SCIENCE 



Editorial Committee : S. Newcomb, Mathematics ; E. S. Woodward, Mechanics ; E. C. Pickering, 



Astronomy; T. C. Mendenhall, Physics; E. H. Thueston, Engineering; Ira Eemsen, Chemistry; 



J. Le Conte, Geology; W. M. Davis, Physiography; O. C. Marsh, Paleontology; W. K. 



Brooks, C. Hart Merriam, Zoology; S. H. Soudder, Entomology; N. L. Britton, 



Botany; Henry F. Osboen, General Biology; H. P. Bowditch, Physiology; 



J. S. Billings, Hygiene ; J. McKben Cattell, Psychology ; 



Daniel G. Brinton, J. W. Powell, Anthropology ; 



G. Beown Goode, Scientific Organization. 



Friday, May 29, 1896. 



CONTENTS: 



Tlie Ape-man from the Tertiary of Java : O. C. 

 Marsh , 789 



Ihe Sletric System : W. Le Conte Stevens 793 



2'!('o Erosion Epochs — Another Suggestion : W J 

 McGee 796 



Current Notes on Physiography : — 



Geographical Description of the British Islands; 

 Recent Sheets of our National 3Iap ; A Short His- 

 tory of the Great Lakes: W. M. Davis 799 



Current Notes on 3Ieteorology : — 



Weather Bureau Kite-flying ; Baloons and Kites in 

 Clotid Observations; Blue Hill Kite-flying: E. 

 De C. Ward 801 



Scientific Notes and News 802 



University and Educational News 807 



Discussion and Correspondence : — 

 A Bevieio of Bigeloic's Papers on Meteorology and 

 Solar Physics : W. S. Franklin. Dr. Brinton 

 on Keaiie's ' Ethnology : ' A. H. Keane, D. G. 

 Brinton. To Prevent the Growth of Beard: L. 

 O. Howard. The Child and Cliildhood in Folk- 

 thought : Alex. F. Chamberlain. ' That Great 

 Law of Logic: ' J. McKeen Cattell 807 



Scientific Literature : — 



Hornby's Text-book of Gas 3fanufacture for Stu- 

 dents : Frank H. Thorp. Arnold's Eepitorinm 

 der Chemie: S 815 



Scientific Journals : — 



The American Journal of Science. The American 

 Chemical Journal: J. Elliott Gilpin 816 



Societies and Academies : — 



Neiv York Academy of Sciences, Section of Geology 

 and Mineralogy : J. F. Kemp. Meeting of the 

 New York Section of the American Chemical Soci- 

 ety : Wm. McMurtrie. Tlie Chemical Society 

 of Washington: A. C. Peale. Biological 

 Society of Washington : F. A. Lucas. Geolog- 

 ical Society of Washington : W. F. Morsell. 

 Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia : 

 Edw. J. Nolan. Northwestern University Science 

 Club : A. E. Ceook. Tlie Academy of Science 

 of St. Louis: "Wsi. Trelease 818 



THE APE-MAN FROM THE TERTIARY OF 

 JAVA.* 



Near the beginning of last year, a discov- 

 ery was announced that excited great in- 

 terest throughout the scientific world, es- 

 pecially among those interested in the origin 

 and antiquity of man. The announcement 

 first made was that remains of a veritable 

 missing link between man and the higher 

 apes had been found in Java, in strata of 

 Pleistocene age. The discovery was made by 

 Dr. Eugene Dubois, a surgeon in the Dutch 

 army, who had been stationed in Java for 

 several years and had devoted much time 

 to the vertebrate fossils of that island. 



The first definite information received in 

 this country was in December, 1894, when 

 Dubois's memoir on Pithecanthropus ar- 

 rived.f One of the first copies reached the 

 late Prof. Dana, and at his request I wrote 

 a review of it, which appeared, with illus- 

 trations, in the American Journal of Science 

 for February, 1895. 



The memoir of Dr. Dubois was an ad- 

 mirable one, and, although written in Java, 

 with only limited facilities for consulting 

 the literature on the subject, and for com- 

 paring the remains described with living 



* Abstract of communication made to the National 

 Academy of Sciences at Washington, April 24, 1896. 



t Pithecanthropus ereetus. Eine menschenaehnliche 

 TJebergangsform aus Java. Von Eug. Dubois, Mili- 

 tairarzt der niederlaendish-indischen Armee. Mit 

 ZTvei Tafeln und drei in den Text gedruckten Fig- 

 uren. 4to, Batavia, 1894. 



