164 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XVI. No. 398 



When a large mass of sand was moved downward, I heard the 

 sound at a distance of 105 feet from the base, a light wind blow- 

 ing at right angles to the direction. On one occasion horses 

 standing close to the base were disturbed by the rumbling sound. 

 When the sand is clapped between the hands, a slight hoot like 

 sound is heard; but a louder sound is produced by confining it in 

 a bag, dividing the contents into two parts and bringing them to 

 gether violently. This I had found to be the best way of testing 

 seashore sand as to its sonorousness. The sand on the top of the 

 dune is wind-furrowed, and generally coarser than that of the 

 slope of 31° ; but this also yielded a sound of unmistakable char- 

 acter when so tested. A bag full of sand will preserve its power 

 for some time, especially if not too frequently manipulated. A 

 creeping vine with a blue or purple blossom (kolokolo) thrives on 

 these dunes, and interrupts the sounding slope. I found the main 

 slope 120 feet long at its base; but the places not covered by this 

 vine gave sounds at intervals 160 paces westward. At 94 paces 

 further the sand was non- sonorous. 



The native Hawaiians call this place Nohili, a word of no spe- 

 cific meaning, and attribute the sound caused by the sand to the 

 spirits of the dead (uhnne). who grumble at being disturbed; sand- 

 dunes being commonly used for burial-places, especially in early 

 times, as bleached skeletons and well-preserved skulls at several 

 places abundantly show. 



Sand of similar properties is reported to occur at Haula, about 

 three mUes east of Koloa, Kauai. This I did not visit, but, 

 prompted by information communicated by the Hon. Vladimar 

 Knudsen of Waiawa, I crossed the channel to the little-visited 

 island of Niihau. On the western coast of this islet, at a place 

 •called Kaluakahua, sonorous sand occurs on the land side of a 

 dune about 100 feet high, and at several points for 600 to 800 feet 

 along the coast. On the chief slope, 36 feet high, the sand has 

 the same mobility, lies at the same angle, and gives when disturbed 

 the same note as the sand of Kauai, but less strong, the slope be- 

 ing so much lower. This locality has been known to the residents 

 of the island for many years, but has never before been announced 

 in print. This range of dunes, driven before the high winds, is 

 advancing southward, and has already covered the road formerly 

 skirting the coast. 



The observations made at these places are of especial interest, 

 hecause they confirm views already advanced by Dr. Julien and 

 myself with regard to the identity of the phenomena on sea- 

 beaches and on hill- sides in arid regions {Jebel Nagous, Rig-i- 

 Rawan, etc.). The sand of the Hawaiian Islands possesses the 

 acoustic properties of both classes of places; it gives out the same 

 note as that of Jebel Nagous when rolling down the slope, and it 

 yields a peculiar hoot-like sound when struck together in a bag, 

 like the sands of Eigg, of Manchester (Mass.), and other sea- 

 beaches,— a property that the sand of Jebel Nagous does not pos- 

 sess. These Hawaiian sands also show how completely independ- 

 •ent of material is the acoustic quality, for they are wholly 

 carbonate of lime, whereas sonorous sands of all other localities 

 known to us (now over one hundred in number) are silicious, be- 

 ing either pure siles or a mixture of the same with silicates, as 

 felspar. 



The theory proposed by Dr. Julien and myself to explain the 

 sonorousness has been editorially noticed in Nature, but may 

 properly be briefly stated in this connection. We believe the so- 

 norousness in sands of sea-beaches and of deserts to be connected 

 with thin pellicles or films of air, or of gases thence derived, de- 

 posited and condensed upon the surface of the sand-grains during 

 gradual evaporation after wetting by the seas, lakes, or rains. By 

 virtue of these films the sand -grains become separated by elastic 

 cushions of condensed gases, capable of considerable vibration, 

 and whose thickness we have approximately determined. The 

 extent of the vibrations, and the volume and pitch of the sounds 

 thereby produced after any quick disturbance of the sand, we 

 also find to be largely dependent upon the forms, structures, and 

 surfaces of the sand-grains, and especially upon their purity, or 

 freedom from fine silt or dust ("Proceedings American Association 

 for the Advancement of Science," 38, 1889). 



I should be lacking in courtesy if I closed this letter without 

 expressing my great obligations to ilr. H. P. Faye of Mana, and 



to Mr. George S. Gay of Niihau, for both a generous hospitality 

 and a sympathetic assistance in carrying out my investigations. 



H. Cabkington Bolton. 



Honolulu, H.I., May 26. 



BOOK-EEVIEWS. 



Civil Oovernment in the United States considered with Some 

 Reference to its Origins. By John Fiske. New York, 

 Houghton, Mifflin, & Co. 12°. $1. 



This is not such a work as we expected from Mr. Fiske. We 

 thought when we took it up that we should find it a philo- 

 sophical treatise on the nature and functions of government, but 

 that is just what it is not. The author does, indeed, ask what 

 government is, but dismisses the question in a single sentence; 

 there is nothing in the book about the nature and uses of law; and 

 the ethical principles that lie at the basis of civil society are never 

 once alluded to. The work is purely descriptive and historical, 

 and treats, not of government, but of governmental machinery 

 only. Moreover, one-half the book is devoted to municipal gov- 

 ernment, — to the town, the city, and the county, — the city alone 

 receiving as much attention as the State. But such a mode of 

 treatment magnifies the work of the municipalities out of all pro- 

 portion to its importance. The essential element in our political 

 system is the State, and the municipalities are merely agencies of 

 the State for certain administrative pur-poses. 



But though we cannot agree with Mr. Fiske's conception of his 

 subject, yet the work he has actually done is well done. He has 

 given a description of the various agencies of government in the 

 United States which is both accurate and clear, and in a smaller 

 space than we should have thought possible. The book also con- 

 veys a good deal of interesting historical information, especially 

 in the part devoted to the town and the county. Questions for 

 pupils, and suggestions for teachers, adapt the work for use in 

 schools; and its value is increased by an appendix containing the 

 Articles of Confedei-ation, the National Constitution, a translation 

 "of the Great Charter of King John, and other interesting docu- 

 ments. 



Die Fiircht. Von A. Mosso. Aus dem Italienischen iibersetzt 

 von W. Finger. Deutsche Original-Ausgabe, mit 7 Holz- 

 schmitten und 2 Lichtdruck-Tafeln. Leipzig, Verlag von S. 

 Hirzel. 1889. 



There are two classes of scientific men. To the one class be- 

 long the enthusiastic, absorbed searchers after truth, who are 

 driven by an inborn impulse to grapple with Nature, and who 

 find their highest happiness in wresting her secrets from her. 

 They are unfortunately in the minority, for they are the pioneers 

 of science. The other class are many, and range in culture from 

 learned men down to those who read for the sake of a subject to 

 talk about. The purpose of the work and study of the latter is 

 social influence. Both classes are useful, the second acting as the 

 interpreter of the truths which the former have extorted from 

 nature. 



It is seldom that the scientific investigator has personally the 

 time and the necessary contact with the masses of the people to 

 enable him to popularize his own observations and experiments. 

 Mosso, however, has undertaken the task with Italian geniality. 

 The charm of his book is that he is himself so enthusiastic in and 

 enraptured by his scientific work that he must seek to interest 

 others also. He says of it, "It is a work full of patience, The 

 only difficulty consists in gradually learning to understand Na- 

 ture's speech ; to find ways and means of questioning her, and 

 compelling her to answer us. In this struggle in which we, mod- 

 est pygmies, are continually striving to grasp the secret of life, 

 there are delightful moments, lights and shadows, which excite 

 the imagination of scientist and artist." 



His enthusiasm does not cause him to forget that he is writing 

 for the people as well as for his colleagues in science. Though 

 his language is as free of technical terms as possible, the work is 

 pregnant with scientific observations and experiments, chiefly the 

 result of his own study, some of them as yet unpublished. The 

 chapters in which he describes the pulsations of the blood in the 



