April 26, 1895.] 



SCIENCE. 



4G5 



that any map can be an accurate, faithful 

 picture of the country it represents," that 

 the topographer must be able to generalize 

 through his knowledge of geological pro- 

 cesses of origin, and that he should be able 

 to decide, " where details are omitted, what 

 to put in their places in order to bring out 

 the dominant features." These are dan- 

 gerous doctrines. The earth exists, the 

 duty of the topographer is to map it truly, 

 ^nd the study of the origin of its features 

 ishould come later. It is not a function of 

 the surveyor to interpret nature, and the 

 geologic discussions of Chapter V. seem out 

 of their proper place in a manual of topog- 

 raphy. 



The book does good service in dwelling 

 upon the important idea that a topographic 

 survej' must necessarily be based upon a 

 triangulation, so that an eifective control of 

 accuracy may be everj'where at hand. This 

 is set forth with clearness as a sound estab- 

 lished principle. 



It is difficult to understand wbj' one gov- 

 ernment bureau should republish tables 

 issued by other bureaus unless they be out 

 ■of print or not easily accessible. Pages 

 l(j3-174 and 190-224 give the well-known 

 geodetic and astronomical tables issued bj' 

 the Coast and Geodetic Survey, and others 

 are taken from the publications of the Coi'j)S 

 of Engineers. Of the 108 pages of tables 

 only 24 appear to have been prepared by 

 the Geological Survey. Table XI., for the 

 reduction of stadia readings, gives merelj' 

 •differences of altitude, the reduction to the 

 horizontal being only mentioned in the four 

 lines of text on page 1)3, where it is said 

 ^ tables for this reduction are to be found in 

 Bulletin.' "We know, however, of no au- 

 thor of this name who has published stadia 

 tables. 



Still more difficult is it to understand 

 why a government bureau should republish 

 a set of logarithmic tables prepared bj' a 

 foreign author, thus committing a moral if 



not a legal piracy. Pages 232-298 consti- 

 tute a reprint of the well-known five-place 

 tables of F. G. Gauss, which are for sale in 

 all bookstores. If the slightest improve- 

 ment in tj'pe or method of arrangement 

 bad been introduced some excuse might be 

 seen for this procedure, but as a matter of 

 fact the type employed is far inferior to the 

 original, while the black rules between the 

 columns will prove an injury to the ej'es of 

 all who make use of the tables. Moreover, 

 the marks indicating whether the last deci- 

 mal figures have been increased or not are 

 in all cases omitted ; the reprint is thus 

 rendered a most unsatisfactory counterfeit 

 of the excellent original. 



This Manual of Topographic Methods is 

 offered for sale by the Geological Survey at 

 one dollar per copj\ It is an advantage for 

 many persons to be able to buy a govern- 

 ment publication, instead of attempting to 

 beg it through a member of Congress, but 

 in this case it is to be regretted that the 

 value of the contents is so much less than 

 the price demanded. As a presentation of 

 actual field methods, as a manual for the 

 instruction of the employees of the Geological 

 Survey, and as a contribution to science, 

 this volume occupies a low plane compared 

 to what should be expected from a bureau 

 that has done and is doing topographic 

 work of liigh excellence. 



Maxsfield Merriman. 



Lehigh University. 



Degeneration. By Max Nordau. New York, 



D. Appleton & Co. 1895. 8vo. Pp. 



5G0 -f xiii. Price, S3. 50. 



This is an English translation from the 

 second edition of the original German, the 

 first edition of which was published in 

 1893, and a French translation of wliich ap- 

 peared in 1894. 



The author is a pupil of Loinl)roso, to 

 whom he dedicates his work, and he states 

 tliat its object is to apply the methods em- 



