
a certain movement is in progress, and quite 
another to know its causes, rate of progress and 
full significance. That a remarkable concen- 
tration of population in cities has taken place 
during the present century is well known by 
all; that this change in the character of the 
population isa momentous one is appreciated 
by those who give thought to the matter; but 
the various causes that have given rise to this 
movement, and the full extent and influence 
of the change, are known to but few if any. 
This information Dr. Weber has attempted, and 
in the main attempted successfully, to supply in 
the present detailed statistical study. 
With a remarkable command of authorities, 
both foreign and American, the author care- 
fully traces the increasing concentration of 
population in large cities in all the important 
countries of the world. Successive chapters 
treat of the general phases of the movement 
and the methods adopted for its measurement, 
the history and statistics of urban growth in 
each country separately, the causes of the con- 
centration shown, migration as a factor, the 
structure of city populations as regards sex, 
age, nationality and occupation, birth, death 
and marriage rates as affecting urban growth, 
a comparison of the physical and moral health 
of cities and country, the economic, political 
and social effect of urban concentration upon 
population, and finally a consideration of cer- 
tain tendencies and remedies for evils to which 
the growth of cities has given rise. 
The work abounds in statistical tables. One 
cannot but admire the painstaking way in 
which the problem has been considered in all 
SCIENCE. 
[N. S. Von. X. No. 261. 
its phases. At,the same time the very detail 
with which this has been done is confusing. A 
proper discrimination has not always been ex- 
ercised. Statistical tables have been inserted 
wherever the slightest opportunity offered, and 
many are of so slight importance that they 
could have been omitted without loss, or their 
results have been better stated in the body of 
the text. This is especially true where they 
are inserted merely for the purpose of illus- 
trating collateral facts. The same criticism ap- 
plies to the bibliographical references. While 
the constant reference to authorities and the in- 
sertion of bibliographical notes add materially 
to the value of the work, many of them are 
entirely unnecessary or foreign to the subject. 
matter of the book. 
Generally then, this monograph is a presen- 
tation of facts and bibliographical references 
concerning cities that will be of the greatest 
assistance to all persons wishing to study al- 
most any problem connected with urban life. 
Its very exhaustiveness, however, makes it dif- 
ficult for the ordinary reader to discriminate 
between the important and unimportant, or to 
learn what are the really significant results of 
this comprehensive study. 
W. F. WILLOUGHBY. 
J. N. BASKETT’S ‘STORY OF THE FISHES.’ 
A RECENT book published by the Appleton’s 
for their ‘Home Reading Series’ is ‘ The Story 
of the Fishes,’ by J. N. Baskett. This is an 
attempt to popularize the anatomy and classifi- 
cation of the fishes, and gives as a separate 
‘Talk’ an interesting account of the methods of 
fishing. The book is attractively presented for 
one of its kind : its figures are unusually good 
and it will prove a useful aid to a beginner— 
who is not fastidious in matters of scientific 
fact. The critical reader will find much to 
reprehend, for there are many inaccuracies and 
a deal of unbased theorizing. It is scarcely 
necessary to consider these shortcomings in de- 
tail, although a few should be noticed. Ina 
pictorial phylogenetic tree the type of the 
ganoid is given as the ‘gar-pike,’ intended, of 
course, for Lepidosteus, but, unfortunately, the 
writer inserts the picture of a gar-fish, Belone, 
which is a well known and highly specialized 
