434 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. VIII., No. 197 



— Dr. M. J. Roberts of New York, after drill- 

 ing holes in bone to investigate the existence of 

 diseased conditions, introduces a small incandes- 

 cent lamp of half-candle power into the opening, 

 and by this means illuminates the cavity. 



made so thorough as to satisfy every inquiry, and we 

 believe that it has so been made. 



IvisoN, Blakeman, Taylob & Co, 

 New York, Nov. 3. 



LETTERS TO THE EDITOR. 



*t* Correspondents are requested to be as brief as possible. The 

 writer's name is in all cases required as proof of good faith. 



The source of the Mississippi. 



The recent discussion, in your columns and else- 

 where, of the sources of the Mississippi River, must 

 have suggested to many of your readers the thought 

 that this is an especially fitting time to su^jplement 

 and complete the work of the early explorers and the 

 government surveyors by a careful examination of 

 the Itasca basin in the light of all previous explora- 

 tions. There are certain elements in the region that 

 are permanent, and certain others that are temporary 

 and will soon undergo the "hanges which accompany 

 the settlement and subjection of the wilderness. 

 The Lake Itasca of Schoolcraft and Nicollet, in the 

 main, survives to the present day. A few years more 

 will see many of its features changed past recognition. 



If such an exploration is worth the making, it 

 should not be long delayed ; and that it is well worth 

 making, the interest of the public already enlisted in 

 this discussion clearly proves. Further, the fact 

 that a mere adventurer and charlatan has been able 

 to lead astray and befog the press and the scientific 

 bodies of almost the entire country, east and west, is 

 no small proof that it is desirable to settle, once for 

 all, the questions at issue. 



We have taken this view of the case ever since 

 Captain Glazier's friends first presented his claims 

 for our consideration. The matter was fully investi- 

 gated by the head of our editorial department, and 

 we became satisfied that nothing short of a thorough 

 exploration of the region in question would satisfy 

 us as educational iDublishers or justify us in making 

 any changes in our geographical publications. We 

 believe that we, as publishers of geographies and 

 atlases which are widely used and approved, owe this 

 much of service to the public. We therefore some 

 weeks ago arranged to dispatch a competent exi^loring 

 party to Lake Itasca, fully equipped with instru- 

 ments for the complete survey and delineation of the 

 region which supplies the feeders of the lake. 



The first letters from this expedition are at hand, 

 and consist of a general statement of the character of 

 the work accomplished. The detailed report we ex- 

 pect will be forwarded to us in the course of a week 

 or two, when we shall be glad to place them at the 

 service of your readers as -soon as the proper maps 

 can be drawn and engraved. The following extracts 

 from a letter before us shows the nature of the work 

 accomplished : — 



" Every stream flowing into Lake Itasca and Elk 

 Lake was followed to its source and located. The 

 area drained by each stream was found, as well as 

 the volume of water discharged. The heights of 

 land were located and elevations taken, as well as the 

 elevation of the sources of all the streams flowing 

 into both lakes." 



We have also received by express specimens of the 

 water from both lakes, and a number of small ever- 

 green trees taken from Schoolcraft Island and from 

 various points on the shores of Itasca. 



Our instructions were that the exploration be 



On the figures illustrating zoological literature. 



In the course of some remarks on the figures illus- 

 trating zoological literature in Science for Oct. 29, 

 Dr. R. W. Shufeldt justly pleads that proper credit 

 be given to original authors of zoological illustrations ; 

 but in the course of his remarks he occupies con- 

 siderable space in accusing me of carelessness in such 

 matters, in the case of my ' Zoology ' and ' First les- 

 sons in zoology.' I am charged with making ' a very 

 shiftless acknowledgment of some of the authorities 

 for the illustrations.' I am surprised at this reckless 

 statement, as I intended to, and think I did, make 

 full, proper, and circumstantial acknowledgment of 

 the authorities and works from which most of the 

 cuts were borrowed. Over two-thirds of a page of 

 the preface is devoted to such acknowledgment, and 

 a paragraph is given to the names of standard authors 

 and their works. I regret to learn that two sketches 

 drawn by Dr. Shufeldt himself were not credited. 

 The mistake can easily be corrected in a second edi- 

 tion. I have prided myself on giving proper credit, 

 on this and other occasions, to other naturalists and 

 authors, and to those who have m other ways been 

 of assistance. 



Now, let us see if Dr. Shufeldt has been as careful, 

 exact, and guarded as a critic should be. He lec- 

 tures me for not, in my larger ' Zoology,' giving 

 credit to the original artist as well as the author of 

 the book who borrowed the figure. If Dr. Shufeldt 

 had carefully looked through the larger ' Zoology,^ 

 he would have found that I had done so in the case of 

 twenty figures (figs. 63, 75, 109, 141, 232, 279, 280, 

 284, 386^, 387, 394, 434, 437, 457, 460, 461, 491, 500, 

 515, 516). Now, is this fair, candid criticism ? Do 

 not Dr. Shufeldt's sweeping statements, like those of 

 another critic of the ' First lessons,' mislead the 

 reader ? Is such carelessness just to the author of 

 the book ? 



Again : Dr. Shufeldt states that at least four- 

 teen of the cuts from either Audubon or Wilson 

 are accredited to Coues's 'Key.' This statement is 

 based on an inspection of the first edition of the 

 ' Zoology : ' in the third and later editions, thirteen 

 of these figures are credited to Tenney's ' Zoology.' 

 Our critic should refer to the latest edition of the 

 work with which he finds fault. It has certainly, 

 however, been my wish to credit the figures borrowed 

 to the original artist. It is not alway easy to do so 

 in copying from foreign works : in the case of Audu- 

 bon and Wilson it could have been done, and may be 

 in a later edition. 



Coming to the ' First lessons in zoology,' Dr. Shu- 

 feldt charges me with ignoring the artists in a large 

 number of figures. In the preface I say, "Of the 

 265 woodcuts, 111 have not appeared in the author's 

 other books." Subtracting 111 from 265, leaves 154 

 figures. The sources of these are acknowledged in 

 my two larger books; i.e., the 'Zoology,' and the 

 ' Briefer zoology.' It seemed to me unnecessary to 

 make the acknowledgment again in a smaller book 

 designed for younger pupils. If this was an error, it 

 was not from an intention to mislead. Leaving out 

 the 154 figures previously acknowledged, then taking 

 into account over 100 fully acknowledged, it would be 

 easy for the critical reader to detect the eight figures 



