380 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIII. No. 845 



treatment of the subject from the practical 

 standpoint as thoroughgoing and suggestive. 



Since the psychology of individual variation 

 in handwriting characteristics is still an un- 

 written chapter of the science, it is not sur- 

 prising that the analysis of handwriting habits 

 in the volume under consideration should be 

 largely in terms of the vrriting system learned 

 by the penman and of the writing instruments 

 and material utilized by him. Such an an- 

 alysis is accompanied by an historical account 

 of the rise of various systems of handwriting 

 and by a description of their characteristics. 

 The dependence of many peculiarities of 

 viriting, such, for example, as shading, upon 

 pen position, should be noted by the investiga- 

 tor of the subject. The author insists upon 

 the use of a sufficient amount of proved hand- 

 writing as a standard for comparison in the 

 case of a disputed document and records in- 

 stances of normal variation in handwriting in 

 such a way as to show forgery by a tracing- 

 process in the case of unnatural uniformity. 

 The interesting observation is made that indi- 

 vidual writing habits are found to be revealed 

 more clearly in minor details than in striking 

 features, such as large capital forms. Pos- 

 sibly the author might, with profit, have 

 treated at greater length variations in hand- 

 writing due to age, disease and emotional dis- 

 turbance. 



The author insists that the testimony of the 

 handwriting expert should, if acceptable, be 

 the expression not of an opinion founded upon 

 more or less vague intuitions, but of a scien- 

 tific conclusion from facts, a conclusion based 

 upon reasons which are intelligible to the non- 

 expert and presentable in court. The author 

 is sceptical of testimony that concerns itself 

 with the general appearance of handwriting 

 rather than with accurate analysis and meas- 

 urement. He is, naturally, amused by the 

 pretensions of the graphologists who would 

 read from handwriting the physical character- 

 istics of the penman and catalogue therefrom 

 his vices and virtues. 



The application by the author of the meth- 

 ods used in identification of handwriting to 

 the study of questioned typewriting shows a 



new field of inquiry, one that appears well 

 worth working by the expert. 



June E. Downey 

 Univebsitt op Wyoming 



Tables for the Determination of Common 

 Eocks. By Oliver Bowles, M.A., Instruc- 

 tor in Geology and Mineralogy, University 

 of Minnesota. 16mo. Pp. vii -f- 64. New 

 York, D. Van Nostrand & Co. 1910. $0.50. 

 This text is designed to meet the need of 

 suitable tables for the determination of rocks 

 and rock-forming minerals by microscopic 

 methods and constitutes a convenient and 

 useful pocket guide for field and laboratory 

 purposes. 



The usual classification of rocks is given 

 but no attempt is made to group them in the 

 tables accordingly. The grouping, based upon 

 texture, is I., Glassy; II., Ashy or Cellular; 

 III., Crystalline, even grained; IV., Porphy- 

 ritic; V., Dense and Finegrained; VI., 

 Banded; VII., Fragmental. The various 

 types are arranged in the proper group and 

 described briefly. In the case of crystalline 

 rocks, mineral composition is made a basis for 

 further subdivision and one chapter is given 

 to tables for the determination of the more 

 common rock-forming minerals, the classifi- 

 cation being based upon color, hardness and 



The last chapter contains a short discussion 

 of building stones. Terms used in the text 

 are amply defined in a glossary at the end of 

 the book. E. W. Clark 



MiNEEALOGICAL LABOUATOET, 



IJnivebsity OF Michigan 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES 



The contents of the American Journal of 

 Science for March are : 



" Transmission of Light through Transparent 

 Inactive Crystal Plates, with Special Reference 

 to Observations in Convergent Polarized Light," 

 F. E. Wright. 



" Separation and Estimation of Barium Asso- 

 ciated with Calcium and Magnesium, by the Ac- 

 tion of Acetyl Chloride in Acetone upon the 

 Mixed Chlorides," F. A. Gooch and C. N. Boynton. 



