December 2, 1892.] 



SCIENCE. 



2^7 



and strychnine, however, have so much similarity of action upon 

 the spinal cord that the use of one of them would probably some- 

 what increase any danger that may have been incurred by the 

 administration of large doses of the other. 



On the other hand, atropine has little influence upon the 

 spinal cord, its general physiological action being quite distinct 

 from that of cocaine or strychnine. It is therefore probable that 

 by the consentaneous use of atropine and strychnine, or of atro- 

 pine and cocaine, the physician may obtain the advantage of 

 what, many years ago, I spoke of as the "crossed action" of 

 drugs; the two drugs touching and reinforcing one another in 

 their influence upon the respiratory functions, and spreading wide 

 apart from each other in their unwished for and deletereous 

 effects. 



In conclusion, for the sake of any one who may be interested in 

 the details of this research, it may be stated that it will shortly be 

 published in full in the English Journal of Physiology. 



LETTEES TO THE EDITOR. 



*** Correspondents are requested to be (ta brief as possible. The lorizer's name 

 is in all cases required as proof of good faith. 



On request in advance, one hundred copies of the number containing his 

 com.munication will be furnished free to any correspondent. 



The editor will be glad to publish any queries consonant with the character 

 of the journal. 



Man and the Glacial Period. 



A MISLEADING paragraph in Dr. Brinton's otherwise excellent 

 review of a recent publication under the above caption,' in con- 

 nection with the Reverend Professor Wright's response,^ seems to 

 demand a further word. Dr. Brinton errs in saying " As a 

 glacialist, the author of this volume stands among the first in the 

 country, and his long study of that remarkable period in the geo- 

 logic history of our planet invests everything he says about it with 

 uncommon authority. '' 



Within recent years there has grown up a new branch of geo- 

 logic science, which has been called by its devotees "geomorphic 

 geology," " geomorphology,'' and still more acceptably "geo- 

 morphy," and which is frequently spoken of as the " New 

 Geology." It is the function of geomorphy to read geologic his- 

 tory from earth-forms, as the older geology read history from 

 deposits and their fossils. Beginning a score of years ago with 

 Powell's conception of the "base-level," at which erosion ceases, 

 the primary idea has extended and expanded until now ihe geolo- 

 gist not only recognizes ancient base-levels in certain topographic 

 forms, but is able to determine from steepness of slopes and other 

 topographic relations the rate at which erosion has proceeded in 

 the past, and thereby the attitude and altitude of the land during 

 earlier ages. This branch of science has been successfully pur- 

 sued by a number of geologists in this country and a few abroad, 

 and is taught in three or four universities; and it has been found 

 of especial use in the study of glacial deposits It is, however, a 

 sealed book to Professor Wright; not a syllable in his latest work, 

 or in any other of his many publications, or in his public utter- 

 ances before scientific societies, suggests that he is aware of the 

 existence of the New Geology. 



Within two decades the discriminating genius of Ohamberlin 

 and a score of fellow-workers in this country has thrown much 

 light on the events and episodes of the glacial period. Largely 

 through the application of geomorphy, it has been shown that the 

 glacial deposits of north-eastern America represent two, three, or 

 more distinct ice invasions occurring at different epochs in a long 

 period, and that the earliest of these deposits is many times older 

 than the latest — indeed the leading authorities agree that if the 

 post-glacial period be represented by unity, then the entire glacial 

 period must be represented by two figures. This succession of ice 

 deposits and ice invasions is not, indeed, recognized by some of 

 those glacialists whose observations have been confined to regions 

 in which only a single deposit is represented ; but with one or two 

 exceptions (including our author's namesake, A. A. Wright, pro- 

 fessor of geology at Oberlin) every geologist who has studied the 



1 Science, vol. xs., 1892, p. 249. 



2 Op. clt., pp. aT5-277. 



marginal drift holds to the bipartite or tripartite or multipartite 

 character of glacial deposits and glacial history. This succession 

 is not admitted by the Reverend Professor Wright. Accordingly, 

 his ideas concerning early man have no definite time-basis and 

 cannot be discussed intelligently by modern archaeologists — it 

 would be as easy to discuss the opinions of an author who con- 

 founded not only all the successive dynasties recorded in the 

 monuments and hieroglyphs of Egypt but also the works of the 

 modern fellahin, or of a genealogist who argued that the families 

 of a dozen successive generations dined together at the same 

 board. As an exposition of the antiquity of man and the glacial 

 theory, " Man and the Glacial Period " is a cry from the tombs of 

 a dead past; it represents the primitive knowledge of a quarter- 

 century ago, and might then have been considered authoritative; 

 but its publication to-day is an offense to science. 



Professor Wright objects to Dr. Brinton's "flippant treat- 

 ment " of the Nampa figurine, and insists that a geologist who 

 happened to detect the fraud on the ground should burden scien- 

 tific literature with some detailed statement. It does not seem 

 to occur to him that the gentleman in question avoided rushing 

 into print simply because the fraud was too transparent to de- 

 ceive geologists, who alone are competent to deal with questions 

 concerning the geologic antiquity of man. Respectable and cul- 

 tured gentlemen seem indeed to have been deceived by this al- 

 leged "find," — but they were not geologists; so, too, respectable 

 and cultured people, includingan illustrious naturalist, have been 

 deluded by a Philadelphia adventurer with an alleged motor, — 

 but no physicist was deceived; in like manner, intelligent and 

 honest people have been deluded by a brazen pretender into the 

 belief that the heavens may be frightened into tears by cannon- 

 adins — but the meteorologists are not deluded ; and the circle- 

 squares and perpetual- motion inventors are abroad in the land, 

 yet the mathematicians and the mechanicians are not deceived. 

 And it would be folly for the physicist, the meteorologist, the 

 mathematician, and the mechanician to rush into print and adver- 

 tise each new fraud, for thereby the press would be flooded and 

 liViraries crowded, while fraud would only flourish the more for 

 the advertising. So long as poor human nature remains as it is, 

 the knave and the dupe we shall always have with us; and it is 

 to be regretted that a presumably competent authority in his own 

 specialty of theology should be willing to assume either role in 

 another line of activity. 



The author of the work has indeed visited many existing gla- 

 ciers, and his observations would be of value to geologists if they 

 could be accepted with confidence. A case in point is his meas- 

 urement of the rate of flow in Muir glacier, in which he em- 

 ployed primitive methods and recorded a result so extraordinary 

 as to challenge credulity. Subsequently, the measurement was 

 repeated by Professor Eeid by a superior method, with a widely 

 different result which is in harmony with all other observations. 

 Instead of acknowledging his evident blunder, or even passing over 

 the matter in silence, Professor Wright has the assurance to 

 " talk round'" the issue (p. 47), and thereby impugns the excel- 

 lent work of a later observer. 



" Man and the Glacial Period " is published by a reputable 

 house as one of an "International Scientific Series," and thereby 

 acquires a respectability to which otherwise it could not aspire. 

 Dr. Brinton has fairly, albeit charitably, shown its weakness 

 from the standpoint of anthropology ; other reviewers have shown 

 that it sinks even lower when viewed from the standpoint of 

 geology.^ In other ways, too, the title-page conveys erroneous 

 impressions as to the profession and standing of the author. Thus, 

 he takes unto himself the title ''Assistant on the United States 

 Geological Survey." The facts are, that he was temporarily 

 employed by one of the collaborators of the bureau largely for the 

 purpose of testing his competence as an observer; and that the 

 test resulted unsatisfactorily to the bureau and was brought to 

 an end several years ago. 



In brief, the world would be wiser if the book were not 

 written. W. J. McGee. 



Washington, D.C. 



3 Eg., Professor T. C. chamberlin in The Dial, Vol. XIII., pp. 30:J-306, No- 

 vember 16, 1892. 



