April 21, 1916] 



SCIENCE 



571 



mainly to his " Electromagnetic Theory of 

 Light," " one of the most splendid monuments 

 ever raised by the genius of a single individ- 

 ual." All of the early investigators in the 

 theory of energy received a peculiar bias from 

 the fact that the theory of energy veas de- 

 veloped from the theory of work — the produc- 

 tion of " useful v^ork " being one of the most 

 important problems in the life of nations as 

 of men. Hence the statement that " energy is 

 the capacity of doing work " was evidently re- 

 ceived and accepted by scientific men before 

 and during Maxwell's time as expressing an 

 advanced scientific generalization; and even 

 now, when not too critically examined, might 

 pass as equivalent to the statement: Energy is 

 the universal natural agency by means of 

 which work is done. But while the former 

 statement is logically weak and leads to am- 

 biguities and contradictions the latter state- 

 ment is perfectly definite, consistent with 

 Maxwell's showing that work is a transference 

 of energy and with that broad general prin- 

 ciple, the conservation of energy. 



M. M. Gaever 

 State College, Pa. 



a peculiar breed of goats 



To THE Editor of Science : There is a pecu- 

 liar breed of goats raised in central and east- 

 ern Tennessee. When suddenly frightened 

 the hind legs become stiff and the animal 

 jumps along until it recovers and trots off 

 normally or if greatly frightened the front 

 legs become stiff also and the goat falls to 

 the ground in a rigid condition. They have 

 received the name of " stiff -legged " or " sen- 

 sitive " goats. 



The farmers in Tennessee prefer them be- 

 cause they do not jump fences. They are 

 snow white and look like ordinary goats. 



We are starting experiments to determine 

 whether this is a dominant or recessive char- 

 acteristic in comparison with a normal goat. 



When this peculiar affliction first appeared 

 I can not say, but it seems to be possessed by 

 all the goats in the section named. 



J. J. Hooper 



Kentucky State Unrtersity 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS 



The Natural History of Hawaii: Being an 

 Account of the Hawaiian People, the Geol- 

 ogy and Geography of the Islands, and the 

 Native and Introduced Plants and Animals 

 of the Group. By William Alanson Bryan, 

 Professor of Zoology and Geology in the 

 College of Hawaii. Honolulu, Hawaii, The 

 Hawaiian Gazette Co., Ltd. 1915. Dis- 

 tributors, H. S. Crocker & Co., 565 Market 

 Street, San Erancisco ; G. E. Stechert & Co., 

 151 West 22d Street, New York. Price 

 $5.50. 



In 1907 and 1908 the American Association 

 for the Advancement of Science thought seri- 

 ously of going to Hawaii in the near future 

 for a summer meeting. Prominent citizens of 

 Hawaii joined the association in anticipation 

 of this visit, and invitations from Hawaiian 

 institutions were received in number. The 

 then governor of the Islands, Mr. Frear, called 

 on the Permanent Secretary in Washington, 

 and Professor W. A. Bryan, of the College of 

 Hawaii, attended the Chicago and Dartmouth 

 meetings of the association in 1908, urging the 

 mid-Pacific meeting. But difficulties of trans- 

 portation arose, and the plan was finally 

 abandoned at least until some future date. 

 Professor Bryan's effort, however, was not 

 without result, since during his visit he gained 

 his charming wife, and has now brought out 

 his great book on the natural history of 

 Hawaii, thus bringing the islands to the con- 

 tinental members of the association to console 

 them for the abandonment of the Hawaiian 

 meeting. 



Practically alone among the great scientific 

 societies in this country, the American Soci- 

 ety of Naturalists has preserved in its title 

 the old idea of natural history. The old nat- 

 ural history is still talked about and vsritten 

 about, while the old natural philosophy, so- 

 called, has gone out. But the old-fashioned 

 natural history books, with their great charm 

 and interest to a large class of readers, are 

 seldom published nowadays. 



This book of Professor Bryan's, however, is 

 a real natural history. It covers in its six 

 hundred pages the whole field. Section I., 



