July 3, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



17 



ETHNOLOGY AND HISTOKY. 



When the science of ethnology shall be 

 properly nnderstood, the application of its 

 methods to the sociologic development of 

 the human race will lead to an entirely 

 novel plan of writing history, and to a dif- 

 ferent appreciation both of its motives and 

 its aims. That which has long been sought 

 for under the attractive name of 'The Philos- 

 ophy of History ' will be found to be noth- 

 ing more than a series of ethnologic deduc- 

 tions ; and ' The Mission of the Historian 

 in its largest sense will be nothing more 

 than the application of the natural science 

 of man to the welfare of man ; nothing 

 more but that will be* the greatest achieve- 

 ment which the human species will have 

 witnessed, far transcending any mere mate" 

 rial gains or discoveries which it has made 

 €r can make. 



At the last annual meeting of the ]!!^ew 

 Jersey Historical Society I delivered by re- 

 quest an address upon this subject, which 

 has since been published. A limited num- 

 ber of copies remain by me, which I shall 

 be glad to send to such readers of Science 

 as may apply for them. (Address, Media, 

 Penna.) 



PRIMITIVE COSMIC CONCEPTIONS. 



Slowly but surelj^ the theory that simi- 

 larities of mythical concepts betokened 

 ancient intercommunication is giving way to 

 the true explanation that such similarities 

 are owing to the unity of the human mind 

 and the sameness of its processes. 



No one has taught this profound truth 

 more positively than Prof. Bastian, the 

 eminent director of the Ethnographic Mu- 

 seum of Berlin, Veiy lately he has pub- 

 lished a most instructive work of about 200 

 pages entitled, ' The Thought Creation of 

 the Surrounding World out of Cosmogonic 

 Conceptions.' (Diimmler, Berlin.) It treats 

 of the various so-called ' elements ' which 

 make up the mj^ths of religious, the beliefs 



and notions of his surroundings, real and 

 imagined, which every man forms uncon- 

 sciously to himself, and which deeply in- 

 fluence his life and works. Such are his 

 views about the divine, the soul, death, 

 spirits, creation, magic, etc. These and a 

 hundred others develop similarly in similar 

 stages of culture, and the parallel schemes 

 drawn from culture-horizons far asunder 

 which the author lays before the reader are 

 striking and convincing. 



It would be very desirable if Dr. Bastian's 

 remarkable studies on this and allied sub- 

 jects could be brought in a compact shape 

 before the English reading public. 



D. G. Brinton, 



University of Pennsylvania. 



NOTES UPON AOEJCULTUBE AND HOBTI- 

 CULTUEE. 



DISEASES OF CITROUS FRUITS IN FLORIDA. 



The orange industry is a large one in the 

 warmer portions of our country and the 

 citrous fruits have several diseases which 

 cause annual losses of not less than a half 

 million dollars. In order to obtain good 

 control of these diseases and check their 

 ravages the government has had a station 

 of research in Florida for the past three 

 years, and Bulletin 8 of the division of 

 Vegetable Physiology and Pathology just 

 issued is a report of progress by Messrs. 

 Swingle and Webber at the Subtropical 

 Laborator3\ The bulletin commends itself 

 at sight, being attractive in plates, three of 

 which are colored, and the text is carefully 

 prepared. Six diseases are considered, 

 namely: (1) Blight, (2) Die-back or Exan- 

 thema, (3) Scab or Verrucosis, (4) Sooty 

 Mould, (5) Foot-rot and (6) Melanose. 



The blight, probably contagious, the 

 cause of which is yet unknown, seems to be 

 incurable ; therefore affected trees should 

 be burned. Die-back is due to malnutri- 

 tion and improper drainage and culture. 

 Bi'own eruptions appear upon the twigs 



