Decembek 25, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



957 



afterwards was given to Columbia University. 

 Torrey, who later was called to the Chair of 

 Botany in Columbia University that had been 

 held by Hosack, with his many and valued 

 scientific attainments, is described at length. 

 The early history of geology in New York 

 State is recalled by the sketches of William W. 

 Mather, Timothy A. Conrad, Ebenezer Em- 

 mons and Lardner Vauuxem, who with James 

 Hall constituted the chiefs of the first geologi- 

 cal survey of the Empire State. The pioneer 

 in science at Harvard was John Wiuthrop, who 

 was ' better entitled to the character of a univer- 

 sal scholar than any individual of his time in this 

 country.' Other Harvard scientists included 

 in the volume are William C. Bond, who founded 

 its astronomical observatory, and Louis Agassiz, 

 to whom we owe the Museum of Comparative 

 Zoology in Cambridge. Two of Agassiz' s asso- 

 ciates, Guyot, the geographer, and Lesquereux, 

 the paleobotanist, are appropriately treated. 

 In a popular work, such as the present volume, 

 a sketch of S. F. B. Morse may perhaps be 

 necessary, but when we consider that ' ' the 

 essential features of the telegraph of to-day 

 consist solely of the work of Joseph Henry 

 and Alfred Tail," and to quote from the sketch 

 of Henry (p. 858), " The principles I had de- 

 veloped were applied by Gale to render Morse's 

 machine effective at a distance, ' ' it would seem 

 that the space given to Morse could with pro- 

 priety have been assigned to some other worthy. 

 Of the Washington scientists Bache, Maury and 

 Espy, as well as Henry, have been included. 

 The Espy sketch is somewhat faulty, having 

 been prepared from Mrs Morehead's reminis- 

 cences. Prof. Espy's work was chiefly done 

 while in the service of the navy department 

 and at the Smithsonian Institution, of Avhich he 

 was never a regent. The absence of sketches 

 of J. C. Redfield, our greatest meteorologist 

 subsequent to Franklin, and of Henry D. 

 Rogers, the able geologist, is probably ex- 

 plained by the fact mentioned by Doctor You- 

 mans in the preface namely: "Should the 

 book be found of sufficient interest to warrant 

 the venture, a second volume on a similar plan 

 may follow. ' ' 



Taking the book as a whole, it is almost en- 

 tirely free from errors and may be regarded as 



the best contribution to the history of American 

 Science that has yet appeared. 



Marcus Benjamin. 



Auto- Cars, Cars, Tram-Cars and Small Cars. 

 By D. Farman, M. E., M. I. E. E.; Translated 

 from the French by L. Sereaillier. With a 

 preface by Baron de Zuylen de Nyevelt, 

 President of the Automobile Club of France. 

 With 112 illustrations. London, Whittaker 

 & Co.; K Y., The Macmillan Co. 12mo., pp. 

 249. $1.50. 



This little book presents an excellent dis- 

 cussion of a branch of engineering which has 

 recently assumed great importance in the eye 

 of the public and, perhaps to less extent, in the 

 opinion of the engineering profession. The re- 

 vival of the once extensively introduced and 

 very successful automobile system of transpor- 

 tation on the highway which, sixty years ago 

 and more, had come to be a well established 

 branch of locomotion, has attracted the at- 

 tention of the whole world. Steam carriages, 

 petroleum engines, electric apparatus, are com- 

 ing into view in all civilized countries, and in 

 great number and variety. This volume gives 

 an interesting, an accurate and a very com- 

 plete account of the ' horseless vehicles ' 

 of all classes, and is brought up to date — 

 an unusual and most satisfactory circum- 

 stance in technical bookmaking. The intro- 

 duction includes a well-planned and well- 

 made elementary study of the thermodynamics 

 of the case, and includes the discussion of the 

 cycles of Carnot and of the steam-engine. An 

 historical account succeeds in which the work 

 of the earlier engineers in this field is described ; 

 though, singularly enough, nothing is said of 

 the wonderful work, for the time, of Golds- 

 worthy Gurney, of Hancock, of Sir Charles 

 Dance, and of a dozen other inventors who suc- 

 cessfully inaugurated this system about 1830. 

 At that time twenty or thirty steam carriages 

 were in regular or experimental operation in 

 and about London, and some of them traversed 

 thousands of miles and were employed on 

 regular routes for months at a time, carrying 

 thousands of passengers. It was then that the 

 laws which have since, until recently, been 

 fatally discriminating against that class of 



