April 2fi, 1895.] 



SCIENCE. 



469 



disease. In the course of time public opiu- 

 ion might sanction legislation of a prohibi- 

 tive character. As to inveterate criminals, 

 we must bring our minds to the remedy of 

 the perpetual confinement of the irreclaim- 

 able, so that they may die out and leave 

 no successors. 



After discussing the competition of brain 

 against brain and the fact that property is 

 not always acquired by the most capable, 

 and considering the eft'oct of modern demo- 

 cratic attemps to etpuilize the struggle, as 

 also the question of the relative sterilitj' of 

 the capables and the possible swamping of 

 the capables by the incapables, our author 

 says he cannot doubt that by selection Eng- 

 land, in a hundred j'ears, might have its 

 average man and woman as well endowed 

 in body and mind as are the best of us to- 

 day. 



It should be mentioned that Dr. Hay- 

 craft has a high regard for the deserving 

 poor and wishes to see the criminal and va- 

 grant class separated from them in our 

 poor-houses and treated differently. 



Geo. St. Clair. 

 Cardiff, Wales. 



A Short History of Chemisfry. By F. P. 



Vexable, Ph. D. 12 mo. Pp. viii., 



163. Boston, D. C. Heath & Co. 1894. 



Price, §1.00. 



AVhat may be called the historical habit 

 of mind is of great value to the student of 

 any science. Many things are constantly 

 met with which can only be understood in 

 the light of their historical setting. This 

 is especially true in the case of a science 

 which has seen so many vicissitudes and so 

 many changes in its i)oint of view as has 

 chemistrj'. For this reason a book which 

 gives a clear, concise outline of the historical 

 development of the science is sure to find 

 an extensive field of usefulness. 



The present author follows, in general, 

 the division into periods as given by Koi)p, 



but discusses the periods of Medical Chem- 

 istry and of Phlogiston together under the 

 head of ' Qualitative Chemi.stry ' and adds a 

 period to wliicli the name of Structui-al 

 Chemistry is given. The opinion is ex- 

 pressed that this period has already passed 

 and that we are entering upon a new 

 and different phase of development for 

 the science. His characterization of the 

 present tendencies of the science is, how- 

 ever, necessarily vague and unsatisfactory. 



The book is \\'ell written and there ap- 

 pear to be few errors. On page 141 the 

 value of 15.96 for the atomic weight of 

 oxjgen is based, incorrectly, on the author- 

 ity of Stas, instead of on that of Dumas 

 and of Erdmaun and Marchand. 



For any student who desires more than 

 a very elementary knowledge of the science, 

 the book must, of course, be considered as 

 an outline which is to be filled out by ex- 

 tensive reading of larger works. But, 

 whether used by itself or in connection 

 with other books or lectures, it is hoped 

 that a book which is so easilj^ accessible to 

 every one will give a new impetus to a 

 phase of chemical studj' which has been too 

 much neglected. W. A. Noyes. 



Rose Polytechnic Institute. 



A Laboratory Manual containing directions for 

 a course of e.r2)eriments in Organic Chemistry 

 systematically arranged to accompany liem- 

 sen^s Organic Chemistry by W. R. Orn- 

 DORFF. Boston, Heath & Co. 1894. 

 As indicated by the title, this manual 

 contains directions for the experiments in 

 Remsen's Organic Chemistry in a fonu suit- 

 able for students in the laboratory. The 

 page being printed on but one side, ample 

 room is left for the student's observations 

 and, as the text-book is not open before him, 

 he is led to observe for himself, instead of 

 merely trying to see what the text-book says 

 he should. As stated by Professor Remsen in 

 the preface, " Great care has been taken to 



