December 30, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



957 



the heads of some chipmunks of California, 

 showing distinct species produced through iso- 

 lation and very well drawn by Mr. W. S. Atkin- 

 son, forms the frontispiece, though we have been 

 unable to find any reference to it in the text. 



Dr. Jordan's own studies on the relation be- 

 tween latitude and the number of vertebrae con- 

 tains many interesting facts, but these are not 

 correlated with a number of similar cases of 

 change in structure characterizing local varieties 

 and races, which would throw more light on 

 this attractive subject, though all these cases 

 appear primarily to be due to local or com- 

 paratively restricted changes of the environ- 

 ment, and secondarily to isolation. 



The chapter on ' the evolution of fossil cepha- 

 lopoda,' by Dr. Smith, gives the results, some 

 very striking, of long- continued studies on the 

 evolution of these animals, and will be of much 

 value to the specialist in paleontology. It is 

 illustrated by five excellent plates. 



The reviewer hardly feels qualified to pass 

 judgment on the sociological chapters, but has 

 enjoyed reading them and thinks that they merit 

 attention, and will undoubtedly secure it from a 

 wide circle of readers. They are all concerned 

 with some of the burning questions of the day. 

 The fancy sketch of ' the heredity of Richard 

 Roe ' is very well done. Based on the essays of 

 Galton and others, with studies of his own, our 

 author shows that the same conditions which 

 have resulted in the formation of the English 

 race will apply to such a colonial type as ours, 

 and that in a few centuries " these same condi- 

 tions will unite to form a ' Brother Jonathan ' 

 as definite in qualities and as ' set in his ways ' 

 as his ancestor, the traditional 'John Bull.' " 



The chapters on ' the evolution of the mind,' 

 'degeneration,' 'hereditary inefiiciency,' 'the 

 woman of evolution and pessimism,' 'the sta- 

 bility of truth ' and ' the struggle for realities' 

 contain strong, wholesome thoughts presented 

 in a clear, simple, homely style, which seem to 

 us sound, progressive and most timely. When 

 our race, and bur people especially, wake up to 

 and realize the strength and nature of the forces 

 for evil, the tendencies to degeneration, and 

 begin to battle with and overcome these — when 

 that moment arrives, our nation need not fear 

 the negro problem, the pauper phantoms of the 



submerged thousands of our cities or the scan- 

 dalous influence of our boss politicians. Then 

 with the ever-growing strength resulting from 

 long striving and experience in ruling the savage 

 and barbarian elements actually among us, we 

 can reach out and absorb, and perhaps turn to 

 some good use, rather than exterminate, the 

 millions of the barbarous and uncivilized of the 

 Philippines, which have suddenly drifted in upon 

 us as the wreckage of war. 



A. S. Packard. 



Earth Sculpture or the Origin of Land-forms. By 



James Geikie. New York, G. P. Putnam's 



Sons. 1898. Illustrated. 



The editors of The Science Series are fortu- 

 nate in their selection of the author of this 

 volume. Dr. James Geikie, Murchison pro- 

 fessor of geology in the University of Edin- 

 burg and author of 'The Great Ice Age,' is one 

 of the ablest and best known geologists in Eu- 

 rope. His wide acquaintance with geological 

 phenomena, his experience as a teacher and 

 his conservatism make him an eminently fit and 

 safe person to follow into a field that has been 

 explored of late years by so many enthusiasts. 



We feel thankful, too, that the subject has 

 been treated by a man who concerns himself 

 with the processes and results of earth sculp- 

 ture, and but little with the names that have of 

 late years been so copiously showered upon 

 them. Dr. Geikie tells us in the preface that 

 he has ' made scant use of those neologisms in 

 which, unfortunately, the recent literature of 

 the subject too much abounds.' A glossary is 

 given at the end of the work for such technical 

 terms as are indispensable. 



The volume does not pretend to be a text- 

 book on physiography. Its scope is best indi- 

 cated by the contents, which are briefly as fol- 

 lows : 



Agents of denudation. 



f in horizontal strata, 

 in gently inclined strata. 



Land forms -I in highly Inclined strata, 



in faulted regions, 

 due to igneous action. 



Eook character and land forms. 



{glacial action, 

 seolian action, 

 underground water. 



