788 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XV. No, 385. 



seums. To provide an efficient substitute for 

 these codes, to enunciate the principles upon 

 which a successful defence of society against 

 crime must be conducted and the abolition of 

 criminality accomplished, is the special 

 province and object of penology. * * * The 

 supreme object of penology is to prevent 

 crime, not to punish for it. It is similar to 

 the science of medicine and surgery in that 

 its province is not only to cure specific cases 

 of disease, but also to prevent the genesis, 

 recurrence and spread of disease." In this 

 very radical statement, and in his assertion 

 that 'criminality is a preventable and curable 

 disease,' Mr. Boies goes further than most sci- 

 entific criminologists are prepared to go. His 

 absorption in his own subject also leads the 

 author at times to regard the elimination of 

 criminality as the main end for which the 

 state exists, and to advocate unhesitatingly 

 strenuous measures of somewhat dubious 

 character, such as forbidding the marriage of 

 various classes of criminals and even castra- 

 ting them. 



It must be said that the general tone of 

 the book is distinctly dogmatic, and the au- 

 thor seldom appears willing to admit that any 

 question can have two sides to it. He makes 

 few references to authorities, and it may be 

 gathered that his estimates as to the com- 

 parative values of authorities are somewhat 

 uncritical. At the same time Mr. Boies has 

 written a distinctly useful book. He may be 

 described as a disciple of Ferri, adopting the 

 same broad sociological standpoint as the 

 eminent Italian author and making an at- 

 tempt to adapt Ferri's principles to American 

 conditions. It may be added that the book 

 has been admirably produced by the publisher, 

 and shows a praiseworthy absence of inac- 

 curacies and misprints. 



Havelogk Ellis. 



80IENTIFIG JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 



The Botanical Gazette for April contains a 

 continuation of Professor Frederick C. New- 

 combe's paper upon 'The Eheotropism of 

 Roots.' It will be completed in the May num- 

 ber, when the principal results will be noted. 

 Mr. John Donnell Smith publishes his 23d 



paper under the general title 'Undescribed 

 Plants from Guatemala and other Central 

 American Republics,' including descriptions of 

 about twenty new species, and also of a new 

 genus (Donnellia) of the Commelinacese, by C. 

 B. Clarke. Accompanying the paper are two 

 double page plates by C. E. Faxon. Miss Alice 

 Eastwood concludes her 'Descriptive List of 

 Plants collected by Dr. F. E. Blaisdell, at 

 Nome City, Alaska,' describing new species of 

 Mertensia, Pedicularis, Pinguicula, and Aster. 

 Mr. E. B. Copeland discusses Haberlandt's 

 'New Organ of Conocephalus/ which he has 

 called a substitute hydathode. Mr. Copeland 

 shows that there is nothing very surprising 

 or remarkable in the behavior of these struc- 

 tures, and that they are essentially similar to 

 such as the same condition produces in many 

 plants, the conditions being excess of moisture. 



The American Naturalist for April begins 

 with an article by Henry F. Osborn on 'Homo- 

 plasy as a Law of Latent or Potential Homol- 

 ogy,' homoplasy being the independent similar 

 development of homologous organs or regions 

 giving rise to similar new parts. Applying 

 this is to the teeth Professor Osborn finds that 

 similar cusps have been developed in unrelated 

 mammals in different parts of the world, and 

 that there is some underlying principle which 

 determines in a measure the course of evolu- 

 tion. Ales Hrdlicka presents some 'New In- 

 stances of Complete Division of the Malar 

 Bone, with Notes on Incomplete Division,' and 

 Herbert P. Johnson describes 'Collateral Bud- 

 ding in Annelids of the Genus Trypanosyllis.' 

 This method is considered as an advance over 

 linear budding and the genus as representing 

 the most highly specialized mode of asexual 

 reproduction among annelids. J. B. Johnston 

 and Sarah W. Johnson discuss 'The Course of 

 the Blood Flow in Lumhricus' in some detail, 

 stating that their experiments give no support 

 to the idea that there is a more or less complete 

 segmental circulation in the genus. The notes 

 and brief reviews are numerous. 



The American Museum Journal for April 

 contains an account, with illustrations, of an 

 exhibit of birds' bills, feet, tails, wings and 

 feathers, designed to illustrate terms used in 



