November 25, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



151 



are said to lack originality, but tliis is perfectly 

 natural under the conditions In which they 

 have been forced to live. They are almost 

 hopelessly indolent, but no one, not even a 

 white man, could work there as he would in a 

 temperate region and live. He has many good 

 qualities, however, to counterbalance these de- 

 fects in his character. His open-handed and 

 cheerful hospitality is much in bis favor. He is 

 cleanly, both with regard to his person and his 

 surroundings. His houses and family are well 

 regulated. He is patient and forbearing, but 

 when he does get angry becomes a perfect 

 maniac. He is a kind father and dutiful son. 

 He is genial and sociable among his fellows, 

 and is naturally fearless. 



With all these good qualities they seem, 

 however, to be absolutely unlit for self-govern- 

 ment, and probably their lack of education is 

 the main difBculty in the way of their realizing 

 this important object. They appear to be ' big 

 children who must be treated like little ones,' 

 but as they are naturally law-abiding and 

 peace-loving there is some hope of them. 



The natural resources and the conditions 

 governing their development are dealt with in 

 the appendix. 



William Libbey. 



GENERAL. 



After four years a new edition of M. Ch. 

 F&re' s La familte neuropathique (Alcan) has been 

 called for, and the author has used the occasion 

 not only to revise the work throughout, but 

 also to add much new material. A chapter is 

 now devoted to the heredity of tumors ; the 

 discussion of monstrosities and their experi- 

 mental production is enlarged as the result of 

 new contributions, and the abundant recent 

 literature on physical and mental degeneration 

 is incorporated. The heredity of bodily dis- 

 eases and malformations is a subject sufficiently 

 difficult, while in the case of mental degenera- 

 tion there is at present almost complete chaos. 

 When M. Fer6 discusses the hereditary trans- 

 mission of vice, crime and eveu functional dis- 

 turbances of the nervous system it is impossible 

 to be sure that what he regards as hereditary is 

 not entirely due to environment. When he 

 says we must spread precise ideas of the causes 



of degeneration, and then proceeds to give the 

 five causes, at least half of them are extremely 

 doubtful. It is not even certain that degenera- 

 tion does obtain in modern society. M. Fere's 

 review, is, however, on the whole objective, 

 and is made especially valuable by the ample 

 references to the literature. It appears from 

 the index of names that more than 1200 sepa- 

 rate authors are quoted, and full bibliograph- 

 ical details are supplied. 



Professor Karl Geoos's work on ' The 

 Play of Animals ' has been translated into ex- 

 cellent English by Miss Elizabeth L. Baldwin 

 and published by the Appletons. As the c<litor. 

 Professor J. Mark Baldwin, says in his preface, 

 the volume is a contribution to three depart- 

 ments of enquiry — philosophical biology, com- 

 parative psychology and the genesis of art. 

 Being thus of interest to many students, the 

 English version will prove most useful. It is 

 not necessary to give an account of the contents 

 of the book, as the German edition was the oc- 

 casion of a thorough critical review by Professor 

 Baldwin (Vol. V., pp. 347-52). Indeed, then 

 was first adequately signalized the importance 

 of Professor Groos's work. The promised com- 

 panion volume on the play of children is 

 awaited with much interest. 



We are glad to call attention to the second 

 edition of Dr. Verworn's General Physiology, 

 the original edition of which has already been 

 reviewed in these columns (Vol. II., pp. 557-8). 

 The second edition shows many improvements 

 upon the first, and many of the subjects which 

 were somewhat scantily dealt with in the earlier 

 edition are now treated more fully ; but the 

 general plan and execution of the work re- 

 mains closely similar to that of the original 

 edition, so that we hold it to be unnecessai-y to 

 do more than again commend the work to the 

 attention of American biologists, and to express 

 the hope that general physiology, in the sense 

 of the science of the functions of the cell, may 

 receive in this country a much greater attention 

 than has hitherto been the case. For this rea- 

 son the translation of the work by Professor F. 

 S. Lee, of Columbia University, announced for 

 early publication by The Blacmillan Co., will be 

 particularly welcome. 



