3o6 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XV. No. 380 



The appendix by the nephew, the younger Moritz, is one of 

 those odd pieces of speculative effort to solve the most abstruse 

 problems of science which are only possible when the range of 

 knowledge is very limited in the speculator's mind. He puts 

 forward the hypothesis that life arose while the earth was a core 

 of liquid fire surrounded by gases; an electric spark caused an 

 explosion in the gaseous envelope, which produced organic com- 

 pounds; the compound at once existed in the form of separate 

 living particles; the circulation in the atmosphere caused the 

 particles to enter into vortices, and when the centrifugal motion 

 predominated pseudopodia were thrown out, when the centripetal 

 force got the control a nucleus was generated; and there have 

 been nuclei ever since. It will be remembered that when the 

 bean split itself with laughing, it was sewed up by the tailor, and 

 all beans have had black seams ever since; but who can tell us 

 how the nucleus and the bean got hold of such enduring heredity 

 of acquired characteristics ? In the following chapters of the ap- 

 pendix there is more regard paid to the conceivable: yet through- 

 out, the editor is seen not to be grown to his work ; for example, 

 in discussing the planorbis shells at Steinheim, he makes no men- 

 tion of Professor Hyatt's work. 



The editor has fulfilled a graceful and acceptable labor in gath- 

 ering together his uncle's papers, and we hope that as now col- 

 lected they may secure renewed attention, not to Moritz Wagner's 

 "migration theory, but to the peculiar facts of geographical distribu- 

 tion which led to the theory, and have an important bearing on 

 the problem of natural selection. Charles S. MmoT. 



Electric Transmission of Energy, and its Transformation, Sub- 

 division, and Distribution. By Gisbeet Kapp. New York, 

 Van Nostrand. 12°. |3. 



This is the second edition of a work which first appeared some 

 three or four years ago, a notice of it being printed in these col- 

 umns at the time. It belongs to the well-known "Specialists' 

 Series," intended mainly for the use of students and electrical en- 

 gineers ; though to all persons interested in the special field it oc- 

 cupies it will prove useful and valuable, especially so to students 

 of what may be termed "the comparative anatomy of dynamos 

 and motors." 



"We are glad to see that the changes necessitated in such a 

 vs^ork by the progress of electrical science during the past few 

 years have been made, " bringing the book up to date," as the 

 author says. Among the changes made, it may be mentioned 

 that the author's method for the predetermination of the charac- 

 teristics of dynamos has been introduced, thereby making the 

 theoretical part of the work more complete. Though this now 

 well-known method had been made use of by Mr. Kapp before 

 the appearance of the first edition of the work, he had not suffi- 

 cient confidence in its general applicability to give it a place in 



the book. Since that time, however, the results of the method, 

 as applied by other electrical engineers, have been so satisfactory 

 that it has been deemed worthy of a place in the volume, and 

 justly so. 



In the portion of the volume devoted to practical electrics many 

 noticeable alterations have been made, due mainly to recent prog- 

 ress in the construction of dynamos. Obsolete machines are no 

 longer mentioned, and descriptions of new types, or new modifi- 

 cations of previous types, are introduced, data comprising the 

 leading features of such machines and the results of actual tests 

 being given whenever practicable. This is done because the au- 

 thor believes that precise information regarding a few character- 

 istic features in the design of successful dynamos are of much 

 greater value to the electrician than more extended general de- 

 scriptions. 



The portion of the work devoted to electric railways has received 

 but slight addition, notwithstanding the great progress made in 

 that department during the past few years. The reason for this 

 seeming omission is obvious. To do the subject justice would re- 

 quire a volume larger than that in which a single chapter only 

 can be spared it without infringing on other portions of the field, 

 all of which are equally important in a general survey such as 

 this aims to be. 



The transmission of energy by alternating currents is not 

 touched upon, that phase of electrical development being still in 

 the experimental stage (except for lighting); though Mr. Kapp 

 considers it possible, that, '' for the transmission of very large pow- 

 ers over very long distances, the alternating current may eventu- 

 ally prove more convenient than the continuous current." 



The book is an important one, covering a field through which 

 Progress seems to travel in seven-league boots; and the brief in- 

 terval between the appearance of the two editions seems to be a 

 very close measure of the time between the experimental stage 

 and the complete commercial success of long- distance transmission 

 of electrical energy. 



The Economic Basis of Protection. By SmoN N. Patten. 

 Philadelphia, Lippincott. 12". $1. 

 This book is a plea for the high tariff; but it is one of the least 

 efficient of such pleas that we have met with, ft is a mass of 

 confusion, the author often getting bewildered with his own ar- 

 gument, — a fact that will not surprise those who have read his 

 other works. He uses the deductive method exclusively, and is 

 not at all particular about his premises. Indeed, he expressly 

 says that -'the theory of a subject must always be developed pre- 

 vious to any intelligent study of the facts" fp. 9); and he has 

 certainly applied this rule faithfully in the present case. We 

 cannot undertake to give an analysis of his arguments here; but 

 one of his chief points is the endeavor to show that free trade fos- 



Publications received at Editor's Office, 

 April 28-May 10. 



Africa, Pictorial. New York aod Chicacjo, Fieming 

 H. Revell. 396 p. $2.50. 



■Carnot. N -L.-S. Reflections on the Motive Power 

 of Heat and on Machines fitted to Develop that 

 Power. Ed. by R. H, Thurston. New York, 

 Wiley. 360 p. 12°. g2. 



'Chambers, G. F. A Handbook of Descriptive and 

 Practical Astronomy II. Instruments and 

 Practical Astronomy. 4th ed. Oxford, Claren- 

 don Pr. 8°. (New York, Macmillan. $5.25.) 



G-EOLOGISK kart over De skandinaviske lande og 

 Finland. Udgivet af Hans Reusch. New York, 

 N. D. C. Hodges, 47 Lafayette Place f°. 40 cents. 



•Green, W. S. Among the Selkirk Glaciers. London 

 and New York, Macmillan & Co. 251 p. 12°. 

 $2 25. 



Patten, S. The Economic Basis of Protection. 

 Philadelphia, Lippincott. 144 p. 12°. $1. 



TUTHILL. Mrs. L C. The True and the Beautiful in 

 Nature, Art, Morals, and Religion. Selected 

 from the works of John Ruskin. with a notice of 

 the author. 2 vols. New York, Wiley. 638 p. 

 18°. $2. 



"Whiting, H. A Short Course of Experiments in 

 Physical Measurement. Part I. Density, Heat, 

 Light and Sound. Cambridge, Mass., John Wil- 

 son & Son. 278 p. 8'. 



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