SEPTEMBER 3, 1897. ] 
are thus not fully acquainted with the literature 
of the subjects involved. 
Particular attention should also be called to 
Chapters XVIII., XXVI. and XXVII., con- 
cerning ‘Humus or Vegetable Mould,’ ‘Lime 
and Lime Compounds,’ and ‘Sodium Com- 
pounds.’’ It is eminently desirable that the 
information given in these chapters should be 
more generally disseminated, in view of the 
useless dissertations on these subjects by irre- 
sponsible writers. Humus, particularly, is an 
engaging topic for discussion by those who do 
not understand what it means. The same is 
true of lime—fruitless discussions are entered 
into, largely because of the lack of knowledge 
concerning the principles involved. So, too, 
with the matter of sodium as a fertilizer ; 
papers teem with articles that are calculated to 
lead astray rather than to fix valuable truths in 
the mind of the farmer. Such articles also 
seem to possess a peculiar attraction for the 
general reader, and the result is ‘confusion 
worse confounded.’ 
In Chapter XV. of Volume II. the subject of 
‘Symbiosis, or Blended Growth,’ is discussed in 
the light of the recently acquired facts concern- 
ing this very important subject 
That the legumes may and do, under proper 
conditions, use atmospheric nitrogen, is one of 
the most important recent discoveries in agri- 
cultural science, and the matter in its scientific 
and practical relations is fully and clearly set 
forth. 
Volume III. contains fourteen chapters. It 
treats more particularly of ‘The Theory and 
Practice and Systems of Crop Rotations,’ the 
principles involved in and the advantages of 
‘Trrigation,’ ‘The Use of Sewage,’ and ‘The 
Growth and Management of Cereal Crops,’ hay 
and pastures and the ‘Making of Silage.’ In 
the handling of these subjects, not only are the 
principles of chemistry as applied to agriculture 
well traced and made plain, but important 
practical suggestions are made concerning the 
economical principles involved in the general 
Imanagement of farms and in the growth of the 
various crops. The chapter on irrigation, while 
written from ‘the point of view of a New 
Englander,’ is, in view of the necessity of fully 
utilizing the natural advantages of the Hast, 
SCIENCE. 
375 
very timely, since it calls attention to the sub- 
ject and points out conditions which are 
necessary for successful irrigation. Much of 
historical interest is included, also. The chapter 
on ‘ Ensilage’—it should be ‘Silage’—is also 
up-to-date and includes much of value not 
otherwise readily accessible. 
On the whole, the work may be regarded as 
of very great value to students and farmers 
alike, and should be in the library of every pro- 
gressive man. The reader or student who takes 
up these volumes cannot fail to be impressed 
not only with the vastness of the subject in- 
eluded under the title ‘Scientific Agriculture,’ 
but also with the very great necessity to farmers 
of the present day of a knowledge of the princi- 
ples upon which agriculture is based. 
It may, perhaps, seem strange to the average 
person, that so little of the work of American 
investigatorsis cited by the author, for, with the 
exception of the Chapter on ‘Silage,’ compara- 
tively few references are made to experiments 
conducted in this country. This is, doubtless, 
due in part to the fact that our experiment 
stations are’comparatively new institutions, and 
that thus far but few workers are engaged upon 
purely scientific problems; much, however, of 
scientific interest, and that would add to the 
value of the work, has been overlooked. 
While the work is a veritable storehouse of 
information, there is a profuseness of statement 
and an elaboration of details which seriously 
detracts from its usefulness, either as a ready 
work of reference or as a text-book for the 
student or progressive farmer. Sharp, clear- 
cut statements of principle and of fact are at- 
tractive, and appeal quite as strongly to the 
general reader in works of a scientific nature 
as in other lines of literature. 
EDWARD B. VOORHEES. 
RUTGERS COLLEGE, 
NEW BRUNSWICK, N. J. 
The Sense of Beauty, being the Outlines of Alsthetic 
Theory. GEORGE SANTAYANA. New York, 
Charles Scribner’s Sons. 1896. 
So much has been written upon the theory of 
Aisthetiecs which, from the point of view of the 
trained intelligence, is nonsense pure and 
simple that the appearance of so noteworthy a 
