894 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol, XIV. No. 363. 



in the place of what she destroyed save a race 

 laden with disadvantages and a few mission 

 churches crumbling to decay. The spoil she 

 obtained amounted altogether to some seven 

 thousand millions of dollars. ' ' And all this cost 

 the conquerors practically nothing in compari- 

 son. And here again the author remarks, " the 

 value of these precious metals is not due to the 

 cost of production, but to their usefulness and 

 their quality, to the relation of supply to de- 

 mand." 



It is gratifying to note that Christian civili- 

 zation now adopts different methods and "the 

 acquisition of the precious metals by means of 

 conquest is virtually over." 



The volume is so crowded with facts, as well 

 as with the results of thought and argument, 

 that no ordinary book review can do the author 

 justice ; in the words of those who reviewed 

 the first (incomplete) edition, it 'abounds with 

 vivid description and practical knowledge ; it 

 is replete with information, and evinces much 

 care and study ; it is able and exhaustive ; of 

 the highest scientific value, yet readable as a 

 novel.' 



In the chapter on ' Production, Consumption 

 and Stocks of Metal ' the author does not con- 

 ceal his poor opinion of the ' defective and mis- 

 leading statistics of the Mint Bureau,' sup- 

 ported in its methods by Congress, and 

 reflecting ' the narrow views of the Mint 

 Director.' Valuable features are the chrono- 

 logical summaries, the bibliography (with press 

 marks of the British Museum Library) and the 

 index. The volume is clearly printed on good 

 paper, probably in England, as we observe the 

 words ' honour,' 'labour ' and ' negros,' instead 

 of the more familiar ' negroes.' There are two 

 illustrations, a mining scene in California and 

 a portrait of General Nelson A. Miles, who is 

 casually mentioned in the text. 



The volume is of the highest value. 



Henry Carrington Bolton. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 CALENDAR. 



The American Association for the Advancement 

 of Science. A meeting of the council will be 

 held at the Quadrangle Club, University of 

 Chicago, on the afternoon of January 1, Sec- 



tion H (Anthropology) will meet at the Field 

 Columbian Museum, Chicago, on December 31 

 and January 1. The next regular meeting of 

 the Association will be held at Pittsburgh, Pa., 

 from June 28 to July 3. A winter meeting is 

 planned to be held at Washington, during the 

 convocation week of 1902-3. 



The American Society of Naturalists will hold 

 its annual meeting at the University of Chicago 

 on Decembpr 31 and January 1. In conjunc- 

 tion with it will meet the Naturalists of the 

 Central States and several afliliated societies, 

 including The American Morphological Society, 

 The American Physiological Society, December 

 30 and 31, The American Psychological As- 

 sociation and the Western Philosophical As- 

 sociation, December 31 and January 1 and 2. 



PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 



The 538th meeting was held October 12, 1901. 



An obituary notice of Mr. C. A. Schott, for 

 many years chief of the computing division of 

 the Coast and Geodetic Survey, was read by 

 Superintendent O. H. Tittmann ; and Mr. R. 

 A. Fessenden presented, through Mr. Winston, 

 a paper on ' Progress in Practical and Theoret- 

 ical Electricity ' giving a rapid sketch of the 

 condition of all the great branches of electricity. 



"The 539th meeting was held October 26, 1901. 



Mr. Marcus Baker described ' A Dictionary of 

 Alaskan Names,' now in press, to be published 

 by the U. S. Geological Survey, pointing 

 out its charactei'istics and the principles on 

 which it is made. It will contain about 6,500 

 adopted names, 3,000 obsolete names and cross- 

 references and 60 pages devoted to a catalogue 

 of authorities with brief accounts of the 

 explorers. Dr. Dall spoke appreciatively of 

 the work. ^ 



Mr. C. H. Hinton, of the Nautical Almanac 

 Office, then read by invitation a paper on ' A 

 Fourth Dimension in Space demanded by Elec- 

 trical Phenomena.' The paper cannot be sum- 

 marized, but may be characterized as an attempt 

 to apply to 4-space some principles of quater- 

 nions developed for 3-space. 



The 540th regular meeting was held No- 

 vember 9, 1901, Vice-President Adler in the 

 chair. 



Mr. Hinton continued the presentation of his 



