November 27, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



799 



ligibn we read: "The idea of God does not 

 and cannot proceed from the external world 

 hut nevertheless it finds its historic origin 

 (as art, science and government do) in the 

 desperate struggle for life, in the satisfaction of 

 the animal wants and passions, in those vulgar 

 aims and notions which possessed the mind of 

 primitive man to the exclusion of everything 

 else." Religion, however, does not 'begin and 

 develop under the operation of inflexible 

 laws ; ' these ' potently incline ; they do not 

 coerce. ' Symbols and myths originate ' ' in 

 dealing with matters beyond the cognizance of 

 the senses ; the mind is forced to express its 

 meaning in terms transferred from sensuous 

 perception, or under symbols borrowed from 

 the material world." Therefore to understand 

 these transfers, and to reach the ' real meaning 

 of the myth,' we are told : "With delicate ear 

 the faint whispers of thought must be appre- 

 hended" (by the student) "which prompt the in- 

 tellect when it names the immaterial from the 

 material ; when it has to seek amid its concrete 

 conceptions for those suited to convey its ab- 

 stract intuitions." 



These general statements precede a rapid but 

 clear presentation of the physical and intellec- 

 tual peculiarities of the red race, wherein their 

 language, mnemonics and written records are 

 reviewed, and the probable migrations of its 

 chief families indicated, and their location given 

 when they were first known historically. 



In chapters 2 to 9, inclusive, the author 

 treats broadly and suggestively, the Idea of 

 God ; the Origin and Application of the Sacred 

 Number ; the Symbol of the Bird and the Ser- 

 pent ; the Myth of Water, Fire and the 

 Thunder-storm ; the Supreme Gods of the Red 

 Race ; the Myth of the Creation, the Deluge, 

 the Epochs of Nature and the Last Day; the 

 Origin of Man ; the Soul and its Destiny ; the 

 Native Priesthood ; and the Influence of the 

 Native Religion on the Moral and Social Life 

 of the Race. An index in which over three 

 hundred and fifty authorities are cited, and 

 another of the subjects touched.upon, closes the 

 volume of 360 pages. 



It is impossible within this brief notice to 

 even outline the arguments and evidence pre- 

 sented by our author ; he has brought wide 



learning and careful thinking to bear upon his 

 theme, and has established a thesis that it will 

 be difl&cult to successfully assail. 



It is true that there are students who do not 

 fully share the insistance of the author for the 

 complete isolation of the American race, an 

 isolation which insured an indigenous growth 

 of its culture. While recognizing American 

 characteristics, some are inclined to consider 

 contact with the Old World during the centuries 

 as more or less probable, and point to certain 

 similarities and parallelisms as possible evi- 

 dence of the fact. ' Those analogies and iden- 

 tities ' * * ' whether in myth, folklore or 

 technical details,' our author attributes 'wholly 

 and only to the uniform development of human 

 culture under similar conditions,' and depre- 

 cates ' contact and transference ' as afibrding 

 an adequate explanation. 



The points of difference between the author 

 and other students upon this and a few minor 

 matters are not radical and do not invalidate 

 the gist of the argument found in the volume, 

 namely, the psychical solidarity of mankind. 

 There can be no question of the efiicient service 

 which has been rendered by the author in this 

 book toward the establishment of this great 

 truth, the far-reaching influence of the accept- 

 ance of which is being felt in a broader and 

 deeper religious faith, and in the growth of 

 higher international and, one might say, inter- 

 racial ethics. Alice C. Fletcher. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS. 

 THE ASTROPHYSICAL JOURNAL, OCTOBER, 1896. 



The effect of Pressure on Wave-length:, ^j J. F. 

 MoHLER. A continuation of the investigations 

 of W. J. Humphreys and J. F. Mohler on the 

 Effect of Pressure on the Wave-length of Lines in 

 the Arc-spectra of Certain Elements. The latter 

 investigation was carried on with pressures ex- 

 ceeding one atmosphere. The present paper 

 deals with pressure below one atmosphere. 

 Special attention was given to the spectrum of 

 cadmium, with the hope that the light might 

 be thrown upon the matter of discrepancy be- 

 tween the absolute measurements of cadmium 

 wave-lengths by Michelson, and the determina- 

 tions of the same lines by Rowland upon the 



