July 15, 1904.] 



SCIENCE. 



77 



vided the proper ideals are never sacrificed 

 to the popular demand, for there seems to 

 be no cogent reason why the intellectual 

 advancement of a nation should not be in 

 perfect harmony with all those things that 

 constitute the sphere of its practical ac- 

 tivity. The future of higher education in 

 Germany and in the United States will be 

 proof against all attacks, provided there is 

 no diminution in the proportion of per- 

 sons animated by a desire to lead the intel- 

 lectual life, and provided further that we 

 never cease to adhere to those ideals of 

 scholarship and learning which have con- 

 tributed in such bountiful measure to Ger- 

 many's commanding position in the educa- 

 tional world. 



Rudolf Tombo, Jr., Ph.D., 

 Registrar, Columbia University. 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 

 Catalogue of the Ward-Coonley Collection of 

 Meteorites. By Henry A. Ward, A.M., 

 LL.D. Pp. xii + 113, with 10 plates. Pub- 

 lished by the Author. Chicago, May, 1904. 

 The Ward-Coonley collection of meteorites 

 comprises at the present time representatives 

 of more falls than any other collection in the 

 world. Of about 680 meteorites known, the 

 Ward-Coonley collection contains 603, which 

 is 43 more than the number in the Vienna col- 

 lection, according to the latest catalogue 

 (1902), and 46 more than the British Mu- 

 seum collection contains, according to its 

 latest catalogue (1904). The attainment of 

 so remarkable a completeness by the Ward- 

 Coonley collection is set forth in the catalogue 

 just published by Professor Ward. The work 

 contains much information of value besides 

 being a catalogue. 



In an interesting preface the author de- 

 scribes the manner in which the collection 

 has been built up. Attention is called to the 

 fact that exchange has proved quite as im- 

 portant a means of acquiring meteorites as 

 purchase, and a liberal policy in this regard 

 on the part of museums and collectors who 

 would enlarge their collections is urged. The 



Gregory and Siemaschko collections are stated 

 to be largely incorporated in the Ward-Coon- 

 ley collection, while extensive travel by Pro- 

 fessor Ward yielded meteorites obtainable in 

 no other way. The first seventy pages of the 

 catalogue are devoted to a list of the meteor- 

 ites represented in the collection. These are 

 arranged alphabetically under the groups of 

 siderites, siderolites and aerolites. The list 

 gives the name of the meteorite preferred by 

 the author, its classification according to 

 Brezina's system, the latitude and longitude 

 of the locality and a statement of the locality 

 according to political divisions. Reference 

 to the first description of the meteorite is then 

 given and the weight in grams of the chief 

 piece and total weight in the Ward-Coonley 

 collection. It is evident that great care has 

 been taken to render this part of the catalogue 

 accurate in detail, and the large amount of 

 painstaking labor necessary to achieve this 

 result can be appreciated only by those who 

 have essayed similar tasks. So thoroughly 

 has the work been done, however, that this 

 catalogue may be considered the most authori- 

 tative work now extant in regard to the names 

 and localities of the meteorites which it lists. 

 American locality names of meteorites in par- 

 ticular have suffered so wofully from the mis- 

 takes of foreign authorities hitherto that it is 

 cause for congratulation that the matter has 

 been taken in hand by one so familiar with 

 the subject as Professor Ward. 



PoUowing the list of specimens in the 

 Ward-Coonley collection, an alphabetical list 

 of all known meteorites is given with such 

 synonyms as have importance. Here again 

 the wide experience and knowledge of the 

 author give the list a peculiar value. It has 

 not been burdened with synonyms resulting 

 from imperfect or careless spelling, but gen- 

 uine synonyms have been retained. 



The next division of the catalogue shows 

 the geographical distribution of all known 

 meteorites according to countries. The meteor- 

 ites of each country are arranged alphabetic- 

 ally under that division and their date of fall 

 or find, and classification as iron or stone 

 shown. Division VI. of the catalogue has 

 been contributed by Dr. Brezina, of Vienna. 



