February i, 1889. J 



SCIENCE. 



moved with the least work, a cut has been commenced, forming a 

 somewhat irregular groove, following to some extent the irregular 

 surface of the bowlder. It is 12 centimetres long, and 0.2 of a 

 centimetre deep. From inspection, I should say it had been 

 worked by means of a stone knife or the edge of some silicious 

 rock not having a cutting edge of more than 2 or 3 centimetres at 

 the greatest. The whole bowlder is wedge-shaped, and 29 centi- 

 metres in length. Its weight is a few ounces less than 20 pounds. 

 The four faces are of olive green, the more prominent rounded 

 surfaces being veined with a rich dark green. In my collection in 

 the American Museum of Natural History there is a small nugget 

 about the size of a hen's egg, with a groove in it ; a dark green 

 jade ; and I have also in my possession a piece of unworked jade 

 of a rich sea-green, which I found an Indian wearing as a scratcher. 

 It has well-rounded edges and well-polished surfaces, proving long 

 wear. Among forty-three pieces I have collected among the 

 Tlingit, these are the only ones that show that jade has been worked 

 on the spot. Jade has been used for implements, generally for 

 adzes, axes, or fighting-picks, the last mounted in wooden han- 

 dles." 



The finding of this bowlder of jade showing "worked surfaces is 

 important, as it proves that the material was found and worked in 

 southern Alaska. It will be remembered that Dr. G. M. Dawson 

 found a bowlder of the same description on the lower Fraser River, 

 and that Jacobsen and Dawson found bowlders of this material, al- 

 though the rock has not been found z« siiii. Lieut. Emmons adds 

 that he is very hopeful of finding the exact locality from which the 

 Alaskan jade is obtained, as he received trustworthy information 

 referring to this interesting question from the natives. 



Navajo Industries. — While in former years the "Proceed- 

 ings of the United States National Museum " contained almost ex- 

 clusively essays on zoological, botanical, and geological subjects, 

 in the new volume, which is being issued in signatures, much at- 

 tention is paid to ethnological points. To Professor Otis T. Mason's 

 energetic endeavors we owe some interesting notes on the methods 

 of manufacture among the Navajo, for Dr. Shufeldt's remarks on 

 the method of preparing deer-skins by this people was written at his 

 instance. The most interesting portion of this essay is the descrip- 

 tion of the process of tanning, which is done by means of a decoc- 

 tion of brains applied to the outer side of the skin after the hair has 

 been removed. It is said that by this process the skin attains its 

 softness and pliability. Mr. A. M. Stephen contributes some notes 

 on the art of shoemaking and a myth explaining certain customs 

 connected with this art. He tells that in olden times the Navajo 

 used to wear grass shoes, until a deity came and taught them the 

 art of making leather shoes. As this deity's face is gray, the 

 Navajo must avoid looking at anything gray, — for instance, the 

 fresh-cut edges of a skin, — and therefore the latter must always 

 be painted red, yellow, blue, or black. 



BOOK-REVIEWS. 



Elements of Machine Design. ByJ.F. KLEIN. Bethlehem, Penn., 

 The Comenius Press. 8". $6. 



Gear Tables for laying out Acctcrate Tooth Profiles. By J. F. 

 Klein. Bethlehem, Penn., The Comenius Press. 



In this work. Professor Klein, who is professor of mechanical en- 

 gineering at Lehigh L'niversity, treats of the most important of the 

 machine parts that appear in practice, giving their proportions and 

 the main considerations governing their use and construction. The 

 work is not, nor does it claim to be, a complete treatise upon the 

 subject of machine design, but it is a series of notes and plates spe- 

 cially arranged for students of machinery desiring practice in de- 

 signing the commonly occurring machine forms, and is well adapted, 

 in extent and character, to the requirements of technical schools. 

 It contains much that is new, including a diagram and tables for 

 determining the diameter of stepped-cone pulleys, extensive tables 

 of co-ordinates for laying out toothed profiles, a determination of the 

 cross-sections of connectmg-rods, and a method of finding belt- 

 widths from their specific duty. 



Pains have evidently been taken to make the work convenient for 



reference. The symbols used in the formulas are placed in alpha- 

 betical order at the beginning of each chapter, which consists of a 

 plate with its accompanying notes ; the formulas are numbered ; 

 and the index is very full, being divided into four columns, referring 

 respectively to pages, formulas, figures, and tables. To insure dura- 

 bility, the plates and gear tables are printed on strong bond-paper. 



The first five chapters of the book are devoted to fastenings, in- 

 cluding bolts and nuts, rivets and riveted joints, keys, and gibs and 

 cotters. Seven chapters treat of gearing, toothed and belt. Of the 

 remaining chapters, one each is devoted to rotating pieces, bearings, 

 connecting-rods, and gear tables. 



That portion of the book devoted to gear tables has been issued 

 in separate form, for the use of pattern-makers, machinists, draughts- 

 men, and students of engineering. The tables are printed on both 

 sides of one large card, 17 by 20 inches, so as to get them into com- 

 pact form for use in the shop, draughting-room, or college. The 

 use of the tables is made clear by examples worked out in detail, 

 and illustrated by suitably drawn figures. 



TJie Secret Doctrine: The Synthesis of Science, Religion, and 

 Philosophy. 2 vols. By H. P. Blavatsky. New York, 

 William Q. Judge. 8". 



The connection between this work and science can only be 

 shown on the Hegelian principle of the identity of contradictories ; 

 for it has not a single characteristic of a scientific treatise. It is a 

 pure fiction from beginning to end, — a work of imagination, pre- 

 tending to give an account of the creation and evolution of the 

 world, but without even an attempt at proof. The nucleus of the 

 book consists of some passages alleged to be taken from the " Secret 

 Book of Dzyan," which, the authoress tells us, " is utterly un- 

 known to our philologists, or, at any rate, was never heard of by 

 them under its present name." And in her preface she says, " The 

 writer, therefore, is fully prepared to take all the responsibility for 

 what is contained in this work, and even to face the charge of 

 having invented the whole of it." The passages from the " Book 

 of Dzyan '' are followed by an elaborate commentary ; and that 

 they need it will be evident from the following extracts, which re- 

 late to the beginning of creation : " The eternal parent wrapped in 

 her ever invisible robes had slumbered once again for seven 

 eternities. . . . But where was the Dangma when the Alaya of 

 the universe was in Paramartha, and the great wheel was Anu- 

 padaka.' . . . The root remains, the light remains, the curds re- 

 main ; but still Oeaohoo is one ; " and so on for many pages. 



When we inquire more closely into Mrs. Blavatsky 's doctrine, 

 we find it at bottom pantheistic. She holds to the existence of " an 

 omnipresent, eternal, boundless, and immutable Principle, on which 

 all speculation is impossible, since it transcends the power of human 

 conception." Sometimes, however, she speaks as if this first Prin- 

 ciple was the same as Space, which she calls " the seven-skinned 

 eternal Mother-Father." To trace the evolution of the universe 

 and of man from this first Principle is the object of this work, and 

 is pursued through over fourteen hundred octavo pages, with more 

 to come. We cannot undertake to give even the shortest abstract 

 of the work, which reads like the Hindu and Babylonian cosmolo- 

 gies ; but those who wish to see what antics the human imagina- 

 tion is capable of may profitably consult these volumes. There is 

 one item, however, to which we must call attention. It seems that 

 this occult and incomprehensible doctrine is connected with the 

 Keely motor. We are told that there is in the universe a mys- 

 terious force capable of reducing a whole army to atoms in a few 

 seconds ; and " this great archatis is now discovered by, and only 

 for, one man, — Mr. J. W. Keely of Philadelphia." It appears, 

 however, that Keely is not destined to succeed with his discovery, 

 because it " would lead to a knowledge of one of the most occult 

 secrets, — a secret which can never be allowed to fall into the 

 hands of the masses." We are also informed that " the secret 

 teachings with regard to the evolution of the universal Kosmos 

 cannot be given, since they could not be undertsood by the highest 

 minds in this age ; " so that we shall have to content ourselves 

 with what Mrs. Blavatsky may reveal to us. The extracts we 

 have here given, which might have been multiplied indefinitely, 

 will give our readers a general idea of her work, and will show 

 that whatever may be the value of her " science, religion, and 



