3ii 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XVI. No. 409 



the prehensile tails of monkeys, or the displaced eyes of soles, or 

 the altered number of teeth in plaice, or the increased fertility of 

 domesticated animals, or the shortened legs and snouts of pigs, 

 or the shortened intestines of tame rabbits, or the lengthened in- 

 testines of domestic cats " (pp, 83, 83). 



Again: ''The inferiority of Europeans, in comparison with sav- 

 ages, in eyesight and in the other senses, is attributed to • the 

 accumulated and transmitted effect of lessened use during many 

 generations.' But why may we not attribute it to the slackened 

 and diverted action of the natural selection which keeps the 

 senses so keen in some savage races ? " (p. 85). 



These examples are suflBcient to show what standpoint the au- 

 thor takes. 



Higher Education of Women in Europe. By Helene Lange, 

 Berlin. Tr. by L. R. Klemm. New York, Appleton 12°. 

 $1.25. 

 Women in Germany, as our readers probably know, are practi- 

 cally excluded from the higher education, and are sparingly em- 

 ployed as teachers even in girls' schools, Germany being in this 

 respect far behind England and America. It is not surprising, 

 therefore, that a book like this should appear from a German 

 woman, pleading the cause of her countrywomen with earnestness 

 and love. It is, moreover, a work of real ability, showing not 

 only a clear conception of what is wanted, but also an equally 

 clear comprehension of the difficulties in the way. The 

 book opens with an .iccount of the provisions recently made for 

 woman's higher education in England, of which the authoress 

 speaks with much enthusiasm. She then touches lightly, on 

 women's schools in other European countries, and shows, that, of 

 all nations claiming to be civilized, Germany has done the least 

 for the higher education of its women. In short, no provision 

 whatever is made for it, so that " the German women have to go 

 to foreign countries if they will not forego a higher education." 



The argument for giving women access to a university training 

 is based in the main on these t>vo considerations, — that many 

 women need it in order to gain a living by professional work, and 

 that women whose circumstances raise them above want need the 

 means of developing their higher natures, thus enabling them to 

 lae more useful in the position they hold. These arguments and 

 others that the authoress uses are familiar to Americans, and it is 

 surprising and almost disgusting to read of the bitter, and we 

 must say unmanly, opposition to women's education that is shown 

 hy the men of Germany. It is based on the same considerations 

 that were formerly adduced in England and America, with the 

 .addition of the sordid plea, that, if women are admitted to the 

 ligher education, men will suffer from their competition in the 

 professions. These arguments are all set aside by the able and 

 temperate discussion in this book, which all persons interested in 

 the subject will like to read. Nothing is said in the original work 

 about women's education in America; but the translator's intro- 

 duction contains some statistics and other matter relating to the 

 subject, showing how rapid has been its progress in recent years. 



Longmans' School Oeography for North America. By G G. 



Chisholm and C. H. Leete. New York, Longmans, Green, 



&Co. 12°. fil.ao. 

 Handbook of Commercial Geography, By G. G. Chisholm. New 



York, Longmans, Green, & Co. 8°. 

 A Smaller Commercial Geography. By G. G. Chisholm. New 



York, Longmans, Green, & Co. 13°. 90 cents. 

 The well-known London publishing-house of Longmans Green, 

 ■& Co. have recently brought out several books on geography to 

 which our particular attention is called. Thornton's "Physiogra- 

 phies" have already been mentioned in our columns. Chisholm's 

 "Geographies" are now before us First comes a general work, 

 ■entitled "Longmans' School Geography for North America," made 

 •over for use in this country from an English edition by Leete. 

 Its pecular features are, first, the octavo form, from which all 

 maps are omitted, these to be supplied later in " Longmans' new 

 Atlas." an American edition being now in preparation ; second, the 

 ■omission of special accounts of our various States, the whole 

 •country being first described in general as to its physical features, 



and then reviewed by districts with much critical perception of 

 significant geographical details. A good deal of repetition from 

 State to State is thus saved, and the use of such a book might 

 have a real political significance in impressing the essential unity 

 of the country on the minds of the scholars. It may also be said 

 that the explanation of the causes that have led to the locations 

 of cities constitutes a feature of the book, and in many cases an 

 interesting one. The physical introduction in the first sixty pages 

 is not so satisfactory as the rest of the book, being too crowded, 

 and lacking home illustration, this part having no appearance of 

 special adaptation to our schools. The illustrations are generally 

 taken from photographs, and are well selected ; but some are not 

 as fresh and sharp-cut as we could wish. The author rightly lays 

 emphasis on the omission of all questions at the end of chapters, 

 and on the avoidance of the paragraph style, which so often re- 

 sults in memorizing instead of in learning. Considering the 

 excellence of our own school geographies, it is a somewhat haz- 

 ardous experiment for a foreign house to compete with our pub- 

 lishers, and we shall watch with interest to see how far this one 

 of its products finds favor here. 



Chisholm has also prepared a "Handbook of Commercial Ge- 

 ography " and a "Smaller Commercial Geography." These are 

 written for English readers without re-editing for this country; 

 but they deserve a welcome from those of our teachers who have 

 the skill to lead their scholars to read outside of their regular text- 

 books. In the present crowded condition of the studies of all our 

 common schools, it is difficult to imagine where time could be 

 found for commercial geography, unless as side-reading; and for 

 this purpose either of the above books may he highly recommended 

 for school libraries. Commercial and business colleges might use 

 them to great advantage as regular text-books. The introductory 

 chapter on commodities and the circumstances which affect their 

 production and carriage will certainly hold the attention of joung 

 people, to whom geography has been presented as a live study. 

 The rest of the books is more statistical than is compatible with 

 attractive interest, but it would be a valuable aid in answering 

 the questions that properly taught scholars must often ask. 



Warren's New Physical Geography. By W. H. Beewee. Phila- 

 delphia, Cowperthwait. f°. 



Anew edition of "Warren's Physical Geography" has been 

 prepared by Professor W. H. Brewer of Yale Univeisity. It re- 

 tains the atlas form so generally used for books of this class, and 

 divides its chapters into short paragraphs directly prepared for 

 the scholars' use, and followed by questions for the teacher. The 

 chief divisions of the book are, the earth as a planet, chemical 

 and geological history of the earth, the land, the water, the at- 

 mosphere organic life, and the United States. The illustrations 

 are generally good, although a greater number of designs appear 

 than is desirable in these days of photographs. The double-page 

 Mercator charts are distinctly printed and colored, showing the 

 conventional series of facts, volcanoes and earthquakes, heights 

 of land and depths of sea, drainage and winds, ocean currents, 

 rainfall, and annual isotherms. The imitation bas-reliefs of 

 the continents are clearly printed, and give only too emphatic an 

 idea of the mountain ranges. The statements of the text are evi- 

 dently carefully considered, and brought down to date; and we 

 believe that the book as a whole must give satisfaction to those 

 who are satisfied to use any book on physical geography now in 

 existence. 



The questions that a review of this work raises do not refer 

 particularly to the book itself, but to its class. If we bear in mind 

 the general quality of the scholars who are to use it, and their 

 easy contentment with facts presented in a direct manner, and 

 also consider the busy life of the teachers, who have no time, or 

 at best \ery little, to give to the personal teaching that idealists in 

 education desire, then the book must be regarded as satisfactory; 

 but if we consider the intellectual growth of the scholar, and his 

 individual development and training, it may be doubted if any 

 book of this kind can be regarded with approval, btcause of the 

 necessarily great condensation in the treatment of its varied sub- 

 jects. Professor Brewer has skilfully avoided as much of this diffi- 

 culty as any one could; his paragraphs are unusually clear, although 



