Septembek 6, 1907] 



SCIENCE 



305 



fashion, partly as an essential factor in our 

 mechanism for directly obtaining and pre- 

 paring most of the material comforts of 

 modern living, and partly as one of the 

 most intimately searching of the available 

 rays of intellectual light on the philosophy 

 of nature. The usefulness of the science 

 in its former capacity is easily traced, and 

 any one can see that as methods of manu- 

 facture are improved and competition in- 

 creases, the numerical data involved must 

 be more accurately known. Nevertheless, 

 this manner of helping mankind, although 

 the most direct and obvious, is by no means 

 the most effective way in which increased 

 precision in scientific work may be of ser- 

 vice. A much greater gain is ultimately 

 made, although indirectly, through the 

 vastly augmented clearness of view which 

 is given to the science as a whole by the 

 increased stability and trustworthiness of 

 the fundamental basis of facts. The re- 

 sulting growth of either physical or chem- 

 ical science as a whole not only brings with 

 it increased satisfaction, and respect for 

 man's intellect; it may also at any time 

 lead to wholly unexpected and unforeseen 

 developments of practical usefulness about 

 which man could not otherwise have 

 dreamed. Thus Liebig and Soubeiran, 

 when they found chloroform, little thought 

 of the priceless boon which the new sub- 

 stance would bring with it to suffering 

 humanity. Faraday, in studying the be- 

 havior of wires and magnets, never 

 dreamed of the miracles to be wrought by 

 the modern dynamo. Rontgen was striv- 

 ing only to advance scientific knowledge 

 and "not to furnish a sure guide to the 

 puzzled surgeon in his crucial ttisk, when 

 the almost incredibly penetrating rays were 

 discovered. 



These records of the past lead us to look 

 forward towards the beckoning future. 

 Has the advantage to humanity to be 



gained by fui'tliering pure science come to 

 an end 1 No, a hundred times no ! Not 

 until man really understands himself and 

 his environment, will the possibility of the 

 discovery of some new blessing be ended. 

 Prophecy is inevitably uncertain; and yet 

 when one realizes that our frail and often 

 jangling human mechanism is actuated 

 essentially by a series of chemical reactions, 

 and that every material thing connected 

 with our life is a chemical substance, one 

 feels that chemistry must still have vast 

 treasures in store for the human race. 

 What may she not accomplish for the com- 

 fort of living, for a rational practise of 

 medicine, for a profound philosophy of 

 nature! One can not but believe that as 

 yet her mission is scarcely begun; and if 

 this mission is to be fulfilled, the great 

 result must be wrought not by superficial, 

 but by fundamental understanding, built 

 upon the solid foundation of exact knowl- 

 edge. 



Theodore W. Richards 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 

 The Warblers of North America. By Frank 

 M. Chapman, with the cooperation of other 

 ornithologists. With 24 full-page colored 

 plates, illustrating every species, from draw- 

 ings by Louis Agassiz Fuertes and Bruce 

 HoRSFALL, and half-tones of nests and eggs. 

 New York, D. Appleton & Company. 1907. 

 Pp. x-f 306. Cloth, $3.00. 

 Pew groups of North American birds are 

 of such general interest as the wood warblers, 

 and this attempt to bring together the infor- 

 mation concerning them is a welcome addition 

 to ornithological literature. Its title, how- 

 ever, would much better have been " The 

 Wood Warblers of North America," for the 

 true warblers, family Sylviidse, also repre- 

 sented in North America, are not treated at 

 all. 



Following an " Introductory " chapter, in 

 which the plan of the work is outlined and a 



