August 24, 1888.] 



SCIENCE 



95 



need none of these charities, but that they cry for fair wages and 

 reasonable rents, and they will furnish their own chapels, their own 

 libraries and reading-rooms.] 



BOOK -REVIEWS. 



Three Cruises of the United States Coast and Geodetic Steamer 

 "Blake " in the Gulf of Mexico, in the Caribbean Sea, and 

 along the Atlantic Coast of the United States, from 1877 to 

 1880. By Alexander Agassiz. 2 vols. Boston and New 

 York, Houghton, Mifflin, & Co. 8°. S8. 

 Few general readers are aware, or at least appreciate, the very 

 _great advances that have been made during the last two decades 

 in our knowledge of the deep sea and its life. With the researches 

 of the lamented Pourtales, and the famous voyage of the ' Chal- 

 lenger,' a new epoch was entered upon in the science of thalas- 

 sography, as our author aptly calls it, that has brought a vast 

 amount of light upon many vexed problems in biology as well as 

 geology ; and in the results already attained America justly lays 

 claim to a large share of the credit. The deep-sea soundings and 

 dredgings carried on with the ' Hassler ' and ' Blake ' of the United 

 States Coast Survey, and more recently with the ' Fish-Hawk ' and 

 'Albatross ' of the Fish Commission, have been of the greatest im- 

 portance. 



A score of years ago, with the old line and sinker, depths of eight 

 thousand fathoms were reported with " no bottom : " now the im- 

 proved machinery and steel-wire lines have brought up mud from 

 the bottom at over four thousand fathoms, and accurate soundings 

 have reached 4,655 fathoms. The ' Blake ' made dredgings at the 

 very great depth of 2,400 fathoms in an hour or two's time : by the 

 older methods twenty-four hours were consumed in dredging from 

 half that depth. With the electrical thermometer, accurate read- 

 ings of the temperature of the water at any depth the sounding-line 

 can reach may be read from the ship's deck, and specimens of 

 water from near the bottom may be brought to the surface, uncon- 

 taminated, for analysis. With all these improved appliances, it is 

 not too much to expect that not many years hence accurate contour- 

 maps will be made of all the more important deep-water bottoms, 

 and a vast deal added to the knowledge of the physical conditions 

 and life of the deepest oceans. What light such knowledge may 

 throw upon the physical conditions of our globe and its geological 

 history one cannot foresee, though surmise. 



So, too, the deep-sea life, and the conditions under which it ex- 

 ists, are of interest in themselves, as well as for the relations they 

 bear to others. That the normal conditions of life may exist under 

 a pressure of two or three tons to the square inch, may seem re- 

 markable ; but it is more remarkable that the same species may 

 adapt itself to the extremes of pressure, or that the same individual 

 may exist indifferently under differences very many times greater 

 than can the terrestrial animal. " Fishes and mollusks are appar- 

 ently the only animals which show very markedly the effect of di- 

 minished pressure. In fishes brought up from deep water, the 

 swimming bladder often protrudes from the mouth, the eyes are 

 forced out of their sockets, the scales have fallen off, and they pre- 

 sent a most disreputable appearance." It is not believed that light 

 can penetrate over four hundred fathoms; nevertheless. Professor 

 Agassiz states that " by far the majority of the animals living at a 

 depth of about 2,000 fathoms have eyes either like their allies in 

 shallow water, or else rudimentary, or sometimes very large." 

 What an animal can need of eyes for perpetual life in intensest 

 darkness is hard to say ; but perhaps the presence of eyes, and 

 ornamental coloration, in these deep-sea creatures, may mean that 

 rays of light, perhaps the non-actinic ones, may reach even two or 

 three thousand fathoms. 



But space will not permit us to touch upon the many interesting 

 topics of this work. Sufflce it to say that the two beautifully printed 

 volumes treat very fully of the general methods of thalassographic 

 work, and the physical conditions and faunae of the deep Atlantic 

 Ocean. Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea. The work has over 

 five hundred and fifty excellent engravings, the larger part illustra- 

 tive of characteristic deep-sea types of life. As a sound and per- 

 manent contribution to the literature of the deep sea and its inhab- 

 itants, the author is justly entitled to great credit. 



E7ilo)nology for Beginners, for the Use of Young Folks, Fruit- 

 Growers, Fartners, and Gardeners. By A. S. Packard. 

 New York, Holt. 12*. $1.40. 



It has been said that a good entomological text-book is one of 

 the most difficult tasks that an author can undertake ; and when we 

 consider that there are a million kinds, more or less, of greater and 

 lesser bugs (as the laity will persist in calling insects) in existence, 

 and a great, if not corresponding, variety in their structure and 

 habits, it is not to be wondered at that general entomologists are 

 very few. A high authority upon beetles or butterflies may be, 

 and generally is, very ignorant upon the subjects of bees and bugs, 

 and vice versa. The trouble is, the entomologist is yet too busy 

 cataloguing new discoveries, and, as a million more names will be 

 needed before 7f«« is reached, he feels no concern except for his 

 own immediate part of the task. 



Books, good, bad, and indifferent, there have been in plenty upon 

 insects. The descriptive literature of the two hundred thousand 

 kinds already made known alone must equal that of all the rest of 

 the animal kingdom. But of books that may be classed as service- 

 able text-books on general entomology, there are very few indeed. 

 Westwood's classical ' Introduction,' Harris's ' Injurious Insects," 

 and Packard's ' Guide,' have been about the only ones in the Eng- 

 lish language till lately. It is therefore with the more pleasure that 

 we welcome the present work from the pen of a well-known author 

 and entomologist. We are disposed to find fault with its title, for 

 it really is a better guide to the study of insects than the author's 

 larger work. If there is any thing else, except trivial details, that 

 we would criticise, it is that the author has attempted to compress 

 too much into so small a volume, and that some parts are not as 

 thoroughly arranged and digested as they should be. Its merits 

 are, that it gives in simple language the information and instruction 

 needed by the student who has a fancy or passion for collecting 

 insects, as regards their habits, structure, classification, collection, 

 preservation, and study; and for this purpose we believe it to be 

 the best in the language. To the farmer and horticulturist it will 

 be of less, though considerable, value. 



A71 Elementary Course in Descriptive Geometry. By SOLOMON 

 WOOLF. New York, Wiley. 8°. §3. 



The present text-book is a good mtroduction to the study of 

 descriptive geometry, its principles and methods being set forth 

 concisely and cleariy. After a brief discussion of the principles of 

 projection, the point, the line, and planes and surfaces, are fully 

 discussed. The author has selected the problems so as to elucidate 

 the properties of all geometric combinations, and thus to give the 

 student as well a clear understanding of the methods of descriptive 

 geometry as the greatest possible practice in the use of these meth- 

 ods. Their practical use is always kept foremost before the mind 

 of the student. Thus the use of supplementary planes and pro- 

 jections is introduced by emphasizing the necessity of using special 

 constructions for making clear the character of the object to be rep- 

 resented, and for lessening the constructive difficulties of the case. 

 The methods of rotation and rabattement used for this purpose are 

 fully discussed. The whole field of descriptive geometry is thus 

 treated, the problems being illustrated by numerous clear cuts. 

 The properties of the projections of angles and sections, intersec- 

 tions and tangents, are fully discussed, while the book closes with a 

 chapter on development of surfaces. The conciseness and clear- 

 ness of the treatment, and the practical arrangement of the mate- 

 rial, make the book of great value to the teacher and to the student. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



There was no address this year by the vice-president of Section D 

 of the American Association. 



— The officers of the American Association for next year are as 

 follows: — President: T.C. Mendenhall of Terre Haute, Ind. Vice- 

 presidents : Mathematics and Astronomy, R. S. Woodward of 

 Washington, D.C.; Physics, H. S. Carhart of Ann Arbor, Mich.; 

 Chemistry, William L. Dudley of Nashville, Tenn.; Mechanical 

 Science and Engineering, Arthur Beardsley of Swarthmore, Penn.; 

 Geology and Geography, Charles A. White of Washington ; Biol- 

 ogy, George L. Goodale of Cambridge, Mass.; Anthropology, Gar- 

 rick Mallery of Washington ; Economic Science and Statistics, 



