14^ 



;CIENCE. 



[Vol. XXn. No. 554 



not only shall the restored animal act as a lesson in 

 zoology, a reference object which may impress on the stu- 

 dent-naturalist the peculiar characteristics of the animal 

 species represented, but the restoration may possess the 

 power of displaying the emotions and passions ; it may be 

 beautiful ; it may, in a word, appeal to the human sense 

 just as a figure in marble or bronze or staff may. The 

 analogies, too, between sculpture and latter-day taxidermy, 

 in matters of technique, are striking. The sculptor 

 makes his model ia clay, and often enough, now-a-days, is 

 done with it. 



Italian artisans are clever enough to carry on the work 

 of reproduction even to the final touches on the marble. 

 The man mounting an elk makes a model so complete in de- 

 tail that the putting on of the skin does hardly more than 

 add color and the effect of hair to his statue. A wooden 

 frame, a rough wrapping of tow and twine, and over all 

 the plastic clay giving truthful detail of form, and life, 

 compose the model. The shapeliness of the limbs, with 

 loose or swelling muscles, the rigid tendons, the sunken 

 flanks, the projecting angles of the pelvic and shoulder 

 gii-dles, the expressive lines of the eyes and nose and 

 mouth, all exist in the model. Over this is drawn the 

 skin, which fits because it does fit, and which is only a bit 

 of realism added by the sculptor-taxidermist to his 

 model. The traditional " stuflang " . is truly a matter of 

 tradition. 



The taxidermist who is a naturalist and has thorough- 

 ly studied his subjects; who is an anatomist and is true, 

 in his work, to structural detail; who has seen his animals 

 walk and crouch and leap, not in cages alone, but in the 

 forest and canon; and who perceives the look of fear or 

 defiance, the attitude of cunning or of ferocity or of pain, 

 and carries these expressions and poses ever in his eye, 

 to be faithfully reproduced in his restoration, is equipped 

 as the sculptor of animals must be equipped. And taxi- 

 dermy by such a taxidermist comes near to being fine art. 

 Among the World's Fair displays of taxidermic work a 

 notable one is that made by the University of Kansas, in 

 the Kansas State Building. This building was planned 

 with special reference to the displaying of this collection, 

 and the arrangement adopted is an effective one. The 

 collection comprises 109 mounted specimens of North 

 American mammals, and contains several groups, as those 

 of the Rocky Mountain Goats and the American Bison, of 

 special value, from the zoologist's point of view. But the 

 rare excellence of the taxidermic work in this collection 

 should attract a more general interest than that of the 

 zoologist alone. The work was done by Lewis L. Dyche, 

 professor of zoology in the University of Kansas, and a 

 majority of the specimens were personally obtained by 

 him in a number of collecting expeditions. Some striking 

 groups will repay critical study. In the fighting of two 

 moose, the faithful adherence to anatomical detail, as 

 shown in the contracted muscles, the carefully disposed 

 limbs, and the skilful arrangement of the heads, is no 

 more in evidence — in fact, at first glance is far less strik- 

 ing—than the artistic effect of the whole. The fury and 

 extremity of exertion of the struggling animals is impres- 

 sive. In a single magnificently-antlered elk the poise, 

 the fine contour of the body, the speaking expression of 

 the head and face are that of unconscious superiority. A 

 snarling wolf has a head whose modelling is a work of 

 genuine fine art. And the fine art of truth of detail is 

 not neglected for the whole's effect. In the Art Galleries 

 at the World's Fair there are many excellent pieces of 

 animal sculpture, but a critical analysis will betray in 

 some of them a woful ignorance of mammalian anatomy 

 on the part of the sculptor, or a wilful distortion of it by 

 him. For example, a reclining panther, with young, on 



the whole a fine piece, and singularly expressive, has the 

 lower portions of the hind legs absurdly lengthened. 

 Again, and often, the sculptor, to show that he really has 

 anatomical detail in mind, has practically "skinned" his 

 animals. A lion, in staff, at one of the entrances, and a 

 panther, in bronze, within, are examjiles of this peculiar- 

 ity. But in sculptiire, probably, the effect is the primary 

 intention; in taxidermy, truthful reproduction'is the pri- 

 mary intention. Where, however, the mounted animal 

 may not only be an object of scientific value as a truthful 

 restoration, but may be possessed of the attributes of a 

 work of fine art, the combination is a happy one. That 

 such a combination is possible the writer believes some of 

 Professor Dyche's animals prove. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



"Inductive Pstohology," by E. A. Kirkpatrick, is an 

 outline of the science prepared for use in the author's 

 classes in the State Normal School of Minnesota, and 

 bears the imprint of Jones and Kroeger, Winona, Minn. 

 It treats of the elements of the subject only, and some of 

 them are so briefly dealt with that the book TYill hardly 

 serve for those who study without a teacher; but for 

 classes whose teacher is capable of expanding the hints 

 that are plentifully scattered through the book it will be 

 useful. It oj)ens with a brief account of what psychology 

 is and of the projser method of studying it, and then 

 proceeds to treat first of the general powers of the intel- 

 lect, consciousness and attention, and afterwards of the 

 various special powers, such as percej^tion, memory, etc. 

 The author's expression is direct and simple, and, consid- 

 ering the smallness of the book, the elucidation of the 

 various topics is remarkably clear. The views presented 

 are, in the main, those that have stood the test of time; 

 and we notice in particular that Mr. Kirkpatrick lays lit- 

 tle stress on jjhysiological methods, and apparently has 

 little faith in their efficacy. On one point we are com- 

 pelled to differ with him. He alleges in his preface that 

 psychology has hitherto been taught deductively, and he 

 seems to think that his own "inductive" method is some- 

 thing in great part new; but we have never seen a deduc- 

 tive psychology such as he speaks of, and we can see no 

 essential difference between his method and that of j)re- 

 vious writers. The best feature in the book is the numer- 

 ous hints to teachers as to the best mode of studying the 

 psychology of their jjupils, a feature that makes the work 

 specially available in the training of teachers. 



— The translation of Windelband's " History of Philoso- 

 jDhy," by Professor Tufts, of the University of Chicago, will 

 be published about the third week of September by 

 Messrs. Maomillan & Co. The advance sheets now ready 

 indicate that the work will prove a valuable addition to 

 available English records of the deveiojsment of scientific 

 conceptions of nature and human life. It will be j)ub- 

 lished in one volume of about six hundred pages. 



— Additional announcements of books to be f)ublished this 

 fall by the Macmillans are : " Pain, Pleasure, and ^Esthet- 

 ics " : An Essay Concerning the Psychology of Pain and 

 Pleasure, with special reference to J^sthetics, by Henry 

 Rutgers Marshall, M.A. ; an annotated edition of the Adel- 

 phcB of Terence, by Prof. Sidney G. Ashmore, of Union 

 College, Schenectady; a new edition with vocabulary and 

 notes of Zupitza's " Old and Middle English Reader," 

 upon the vocabulary of which Prof. MacLean, of the Uni- 

 versity of Minnesota, has been at work for some years, 

 making it very comjolete and accurate ; and a volume of 

 " Chronological Outlines of American Literature," on the 

 plan of, and uniform with, Mr. Ryland's " Outlines of Eng- 

 lish Literature." 



