734 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XIV. No. 358. 



and the first article is taken from the Journal 

 of the Linnean Society for 1858, being the now 

 historic paper ' On the Tendency of Species to 

 form Varieties ; and on the Perpetuation of 

 Varieties and Species by Natural Means of 

 Selection ' by Charles Darwin and Alfred Wal- 

 lace. A. E. Verrill tells 'The Story of the 

 Cahow ' an unknown and probably extinct bird 

 found abundantly on the Bermudas at the time 

 of their discovery. The use of the bird and its 

 eggs for food was the cause of its speedy ex- 

 termination. Under the caption ' Psychiatry — 

 Ancient, Medieval, Modern,' Frederick Lyman 

 Hills gives a brief history of the methods em- 

 ployed for the treatment of the insane from 

 early times to the present. John E. Gorst makes 

 a plea for ' The National Control of Education ' 

 and Edward L. Thorndike discusses 'The Evolu- 

 tion of the Human Intellect.' Bradley Moore 

 Davis considers ' The Origin of Sex in Plants ' 

 and David Starr Jordan has a brief article on 

 ' The Fishes of Japan ' with observations on the 

 distribution of fishes. Paleontologists will 

 hardly accept Dr. Jordan's three laws govern- 

 ing animal distribution as all-sufficient. The 

 final paper is by A. C. Haddon on ' The Omen 

 Animals of Sarawak ' and contains much inter- 

 esting information. 



The Auk for October opens with a welcome 

 article by William Brewster entitled ' An Orni- 

 thological Mystery ' describing the notes and 

 nest of a bird found in the vicinity of Cam- 

 bridge, Mass., which so far has not been seen, 

 but is presumably the little black rail. A. C. 

 Bent describes, with photographs, the ' Nesting 

 Habits of the Anatidse in North Dakota ' and 

 Arthur H. Howell gives ' A Preliminai^y List 

 of the Summer Birds of Mount Mansfield, 

 Vermont,' including 86 species. J. A. Farley 

 tells of the ' Alder Flycatcher {Empidonax trailii 

 alnorum) as a Summer Resident of Eastern Mas- 

 sachusetts,' and Outram Bangs has a paper 

 ' On a Collection of Birds made by W. W. 

 Brown, Jr., at David and Divala Chiriqui ' in- 

 cluding descriptions of several new species and 

 subspecies. Hubert Lyman Clark treats of 

 'The Classification of Birds,' as based on their 

 pterylosis, an excellent paper, but one which 

 will impress many as an additional piece of evi- 



dence that birds may not be classified by one 

 character only. William Alanson Bryan gives 

 a ' List of the Hawaiian Birds in the St. Louis 

 College Collection, Honolulu, H. I,' and finally, 

 Francis J. Birtwell describes the ' Nesting habits 

 of the Evening Grosbeak (Coecothraustes vesper- 

 tinus).'' The notes and reviews are numerous. 



Bird Lore for September-October has a front- 

 ispiece showing the fine ' Bird Rock Group ' of 

 sea birds recently placed on exhibition in the 

 American Museum of Natural History. H. W. 

 Henshaw concludes his ' First Impressions of 

 Hawaiian Birds,' Ralph Hoffman tells of 'A 

 Chebic's Second Brood ' and we have the regu- 

 lar instalment of ' Birds of the Season,' dis- 

 cussing the bird life of October and November 

 in various parts of the United States. For 

 young observers we have an account by A. V. 

 Kidder of ' A Bittern at Close Range,' and we 

 have Notes from Field and Study, Reviews, 

 and the section devoted to ' The Audubon 

 Societies.' 



The Plant World for September has articles on 

 ' Notes on Trees of Cuba,' by Valery Havard, a 

 biographical sketch of the late ' Dr. Charles 

 Mohr,' by S. M. Tracy ; ' The Basque Flower,' 

 by John M. Holzinger, and m.any interesting 

 briefer items. The instalment of the ' Families 

 of Flowering Plants,' by Charles L. Pollard, 

 continues the description of various families of 

 the order Sapindales. 



Popular Astronomy for November continues 

 the study of the light curve of the new 

 star in Perseus, by Dr. H. C. Wilson, and in- 

 cludes a chart of this curve which has been 

 compiled with great care from many sets of 

 observations. Dr. Lewis Swift, who has but 

 recently given up the directorship of Mount 

 Lowe Observatory on account of failing sight, 

 permits the publication of a photograph of his 

 various medals. This is accompanied by a brief 

 resume of his life as an astronomer, and of the 

 discoveries for which the medals were awarded. 

 Dr. T. J. J. See, of the Naval Observatory, con- 

 tributes ' Preliminary Investigations of the 

 Probable Diameters, Masses and Densities of 

 those Satellites which have Measurable Discs,' 

 and W. F. Denning, of England, writes of 

 ' The Motion of the Great Red Spot and other 



