November 14, i8go.J 



SCIENCE. 



277 



insular and littoral peoples. These be divides into branches which 

 are not very well defined, there being portions of a race separated 

 geographically, linguistically, or othei-wise, from other portions 

 of the race. The branches are subdivided into linguistic stocks 

 This system is open to the same objection which must be made 

 to Fr. Miiller's: it is neither physical nor linguistical; and tbese 

 two classifications, being based on entirely distinct phenomena, 

 cannot be made to agree. The rest of the book is devoted to the 

 discussion of the various races. The author sees the primal home 

 of the Eurafrican race in North Africa, whence he believes the 

 Hamitic, Shemitic, and Aryan people derive their origin. The 

 last he considers as a mixed race on account of the predominance 

 of two distinct physical types. If we should apply this test to 

 any of the better known peoples, we would have to class them 

 amsng the mixed races. There is certainly no homogeneous va- 

 riety of man in any part of the world. Therefore the reduction 

 of the Aryan race to two prototypes seems somewhat doubtful. 

 We cannot enter into the interesting sketch of the other races, but 

 confine ourselves to the remark that the descriptions, though 

 brief, are alwajs striking and interesting. In a concluding chap- 

 ter Dr. Brinton sums up a number of important pi-oblems, — those 

 of acclimatization, race-mixture, and of the ultimate destiny of 

 the races. The author emphasizes justly the close relations be- 

 tween ethnography and historical and political science. His work 

 will undoubtedly greatly contribute to making this close connec- 

 tion better known and more thoroughly understood. 

 The Trees of Northeastern America. By Charles S. Newhaix. 

 New York, Putnam. S"". 12.50. 



For its purpose, thisbook is admirable. The plan of the au- 

 thor was excellent, and he has carried it out well. There are 

 defecls in the book; but, as they are more of omission than of 

 commission, they may be passed over with scarce a mention. 

 In simple fashion and almost untechnical language, the author 

 describes our trees, from their foliage, bark, and general ap- 

 pearance, so that they may be readily identified by persons 

 without even a smattering of botanical knowledge. The trees 

 describe'l include all the native trees of the northern United 

 States east of the Mississippi, as well as those of Canada. Men- 

 tion is also made of the more important of the introduced and 

 naturalized species The work is so ai-ranged that any given 

 -specimen can be readily found by help of a well-arranged guide. 

 The author's chief authority for the geographical distribution of 

 the different species is Sargent's report in the "Tenth Census;"' 

 and for the scientific nomenclature adopted, Mr. Newhall acknowl- 

 edges his indebtedness to Professor N. L. Britton of Columbia 

 College. The latter gentleman, in a brief prefatory note, says, 

 " There is great need of such a popular work. It will do much 

 good in supplying information to our people about some of the 

 common things around them, and this in an attractive manner." 



The method of using the book is as simple as can be desired. 

 Provided with a leaf of the tree to be identified, the inquirer, by 

 a brief inspection of the easily mastered guide, is referred to the 

 pages containing a drawing of the leaf (and sometimes the fruit) 

 and the name and description of the tree. Both the popular and 

 the scientific names ar-e given, together with some account of the 

 uses of the tree, and its distribution. Photo-engravings of the 

 leaves and fruit, instead of the somewhat crude outline drawings, 

 would, we think, have been more in keeping with the excellent 

 mechanical make up of the book, and would have added much to 

 its value. 



Tlie Antiquities of Tennessee. By Gates P. Thruston. Cincin- 

 nati, Robert Clarke, 1890. 



The present volume is an excellent resume of the results of re- 

 cent archasological investigations in Tennessee. It is amply illus- 

 trated by good photo-engravings and numerous sketches of well- 

 selected specimens. Many of them do not differ essentially from 

 the well-known types of this I'ei^ion; but others will be found to 

 be of great interest; for instance, the tattooed face bowl (p. 94), 

 and the image in clay showing an infant strapped to a cradle- 

 board (p. 112). The descriptions of the finds are so full of new, 

 valuable, and well-arranged matter, that they will repay a close 

 study. The conclusions which the author draws from his studies 



seem to be in the main well founded. He justly emphasizes the 

 fact that the finds show no evidence whatever of a culture of a 

 stamp different from that of the North American Indians, more 

 particularly f i oni that of the southern Indians as described by early 

 travellers. He is also right in laying stress upon the dissemina- 

 tion of culture among the inhabitants of pre-Columbian America, 

 which entails transmission not only of arts and industries, but 

 also of manufactures While in the introductory chapter of his 

 book he does not consider the culture of the mound-builders as 

 much higher than that of the Indians shortly before they came 

 into contact with the whites, it seems, that, while studying the 

 specimens, the culture of the mound-builders appeared to the 

 aulhor of increasing value ; so that in his concluding chapter he is 

 inclined to assume a decline of culture during the period follow- 

 ing the " stone grave time." We believe that this decline may 

 have been somewhat overestimated by the author, but we fully 

 agree with his opinion that the mound-builders of Tennessee were 

 Indians, and that the relics do not belong to any great antiquity. 

 The author assumes that the decline in culture came about by an 

 invasion from the north of a race which he believes he can recog- 

 nize in a number of dolichocephalic crania taken from the stone 

 graves. This proof must be rejected, as it is founded on the theory 

 that a race is homogeneous, while actually, even in long-isolated 

 races, we must expect to find a great variety of forms. Unfortu- 

 nately archseologists do not yet duly appreciate the importance of 

 osteological collections, a few well-preserved skulls being all that 

 are deemed worthy of preservation. Broken skulls, and particularly 

 skeletons, ought to be preserved as viell, as only a thorough in- 

 vestigation of all the remains of a race will lead to reliable con- 

 clusions. Physical anthropology does not consist of a few cranial 

 measurements, but is a detailed study in comparative osteology 

 of man. 



AMONG THE PUBLISHERS. 



The Jenness-Miller Magazine for November contains another 

 article on "Physical Culture," by Miss Mabel Jenness; and 

 " Temperance in Food," by Burcham Harding. 



— Among the interesting exhibits at the American Institute 

 Fair in this city is a handsome showcase filled with samples of 

 the books published by E. & F. N. Spon of this city and London. 



— A new edition of No. 57 of Van Nostrand's Science Series 

 ("Incandescent Electric Lighting ") has just been issued. New 

 papers, by L. H. Latimer and C. J. Field, take the place of those 

 by Du Moncel and Preece in the former edition, bringing the work 

 more nearly to date. 



— Vol. IV. No. 7 of the "Studies from the Biological Labora- 

 tory " of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, contains two arti- 

 cles,— one, "Notes on the Anatomy of Sipunculus Gouldii Pour- 

 taies," by E. A. Andrews (with plates); and the other, "The 

 Relationships of Arthropods," by H. T. Fernald (with plates). 



— The Leonard Scott Publication Company, New York, an- 

 nounce that beginning with the Novetnber number they will in 

 the future furnish their subscribers with the original Edinburgh 

 edition of Blackiuood's Magazine, printed in Edinburgh, aud pub- 

 lished by them here under authority of Messrs. William Black- 

 wood & Son. 



— The Illustrated American makes an offer in our advertising 

 columns- which may prove attractive to some of our readers. This 

 weekly has certainly contained much interesting matter, unusually 

 well illuslrated, concerning the goings-on in the world, in which 

 intelligent people are interested, and it is only to be regretted that 

 in the recent numbers certain criminal affairs have been made 

 prominent and served up in a style likely to entrap the unsus- 

 pecting reader into their perusal. The periodical is a new one, 

 and deserves a careful examination at the hands of the reading 

 public. 



— Messrs. Houghton, Mifflin, & Co. have published a small vol- 

 ume entitled ''Thoreau's Thoughts," consisting of brief passages 

 selected from Thoreau's various writings by H. G. O. Blake, 

 The selections seem to have been made with good judgment, ex- 

 cept that they are too short. The editor has not included many 

 of those passages descriptive of natural objects that so abound in 



