August 14, 1891.] 



SCIENCE. 



95 



of these misdemeanors. He finds that it is not only the pseudo- 

 civilized, coal-black Ethiopian, bu( more frequently the species to 

 which I alluded in Science (No. 416) as "the hybrid," that is de- 

 veloping a marvellous fondness for whiskey, who almost invaria- 

 bly goes armed either with a razor or a "bull-dog " revolver, who 

 are the law-breakers, who are rapidly becoming the skilled bur- 

 glars, and who are far more dangerous than a savage for a lady to 

 meet alone anywhere after dark. 



This "Friend of the Negro," mark you, ascertained still more, 

 much of which is quite in tune with the present writer's remarks 

 in the Washington Analostan Magazine of last February, and 

 several other quarters. He adds, " What makes it more dis- 

 heartening is that here they are in every respect in the full enjoy- 

 ment of all their legal rights, and in all particulars are on a per- 

 fect equality as citizens with the whites. They have the same 

 privileges in the schools, are taught the same branches, have the 

 same school buildings, and there is the same amount per capita 

 spent for them as for the whites. They are abundantly provided 

 with churches and Sunday-schools [sic], and, in addition, have the 

 e."cample [sic] of some of the ablest and most cultured of their race 

 residing here in our midst." (!) 



Now to this particular "Friend of the Negro" I would briefly 

 suggest a study of a few of the higher and a few of the more 

 lowly races of man since the dawn of history. Make those studies 

 comparative. Next, master some of the more practical laws- — 

 and there are few or none that are not so — of biologic evolution. 

 Get a good realizing sense of how long it has taken the white race 

 to arrive at its present stage of civilizatiosi, and especially the fact 

 that races of men are often quite as far separated mentally, intel- 

 lectually, and psychologically, as are other races of vertebrates. 

 Induce, if possible, some friend who is informed in such matters 

 to impart a few wholesome facts in the premises. If I am not 

 radically mistaken in the grade of good sense of our ' ' Friend of 

 the Negro," at the end of six months' time he will awaken to the 

 fact that he has before him for study one of the most advanced 

 races in civilization on the face of the globe, the " so-called white," 

 which race is now the victim of another and a parasitic race, the 

 " so-called negro," — vicious, low, and barbarous, with a race his- 

 tory, so far as it can be traced, (!) that will not bear investigation. 

 It is not so very long ago since some of them were human flesh- 

 eaters. As an evolutionist, as a zoologist, and as perhaps other 

 things, I can inform the Star's contributor that it is quite a useless 

 experiment to place a turkey-vulture in a cage of sky-larks and 

 expect him to sing next morning. Moreover, it is just possible 

 that the experiment may prove a dangerous one for the larks. 



Dr. E. W. Shitpeldt. 

 Takoma, D.C., Aug. 10. 



BOOK-REVIEWS. 



Aehieoements in Engineering during the Last Half- Century. By 

 L. F. Vernon-Haecourt. New York, Scribner. 311 p. 8°. 

 $1.75. 



The author of this work has already made himself known as a 

 writer on engineering topics by his previous books on "Rivers and 

 Canals" and " Harbours and Docks." In this book he describes 

 briefly some of the principal engineering works carried out within 

 the last fifty years, avoiding technical phraseology as far as possi- 

 ble. This will, of course, add to the attractions of the book for 

 the general reader, for whom it is mainly intended ; but the atten- 

 tion given to details, and the comparisons made between similar 

 works carried out under different circumstances, give the book a 

 special value for engineers. 



There has been no lack of material for the book. In fact, one 

 of the chief difficulties in the preparatioa of a work of this kind, 

 when undertaken with due regard to ' ' perspective," is the judicious 

 selection of subjects. In this respect, we think, the author has 

 made no mistake. Beginning with railways, he treats first of the 

 London underground and the New York elevated roads ; then of 

 those crossing the Alps, the Andes, and the Rocky Mountains; 

 after which a chapter is devoted to narrow-gauge, Fell, Abt, and 

 the Rigi and Pilatus railways. 



Two chapters are given to tunnels, one being devoted mainly to 



those piercing the Alps, the other treating of river tunnels, such 

 as the Detroit, Hudson, Mersey, Severn, and Sarnia, and the 

 Thames subways. After a chapter on the progress and principles 

 of modern bridge construction, he gives some details concerning 

 the Hawkesbury, St. Louis, Garabit, Hooghly, Brooklyn, Forth, 

 and Tower bridges, with some remarks on the possibility of a bridge 

 across the English Channel. A brief chapter on submarine mining 

 and blasting relates principally to the operations at Hell Gate in 

 the East River. 



The engineering works involved in the improvement of the chief 

 sea-ports of the world and of some of the great river channels are 

 very fully described; and ship-canals are by no means neglected, 

 two chapters being given to the Amsterdam, Manchester, and Suez 

 canals, as well as to the work thus far done on the Panama, 

 Corinth, and Nicaragua canals. The latter, by the way, he locates 

 on the Isthmus of Panama, under which name he seems to include 

 all the territory extending from the mainland of South America 

 as far north as the United States. 



In the last two chapters of the book the author writes of the 

 Manchester water- works, the Vyrnwy dam and lake, the Eddy- 

 stone lighthouse, and the Eiffel tower. The book is handsomely 

 illustrated, full-page views being given of many of the subjects 

 treated of, and an excellent portrait of Robert Stephenson making 

 an appropriate frontispiece. 



As a whole, the book is one to be commended, though there are 

 points in which it might be improved, as viewed from an Ameri- 

 can standpoint; and there are occasional evidences of hurried 

 work, as, for instance, the following sentence, which, though con- 

 veying much information in small space, would hardly pass muster 

 as a sample of good style: "The elevated railways are owned by 

 two separate companies, and worked by a third company, to 

 whom the lines are leased for 199 years, by means of locomotives, 

 with coupled driving-wheels 3J feet in diameter, and bogie wheels 

 2 feet in diameter" (p. 30). 



AMONG THE PUBLISHERS. 



The Humboldt Publishing Company have just ready "Men- 

 tal Suggestion," by Dr. J. Oohorowicz, sometime professor ex- 

 traordinarius of psychology and nature-philosophy in the Univer- 

 sity of Lemberg. The preface is the work of Charles Richet. 



— Longmans, Green, & Co. have just ready " Cookery for the 

 Diabetic," by W. H. and Mrs. Poole, with a preface by Dr. Pavy; 

 and "With Sack and Stock in Alaska," by George Broke, which 

 will interest all who enjoy records of travel in out-of-the-way 

 lands. 



— Charles Collins has just published a fourth revised edition, 

 by Professor Sheldon, of Olmsted's " Natural Philosophy ; " also 

 Sheldon's "Electricity," being chapters on electricity prepared for 

 and included in the preceding book, but published separately for 

 the use of students in college. 



— Macmillan & Co. call attention to the new work of Louis 

 Dyer, late assistant professor in Harvard University, entitled 

 " Studies of the Gods in Greece." Professor Dyer explains the 

 development of the cults of Demeter, of Dionysius, of .^sculapius, 

 of Aphrodite, and of Apollo. The gods are treated with the rev- 

 erence that is due to them, and the fact is emphasized that there 

 is much in Christianity that is of Greek rather than Jewish qual- 

 ity. 



— D. C. Heath & Co., Boston, have just published a "Manual 

 of Plane Geometry," on the Heuristic plan, with numerous extra 

 exercises, both theorems and problems, for advanced work, by G. 

 Irving Hopkins, instructor of mathematics and physics, Manchester 

 High School, N.H., with an introduction by Professor SaflEord of 

 Williams College. The book is designed primarily for the author's 

 pupils, and secondarily for the constantly increasing number of 

 teachers who are getting more and more dissatisfied with the old 

 methods of teaching geometry. 



— 6. P. Putnam's Sons have just ready the third part of the 

 " Talleyrand Memoirs." This instalment continues the report of 

 the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the Second Restoration, and the 

 Revolution of 1830. It contains tlu-ee portraits of Talleyrand, one 



