444 



SCIENCE. 



I Vol. VIII., No. 197 



to ' adhere scrupulously to the method of the 

 book,' with so complex and difficult a formation 

 as the drift, collects specimens from it, tells a little 

 about chemistry, more about minerals and rocks, 

 describes eruptive rocks before considering erup- 

 tions, briefly discusses sedimentation and erosion, 

 describes geological maps and sections, and so on 

 through the first part of his book, the outcome of 

 which may very likely be. as he suggests, " a some- 

 what chaotic and undigested mass of facts and 

 doctrines, buried in a considerable volume of 

 verbiage." Then follows part ii., attempting to give 

 as a complement to the first a methodical re-pres- 

 entation of what has already been encountered, 

 but in extremely condensed form. So fundamen- 

 tal a matter as cycles of sedimentation are quickly 

 passed over, with very brief illustration ; and even 

 the lesson of unconformability is given little 

 emphasis, although more than four pages are de- 

 voted to the recent theories of ancient tides and 

 tidal action. Altogether too much is attempted 

 under the heading of formational geology, con- 

 sidering the small space allowed it : much of this 

 might be omitted to the advantage of the rest, as 

 the book is not intended for a manual. But the 

 greatest difficulty seems to be that the book tries 

 to take the place of the teacher. For example : 

 on p. 128 we read, "You ought to take a great 

 deal of exercise on the geological map, and espe- 

 cially in the construction of sections, no matter if 

 it requires two or three days to finish one study." 

 Any teacher whose instruction needs to be supple- 

 mented by such dictation as this can hardly be 

 expected to have ability enough to use and explain 

 the rest of the book properly ; and certainly no 

 teacher of independence and originality can wish 

 to have questions of method so minutely defined for 

 him by some one else. In the hands of the author, 

 with the inspiration of his enthusiasm and knowl- 

 edge before the class, such instructions may serve 

 a purpose ; but inspiration in teaching is seldom 

 transmitted through the medium of printer's ink. 

 The plan of Professor Geikie's book is preferable, 

 because, while it gives a simple, attractive presen- 

 tation of facts, arranged in a very natural order, 

 it leaves the teacher free, if he desire to arrange a 

 course for himself, to plan his own method on 

 minor points, and gain inspiration with originality; 

 or, on the other hand, it provides chapters that 

 can be read with entertainment and used as bases 

 for set recitations, if the teacher is satisfied, or is 

 obliged merely to follow a book. The physical 

 chapters run about as follows : action of atmos- 

 phere and water, effects of lakes and springs, ice 

 and the sea, fossils, volcanoes, and earthquakes. 

 Then come minerals and rocks ; rock-structures, 

 original and secondary ; and, finally, the historical 



view, occupying a third of the book. The pro- 

 portion is somewhat less in Professor Winchell's 

 book : it might be in both still further reduced to 

 the advantage of the class of students addressed, 

 for the first view of historical geology is too much 

 encumbered with meaningless fact to develop 

 thought or to train the understanding. Instead 

 of reviewing in condensed form the whole column 

 from archaean to present, the student would learn 

 more from the deliberate description, illustration, 

 and discusbion of a small part of it, which might 

 then serve as a key to the understanding of the 

 rest in later years of study. 



The illustrations are. as a rule, better in the 

 English than in the American book, though the 

 latter are good, on the whole. The only bad 

 picture that has Professor Geikie's tacit approval 

 is his fig. 10, that tries to represent torrent-cut 

 gullies on a mountain-side : it has the * made-to- 

 order' look. The vertical exaggeration allowed 

 in the sections is the most serious defect in the 

 illustration of Professor Winchell's book : it is 

 true that these are generally copied from venerable 

 state reports, and have authoritative names to 

 justify their use, but they are bad, for all that. 

 No proper idea of the geological structure of 

 Tennessee can be gained from the section on p. 93 ; 

 and the original section across Michigan, p. 126, 

 might well be labored over to bring it somewhat 

 nearer the true scale, no matter if it required two 

 or three days to finish it. 



The annual report of the commissioner of 

 pensions for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1886, 

 shows the vast extent of our pension system. At 

 the close of the year there were on the rolls 

 365,788 pensioners, of whom 265,854 are classified 

 as army invalids ; 80,162 as army widows, minor 

 children, and dependent relatives ; 2,953 as navy 

 invalids ; 1,878 as navy widows, minor children, 

 and dependent relatives ; 1,539 as survivors of the 

 war of 1812 ; and 13,397 as widows of those who 

 served in that war. 1,406 survivors of the war 

 of 1812. and 3,815 widows of soldiers of that war, 

 died during the year. 40,857 new pensioners were 

 added to the roU during the year, and 2,229 whose 

 pensions had been dropped were re-instated. As 

 22,089 were dropped for various causes, the net 

 increase was 20,658. The average annual value 

 of each pension is $122.23, and the aggregate 

 annual value amounts to $44,708,041.51. The 

 amount paid during the year, including the 

 arrearages, was $63,797,831.61. In all but 118 of 

 the 2,647 counties in the United States, pensions 

 are being paid, and 1,691 pensions are paid in 35 

 foreign countries. Verily, republics are not 

 always ungrateful. 



