JANUAKY 4, 1895.] 



SCIENCE. 



25 



Griindriss der Ethnologkchen Jurupi-ndenz. — 



Albert Hkrman-x Post. — Two Vols. — 



Oldenburg and Leipzig, 1895. 

 Ethnologische Studini ziir Evden Eniwicklung 



der Strafe. — S. R. Steixmetz. — Tavo Vols. 



— Leiden and Leipzig, 1894. 



In these two earefully prepared and thor- 

 oughly reasoned work.s we have for the first 

 time an unbiased application of the facts 

 fiu-nished by ethnology to an analysis of 

 the evolution of jurisprudence. The study 

 of them will prove of the gi-eatest profit 

 to the advocate, the anthropologist and 

 the philosophic student of the growth of 

 society. 



Dr. Steinmetz, in liis over 900 large oc- 

 tavo pages devoted to the subject, pursues 

 the idea of punishment through all the 

 forms under which it appears in early con- 

 ditions, such as personal revenge, blood 

 feuds, compounding of ofiFences, famdy, 

 totemic and social punishment, the venge- 

 ance of the gods, and religious chastise- 

 ment. The foundation for this historic 

 analysis is laid in the earlier pages of the 

 first volume l)y an able excursus on the 

 psychological motives which underlie the 

 thirst for vengeance and the passion for 

 cruelty. This fm-uishes a philosophic basis 

 on which the author constructs his conclu- 

 sions by an inductive study of all the forms 

 of punishment and penalty found in primi- 

 tive and early peoples. With this ho is 

 contented, and witli a tempei-ance worthy 

 of high commendation, he refi-ains from 

 committing his work to one or another 

 • school ' by applying it to the defence 

 of some pet doctrine of popular sociol- 

 ogy, which would at once limit its use- 

 fulness. He rather says : " Here are the 

 psycliic motives : and here are the results 

 to which under various conditions they 

 have given rise. Let the facts present their 

 owni inferences." 



This impartial spii-it also thoroughly pei-- 

 vades the more comprehensive study of Dr. 



Post. It is considerably over a thousand 

 pages in length and is an exhaustive analj'sis 

 of the whole notion of rights, of the person, 

 the family, the clan and the state, as they 

 apply to both persons and things. In the 

 second volume he ti-averses in his investiga- 

 tion of penalties much of the ground occu- 

 pied bj' Dr. Steinmetz, and a comparison of 

 their methods and results is quite interest- 

 ing. The autlior's reading is immense, and 

 the care with which he cites his authorities 

 is mo-st praiseworthy. While fully aware 

 of the distinctly philosophic nature of his 

 subject, — for a people's abstract conc-eptions 

 of ethics are embodied in their concrete 

 foi-ms of laws, — he withstands the tempta- 

 tion to theorize on these points and keeps 

 himself strictly within the limits of objective 

 and inductive inijuiry. 



Of both these works it may be said that 

 they represent the purest scientific method, 

 and that they stand in the front rank of the 

 contriljutions to Ethnology- in its true sense 

 which have appeared of late years. 



D. G. B. 



Flora of Nebraska. — Edited by members of 

 the Botanical Seminar of the Universitj' 

 of Nebraska. — Introduction and Part 1.. 

 Protophyta-Phijcophtjta ; Part 2, Coleoeheeta- 

 cece, Characeie. — Lincoln, Nebraska, Pub- 

 lished by the Seminar, 1894. 4to, pp. 

 123, pi. 36. 



The beautiful work here noticed must 

 long hold first place in the pul)lished results 

 of the exploration and study of a local flora. 

 It is hard to find words in wliicli to express 

 our gratification at its appearau(-e, and we 

 have tried in vain to find any point which 

 is fau'ly open to adverse criticism. Begin- 

 ning with a synopsis of the larger groups, 

 including families, and an introduction con- 

 tributed by Professor Bessey. in the details 

 of whidi there is room for much difference 

 of ojjinion, there follow concise descriptions 

 of the classes, orders, families, genera. 



