April 7, 1893.] 



SCIENCE. 



193 



In this connection, it will be important to inquire whether any 

 evidences exist of similar changes ot climate in southern and 

 Lower California ? Seeeno E. Bishop. 



Hono ula, Deo. 7, 1892. 



A Peculiar Eye. 



Recently, while dissecting the eye of a domestic animal, the 

 crystalline lens was found to be divided into three lobes by deep 

 clefts on the front (?) side. The lobes are equal and the clefts 

 extend entirely through, so that the posterior surface is cut near 

 the margin, making the lobes triangular in form with rounded 

 outlines, and only slightly connected at the central point and for 

 about one-half the radial distance outward. The eye had been 

 kept several days, had been frozen, and was so opaque from dry- 

 ing and also from distribution of pigment through the aqueous 

 humor that the interior was invisible before dissection, but one 

 who saw the eye when quite fresh stated that it had an unusual 

 appearance. The form appeared so i-emarkable to the writer that 

 it is mentioned in the hope of drawing from some one better 

 posted in the morphology of the lens some explanation of the 

 peculiar structure. C. D. McLouth. 



Muskegon, Mich. 



Speech of Children. 



Apropos of Mr. A. Stevenson's interesting article on the speech 

 of children, in Science for March 3, and Dr. Howard Lilienthal's 

 communication in the succeeding number, it occurs to me, a 

 bachelor who has never had much opportunity to become ac- 

 quainted with young children, since he was a child himself, to 

 inquire whether it would not be a rather difficult matter to teach 

 a very young child the use of the first person, singular. Would 

 he readily distinguish between the proper uses of the various 

 words applied to himself: his name when he was spoken of, 

 "you" when he was spoken to, and "I" or "me" which he 

 should use in speaking of himself? Pronouns are, after all, only 

 words used for convenience instead of nouns, and I cannot see 

 why a person, young or old. cannot think of himself subjectively 

 by his own name as well as by the use of the personal pronoun. 



FEANCfs H. Allen. 



West Roxbury, Mass., Mar. 20, 1893. 



Singing of Birds. 



I SHOULD be greatly obliged for any communications respecting 

 the relation of singing in birds to the expression of the emotions. 

 I have, of course, in mind the rival theories of Darwin (origin of 

 song by sexual selection) and Herbert Spencer (song expressive 

 of joyful emotion in general). Does the male sing only, or prin- 

 cipally, during the time of courtship? Or is the presence or an- 

 swering call of the female immaterial? 



Good observations can be made incidentally, and with very 

 little trouble, on the commoner species. And the only approach 

 to a settlement of the question seems through statistics. I hope 

 that the readers of Science will assist me in investigating the 

 matter on this basis. E. B. Titchener. 



Fsychologioal Laboratory, Ithlca, N. T. 



BOOK-REVIEWS. 



Third Annual Report of the Geological Survey of Texas, 1891. 

 E. T. Dumble, State Geologist. Austin, 1893. 461 p. PI. 

 16. 



This volume is quite a bulky one and contains information on 

 a variety of subjects. The State geologist in his annual state- 

 ment mentions the work that has been carried on during the year 

 covered by tbe report and gives abstracts of the work of the 

 various assistants. The papers accompanying the report are: 

 Houston County, by W. Kennedy. In this county none of the 

 formations are older than the Eocene. Various sections are given 

 and a considerable portion of the report is devoted to economic 

 geology. Mr. Kennedy also contributes a description of a sec- 

 tion from Terrell, Kaufman County, to Sabine Pass, on the Gulf 



of Mexico. Many details of sections are given, which are of in- 

 terest mainly to those familiar with the region. Mr. W. T. 

 Cummins has a report upon the geography, topography, and 

 geology of the Llano Estacado, with notes on the country to the 

 westward. This is of considerable interest, as it touches upon a 

 region of which comparatively little is known. The region is 

 likely to be of considerable importance, however, in the develop- 

 ment of the State, as recent discoveries have shown the possi- 

 bility of securing water in sufficient quantity to permit of culti- 

 vation over the larger portion of its area. Mr. Cummins, in a 

 foot-note, refers to the vai'ious theories advanced to account for 

 the name, discarding them all and retaining at the last the name 

 itself. We prefer to adopt the idea of Professor Hill that the 

 name Llano estacado refers to the palisade character of the escarp- 

 ment which nearly surrounds the area and makes it one of the 

 most characteristic mesas of the country. The conclusions of 

 Mr. Cummins in regard to the geological structure are that the 

 Quaternary is represented in places on top of the Llano; the 

 Tertiary is exposed at various places in caiions penetrating the 

 edges of the Llano; that the Cretaceous underlies the southern 

 part, forms part of the escarpment on the eastern and south- 

 western sides, and for a short distance along the northern side in 

 the vicinity of Mt. Tucumcari, New Mexico; and, finally, that 

 the Triassic forms the basal member of the esoarpment on all 

 sides. Water can readily be procured in almost all parts of the 

 Llano, although not flowing artesian wells. A good idea may 

 be had of the extent of the area when we observe that no less than 

 29 counties are included in it. The paper is followed by a dis- 

 cussion of the geology of Tucumcari, New Mexico, in which the 

 author contends from the Cretaceous age of strata previously re- 

 garded by Marcou and Hill as Jurassic. It is rather singular 

 that Mr. Cummins concludes that a single specimen of a fossil 

 plant occurring in the beds " is sufficient to establish the fact 

 that the strata are no older than the Cretaceous." This specimen 

 is imperfect, the nervation is "indistinct," but it is concluded to 

 be a dicotyledon, and upon this ground to be of Cretaceous age. 

 The leaf is called Steradia drakei, a new species, and seemingly 

 a new genus. 



Mr. N. F. Drake follows with a paper on the Triassic of Northr 

 western Texas, and Professor E. D. Cope and Dr. R. W. Shufeldt 

 describe some vertebrates in another paper. Dr. V. Sterki gives 

 a list of shells collected in a dry salt lake near Eddy, New Mex- 

 ico, and J. A. Taff discusses the Cretaceous area north of the 

 Colorado River. The last paper in the report is on " Trans-Pecos 

 Texas," by von Streeruwitz. 



It is unfortunate that tbe "Library Catalogue Slips" should 

 not have been made with more regard to accuracy. In the three 

 slips there are no less than thirteen errors. J. F. J. 



The Journal of Geology. Vol. I , No. 1. January-February, 

 1893. Chicago, The University of Chicago. 112 p. 

 The first number of a new publication dealing with scientific 

 matters is always eagerly scanned. It was announced some time 

 ago that the Chicago University expected to issue a magazine 

 from its geological department, and the initial number of TJie 

 Journal of Geology has now come from the press. Its editors are : 

 T. C. Chamberlin, R. D. Salisbury, J. P. Iddings, R. A. F. Pen- 

 rose, Jr., C. R. Van Hise, C. D. Walcott, and W. H. Holmes. 

 There is besides a corps of associate editors: Sir Archibald Geikie 

 (Great Britain), H. Rosenbusch (Germany), Charles Barrels 

 (France), Albrecht Penck (A.ustria), Hans Reusch (Norway), 

 Gerard de Geer (Sweden), J. Le Conte (California), G. K. Gilbert 

 (Washington, D.C.), H. S. Williams (Yale University), J. C. 

 Branner (Leland Stanford, Jr., University), G. H. Williams 

 (Johns Hopkins), I. C. Russell (University of Michigan), and Geo. 

 M. Da>vsoQ (Canada). These names ought to be a guarantee of 

 an excellent journal. There are, to be sure, several journals 

 already in the field, such as the American Journal of Science, the 

 American Geologist, and the American Naturalist. The first two 

 of these occupy the geological field to a large extent, and the 

 third to a more limited degree. These are more or less dependent 

 upon private enterprise, whereas the new Journal of Geology has 

 the advantage, as an editorial states, "of being published under 



