July 29, 1892.] 



SCIENCE. 



61 



Bremen. He is the author of several important works, and 

 an essay of his, on "Ethnological Jurisprudence," was 

 translated and published last year in the Monist, at Chicago. 



In a recent number of the Globus he publishes some 

 "Ethnological Reflections," which are intended to set forth 

 the true position of ethnology with reference to other sci- 

 ences. He defines ethnology as " the natural history of so- 

 cial life," and he believes that the time will come when all 

 the so-called " social sciences " will be taught as its branches. 

 He points out with force that this will bring about a revolu- 

 tion in all traditional methods of education, for there is a 

 fundamental and irreconcilable antagonism between the 

 two methods. Natural science denies absolutely the free 

 will of man, the validity of a priori reasoning on any sub- 

 ject, the possibility of a " categorical imperative " in ethics, 

 the abstract truth of any doctrine of religion or morals, the 

 supremacy of any individual. All is an endless and un- 

 avoidable chain of cause and effect. 



It appears to me that such a view of ethnology is true so 

 far as it relates to the growth of societies under natural sur- 

 roundings. The social unit is cribbed and confined by iron 

 laws, and its development is in a measure subject to these; 

 but in a measure only. It is even less true of the individual. 

 For to deny free-will to man not only leads at once into 

 logical contradictions of the grossest kind, but is contrary to 

 the soundest maxims of inductive philosophy. As John 

 Stuart Mill, whom no one will accuse of prejudice, pointed 

 out, we are certain of nothing so surely as of our own feel- 

 ings, and of these the strongest is that of our own individu- 

 ality, and of it as a free agent. 



Dr. Post has here committed the same error as another 

 distinguished ethnologist, lately mentioned in these columns 

 {Science, June 3), that of seeking to- make ethnology syn- 

 thetic, when its study should be objective and analytic. 

 Where it leads him, his article curiously shows. On one 

 page he says that to the ethnologist no social condition is good 

 or bad, but merely present as a subject for study ; and on 

 the very next page he falls to bewailing the egotistic strife 

 in modern society as threatening the ruin of the social edi- 

 fice! 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



The next meeting the American Association for the Advance- 

 ment of Science, to be held in Rochester, N.Y., Aug. 17-24, will 

 be of unusual interest and importance, especially to the members 

 of the Section of Biology. At this meeting will be considered the 

 place of meeting for 1893, and consequently the attitude of the 

 associatiou toward the Columbian Exposition. But even of greater 

 importance to biologists will be the consideration and probably the 

 decision of the question of the division of the section into two, — 

 one for the botanists, and one for the zoologists. It is hoped, also, 

 that there will come up for discussion the report of the American 

 Branch of the International Committee on Biological Nomen- 

 ■olature. This report has nothing to do with the naming of 

 species, but will consider the terminology to be employed in an- 

 atomy, embryology, etc. In view of the matters of general in- 

 terest to the whole association, and those of vital interest to Section 

 F, it is expected that there will be a large attendance of botanists 

 and zoologists and a long list of papers to be presented before the 

 present section of biology. 



— Bulletin No. 23 of the West Virginia Agricultural Experi- 

 ment Station, entitled " Illustrated Descriptive List of Weeds," 

 contains a considerable amount of information in a condensed 

 form. It is written by Dr. C. F. Millspaugh, botanist of the sta- 

 tion. Illustrations of all the important families, as well as of a 

 number of species, enable one unfamiliar with the weeds to recog- 

 nize them. Short descriptions are given of each, with mention of 



any special medicinal value they may possess as household reme- 

 dies. Some two hundred species are mentioned. One might 

 reasonably question the justice of considering the locust {Robinia 

 pseudaoacia), the honey locust {Gleditsehia triacanthos) , or the 

 wild hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens) as weeds. The list 

 would naturally not be the same for all States, but it is a little 

 surprising not to find Potentilla norvegica mentioned. In south- 

 western Ohio, and doubtless other localities, whole fields have 

 been overrun by this plant, and it is much worse in this respect 

 than P. canadensis, whicli is mentioned in tlie Bulletin. A num- 

 ber of typographical errors show carelessness in proof-reading. 



— At a meeting of the Paris Geographical Society on May 20, 

 according to The Scottish Geographical Magazine, M. Venukoflf 

 gave a sketch of the surveys executed in Russia during the year 

 1891. After referring to the exploration of the Black Sea con- 

 tinued by MM. Spindler, Andrussof, and Wrangell, of which an 

 account was given on page 154 of this volume, he turned to the 

 geodetic and topographical work executed in the Crimea, which 

 has been the means of ascertaining that the Roman Kosh (5,601 

 feet high) is the culminating point of the mountains of the penin- 

 sula, and not the Tchatyr Dagh (5,002 feet), as has hitherto been 

 supposed. The phenomena of terrestrial magnetism and the local 

 attractions of the mountains of the Crimea have also received at- 

 tention. Among the geodetic works produced is a large map of 

 the triangulation between Kishineff and Astrakhan, along the 

 parallel of 47° 30' N. This arc extends over nineteen degrees of 

 longitude. It is remarkable that this triangulation, though quite 

 independent, agrees exactly with that of the 52d parallel in regard 

 to the anomalies observed in the length of different degrees of 

 longitude (see vol. vii., p. 494). Between the same meridians the 

 differences of the lengths of degrees of longitude, as measured 

 geodetically and calculated astronomically, have always the same 

 sign. 



— For several years the chemical division of the U. S. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture, under H. W. Wiley, has been giving consid- 

 erable attention to the subject of adulterants, and in part seventh 

 of bulletin No. 13 is reported a series of investigations made on the 

 adulterations of tea, coffee, and cocoa preparations. The conclu- 

 sion reached is that teas are not now adulterated to so great an 

 extent as formerly, and that the adulterants used are, as a rule, 

 not such as may be considered prejudicial to health. In the case 

 of coffee the use of adulterants seems to be on the increase. Of 

 the samples of ground coffee examined, 90 per cent were found 

 to be adulterated in some way, some of them containing no coffee 

 whatever. Chicory is largely used as an adulterant of coffee, as 

 well as wheat, rye, corn, peas, acorns, molasses, etc. Not only is 

 ground coffee adulterated, but numerous imitations of unground 

 coffee are on the market, a few imitating green coffee, but the 

 larger number intended to be mixed with roasted coffees. The 

 following description of some of them is taken from the bulletin : 

 " 8,951. Coffee pellets, molded, but not in the form of coffee beans. 

 When mixed with ground coffee would escape the notice of the 

 purchaser, also probably in mixture with whole coffee. Compo- 

 sition; wheat flour and bran, rye also probably present. Manu- 

 factured by the Clark Coffee Company, oflSce 156 State Street, 

 Boston; factory, Roxbury, Mass. Price, 6 cents per pound, orSj 

 cents in 10-barrel lots. The manufactmrers claim that an addi- 

 tion of 33 per cent of these ' pellets ' to genuine coffee will make 



' an equal drink to the straight goods.' The manufacturers, 

 after making extravagant claims for their product, state, with 

 evident intention to further a fraud, that ' it is uniform in color, 

 and can be furnished with any desired color of roast.' 8,955. 

 Imitation coffee beans. Composed of wheat flour, light roast. 

 Manufactm-ed by the Swedish Coffee Company, New York, 8,956. 

 Similar to 8,955, and of the same manufacture. Composition; 

 wheat flour and probably saw-dust. Dark roast; two kinds of 

 berries. 8,957. Imitation coffee beans. Composition; wheat 

 flour. Manufactured by L. H. Hall, 1,017 ChestnutStreet, Phila- 

 delphia, Pa." Another method of sophisticating coffee is to treat 

 it for the manufacture of coffee extract, after which the grains 

 are roasted a second time, with the addition of a little sugar to 

 cover the berries with a deceptive glazing. 



