Febkuakt 9, 1906.] 



SCIENCE. 



225 



suggestive as is that idea, and ignored as has 

 been the element of truth in it. One may 

 also think that in failing to see how brute 

 conflict naturally evokes thought, he under- 

 estimates the part played in the progress of 

 mankind by the ventures and insistencies of 

 just brute vital impulse, however uninformed; 

 and that accordingly, at times, the pale cast 

 of thought is too emphasized and the fear of 

 individualistic assertion too acute. Again, it 

 seems to me that he gives the indiffereney of 

 facts to ideas, to purposes, too absolute a char- 

 acter, failing to see the full strength of the 

 pragmatic doctrine that in a universe in which 

 ends are developed in conception and insisted 

 upon in action, thought must, as a part of the 

 inherent machinery of such conception and 

 realization, attribute indiiferency and disre- 

 gard to the ' world of facts ' — in order, that is, 

 to free and multiply ends, and to liberate and 

 vary the selection and use of means. 



But, with whatever of criticism and qualifi- 

 cation, those who think, as does the present 

 writer, that the really vital problem of present 

 philosophy is the union of naturalism and 

 idealism, must gratefully acknowledge the ex- 

 traordinary force and simplicity with which 

 Dr. Santayana has grasped this problem, and 

 the rich and sure way in which he has inter- 

 preted, in its light, the intricacies and depths 

 of our common experiences. It is a work 

 nobly conceived and adequately executed. 



John Dewey. 



Columbia University. 



Economic Geology of the United States. By 

 Heinrich Ries, A.m., Ph.D., Assistant Pro- 

 fessor of Economic Geology at Cornell Uni- 

 versity. New York, The Macmillan Com- 

 pany. 1905. 



This book at once invites comparison with 

 its predecessor of the same title, by the same 

 publishers, and by an author from the faculty 

 of the same institution. One is pleased to 

 find that it is no revision, but an entirely new 

 work, worthy of Dr. Eies, who has done so 

 much good work in special reports in the field 

 it covers. Though it contains fewer pages 

 than Tarr's ' Economic Geology ' (435 against 

 525), it contains quite as much matter on. eco- 



nomic geology, and a host of good and illustra- 

 tive illustrations. This comes about in three 

 ways. In the first place all general introduc- 

 tory geological or mineralogical matter is 

 omitted. The reader is supposed to have ac- 

 quired that. In the second place a slightly 

 smaller type is used for less important matter. 

 In the third place the style is condensed to 

 the last degree. 



This is not, however, at the expense of 

 clearness, which is French. Indeed, the short 

 crisp sentences often need qualification, which 

 will (p. 230, 1. 28) sometimes be found iii an 

 adjacent sentence or paragraph. 



The author begins, inverting Tarr's order, 

 with the lower priced but more important non- 

 metallic substances. This is natural, as Dr. 

 Eies's work has been mainly in this field, but 

 it seems to the reviewer logically preferable 

 also. He begins with the fuels. The biblio- 

 graphic additions at the end of each chapter 

 are noteworthy, giving the latest references, 

 not cumbered up with a lot of obsolete mat- 

 ters, yet retaining the more important books 

 of any age, and they enable the student, or the 

 business man who cares, to pursue any subject 

 farther readily and effectively. It seems to 

 me they are decidedly preferable to a general 

 list at the end of the volume. 



From fuels he passes to building materials, 

 and does not give a disproportionate treat- 

 ment to clay, upon which he has done so much 

 work. Indeed, he might well have let him- 

 self out a little. ' Thence he passes to salt, 

 salines, gypsum (the order should logically be 

 inverted), fertilizers, next to which soils and 

 road materials might well have come, abra- 

 sives (here a little discussion of diamond and 

 other drilling might have been appropriate) 

 and water. This latter subject is handled in 

 somewhat stepmotherly fashion, considering 

 that at present in the work of the United 

 States Geological Survey the Hydrographic 

 Division is the tail that wags the dog. Evi- 

 dently the author thinks that water power and 

 irrigation are not properly handled in eco- 

 nomic geology, or, perhaps, he thought that if 

 once he started in he would not know where 

 to stop. The second part, on ' Metallic Min- 

 erals and Ores,' begins' with a clear and fair 



