July i, 1892.] 



SCIENCE. 



Since psychology has been taken oul of the field of metaphysics, 

 and has entered the domain of the natural sciences, it has devel- 

 oped marvellously. The accuracy and stability it has attained 

 are proportionate to its development. Biology has brought about 

 this change. The former position psychology occupied was not 

 so much to determine the relation and connection between mind 

 and organism as to determine the science of pure thought. But 

 now psychologists have studied the brain, anatomists have dissected 

 the cerebral lobes, chemists have analyzed the different substances 

 of the nerves and brain, and its size, weight, shape, and specific 

 gravity have been taken into account for the sole purpose of deter- 

 mining psychical phenomena; also the laws of development have 

 been applied to the phenomena of the human mind. The study of 

 animal instinct, the growth of children, the customs, habits, and 

 beliefs of early tribes and races, the study of defectives, the study of 

 the brain and the senses and the logical connections of ideas, have 

 all received their share of attention. There is no psychical phe- 

 nomenon and no act of human conduct which does not come 

 within the province of psychology. The sciences of ethics, of 

 theology, of law, of jurisprudence, of history, of medicine, of 

 pedagogy, and of politics presume a knowledge of the workings 

 of the human mind. For who, unless competent to analyze cor- 

 rectly and justly the feelings, desires, and motives that prompt 

 action, would desii'e to determine the motives that underlie human 

 conduct or pass upon the laws of right and wrong. How much 

 more humane would a person be in his judgment upon the acts and 

 conduct of another if he knew the causes of them. How many 

 mistakes would be avoided in the training and education of the 

 young, if parents and teachers were more conversant with the 

 principles of psychology. How much more accurate could judges 

 be in dispensing justice, if they were less dependent upon their 

 personal experience, and knew more about the principles of psy- 

 cology. What material aid could lawyers give in establishing the 

 truth, if they were well versed in the study of psychology. How 

 many grave blunders could be avoided, if statesmen and legis- 

 lators under.'^tood more thoroughly the spirit of the times and the 

 IJopular mind. 



That the larger portion of professional men know little, if any- 

 thing, about psychology cannot be denied, and if they do know 

 something about the study, their knowledge is either founded on 

 their personal experience and on common maxims, or it is de- 

 rived from some book written from some particular standpoint. 

 Most of such knowledge is incorrect and wrong, and it is one of 

 the objects of psychology to correct these false notions. 



In conclusion, 1 will quote John Stuart Mill, who has given an 

 excellent statement of the reasons why psychology should be 

 studied. He says: "Psychology, in truth, is simply the knowl- 

 edge of the laws of huuian nature. If there is anything that de- 

 serves to be studied by man, it is his own nature and that of his 

 fellow-men; and if it is worth studying at all, it is worth studying 

 scientifically ro as to reach the fundamental laws which underlie 

 and govern all the rest. There are certain observed laws of our 

 thoughts and our feelings, which rest upon experimental evidence, 

 and, once seized , are a clue to the interpretation of much that we are 

 ■conscious of in ourselves, and observe in one another. Such, for 

 example, ai-e the laws of association. Psychology, so far as it 

 consists of such laws, is as positive and certain a science as chem- 

 istry, and tit to be taught as such." 



Franexdj a. Bechee. 



Milwaukee, Wis. 



Ball-Lightning. 



During a severe thunderstorm yesterday the phenomenon of 

 ball-lightning was seen in this village. An inspection of the lo- 

 cality shows that the ball was located between a telephone wire 

 and a conductor-pipe about three feet distant, and was doubtless 

 of the nature of an electrical brush preceding the disruptive dis- 

 charge. It was of a reddish color, and exploded with a report 

 like a musket; but did no damage, nor was it attended by any 

 smell perceptible to those who saw it, although they were distant 

 not more than five feet. M. A. Veedkb. 



Lyons, N. T., June 2S. 



BOOK-REVIEWS. 



Animal Coloration. By Frank E. Beddaed. 8°. New York, 

 Macmillan & Co. 



In the opinion of the writer the most concise and useful treatise 

 upon the important subject of animal coloration has very recently 

 appeared from the presses of Macmillan & Co. Its author, Mr. 

 Frank E. Beddard, F.R.S., is especially favorably known in this 

 country, among morphologists, through his numerous and admir- 

 able publications which have appeared in connection with bis 

 duties as prosector to the Zoological Society of London. That 

 position, coupled with the fact that Mr. Beddard has made exten- 

 sive collections of materials to illustrate his " Davis Lectures'" on 

 the subject of which his present volume treats, is ample evidence 

 that he was peculiarly well fitted to deal with the subject. The 

 work, a small octavo of some 300 pages, is gotten up with all 

 that exquisite taste and style which has long ago made the house 

 of the Macmillans so justly famous. Many excellent wood -cuts 

 and several beautiful, colored lithographic plates illustrate its 

 pages, they being especially devoted to giving striking examples 

 of "protective coloration" among animals, as well as "protective 

 mimicry," " sexual coloration," "warning coloration," "colora- 

 tion as affected by environment," and numerous kindred topics. 

 Completing the volume, we find a well-digested " General In- 

 dex," and an " Index of Authors' Names." Among the latter we 

 note those of many laborers in this country, and it is gratifying 

 to see that America's work along such lines is upon the constant 

 increase, and from year to year meets with enhanced favor. Our 

 author, in his " Introductory," clearly defines the distinction be- 

 tween "Color" and "Coloration," the former being the actual 

 tints which are found in animals, the latter simply referring to 

 their arrangement or pattern. Of course, the terms become syn- 

 onymous in uni-tinted animals. " The colours of animals are due 

 either solely to the presence of definite pigments in the skin, or, 

 in the case of transparent animals, to pigment in the tissues lying 

 beneath the skin ; or, they are partly caused by optical effects due 

 to the scattering, diffraction, or unequal refraction of the light 

 rays." Other matters more or less remotely bearing upon this 

 part of the subject are briefly, though ably, dealt with, nothing of 

 importance having been overlooked. Mr. Beddard has not re- 

 mained satisfied with drawing upon any special class or group of 

 animals for illustration, but has carried his investigations into all 

 nature, touching in the most brilliant manner upon the signifi- 

 cance of the colors and coloration of "deep-sea forms," "cave 

 animals," and indeed plant and animal growths from all parts of 

 the globe. Nor has he omitted to discuss the theories of various 

 other authorities than those advanced by himself ; in short, the 

 entire subject covered by this highly inviting field of research seems 

 to be brought fully up to date, and in many instances the book even 

 extends our knowledge. Biologists everywhere wiU thank Mr. 

 Beddard for this contribution, and its modest price (•$3.50) will 

 constitute no real barrier to its soon appearing upon the shelves of 

 every working naturalist in the United States. 



R. W. SHtJFELDT. 

 Takoma, D.C. 



AJIONG "the publishers. 



A NEW work on astronomy, entitled in "Starry Realms, " has 

 recently come from the press of J. B. Lippincott Company. The 

 object of the work is to give the general reader some sketches of 

 specially interesting matters relatrag to the heavenly bodies. The 

 opening chapters are devoted to the more important relations of 

 the sun to the earth, in which the author Olustrates the different 

 functions which the sun performs. The moon's hisiory, and the 

 phenomena attendant upon the lunar worM, the planets, the 

 meteors, the stars, are also ably considered. The work is embel- 

 lished with ten full- page illustrations, and others in the text. 



— Beginning with the July number, the magazine hitherto 

 known as Babyhood will bear the name of Tlie Mother's JS^ursery 

 Guide, which expresses its purpose more fullj- and clearly than 

 did the old appellation. There is no other change discernable in 

 the e.-isential features of the magazine, which looks back upon a 



