February 16, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



263 



it out in biology, nor does he give us the socio- 

 logical equivalent of natural selection, philo- 

 sophically expressed by Herbert Spencer in the 

 phrase ' indirect equilibration.' Adaptation is 

 an indirect social equilibration, the complete 

 analysis of which remains to be made. Tarde, 

 indeed, dwells on the fact that adaptation con- 

 sists in a certain harmony and unity in the 

 social world, from which it is clear that he sees 

 the dependence upon it of the social order. 

 Between adaptation and invention, in Tarde's 

 wide use of both terms, we have an antithesis 

 which in its essential aspects is the same as the 

 antithesis between order and progress. It is 

 just here that sociology naturally falls into the 

 two great subdivisions of social statics and social 

 dynamics. 



It may be objected to the above analysis that 

 it does not follow closely enough the method of 

 the work under review, and that it goes back 

 to the author's other works and even lays the 

 conceptions of other authors under tribute. But 

 this could scarcely be avoided in anything be- 

 yond pure exposition. As a matter of fact very 

 little is said in this book of the great law of in- 

 vention. But how could this be avoided in any 

 glance at his system ? The aim has been rather 

 to summarize that system and present it as a 

 whole, while laying special stress, as Tarde 

 claims to do in this work, on the relations that 

 the leading laws sustain to one another. But 

 the system is a large one. It is thoroughly 

 elaborated in a long series of books, and dif- 

 ferent readers may see many things very dif- 

 ferently. Again, the excessive condensation 

 necessary to a short review compels the omis- 

 sion of so many important things that no claim 

 is made to having done justice to that system. 



The English text forms a neat and conven- 

 ient little volume, printed in clear type and 

 tastefully brought out. The translation is free 

 and the original is rendered in elegant English 

 without obscurities or gallicisms. In a few 

 cases it is open to the charge of being just a 

 little too 'liberal.' Only one such need be re- 

 ferred to. On page 168 the original : " Et ce 

 cas tend k se gdneraliser par les progres de la 

 machinofacture," is rendered by: "And this 

 sort of case tends to become more general with 

 the improvements in the manufacture of ma- 



chinery." Aside from the fact that this does 

 not convey the idea of the original, there is 

 certainly a loss in avoiding the word machino- 

 facture. This is a word of Tarde's special min- 

 tage, struck oiF with all due reserve in a foot- 

 note to page 174 of the Logique Sociale, and 

 freely used thereafter, often as here, without 

 italicizing, on the assumption that his readers 

 now understand it. But it is as good English 

 as French, and while in both languages the 

 word manufacture has lost its literal implication 

 of handmade, and embraces machine-made prod- 

 ucts as well and for the most part, still it was 

 a fine stroke to call attention by this new term 

 to the primitive form of industry, and to em- 

 phasize in one word the enormous stride that 

 industry has taken, which, with all its bless- 

 ings, is at the same time the fundamental cause 

 of the chief socio-economic problem of modern 

 times. Lester F. Ward. 



Die Conchylien der patagonischen Formation. Von 

 H. VON Ihering. Mit 2 Tafeln. Neuen 

 Jahrbuch fUr Mineralogie, Geologic und Pa- 

 Iseontologie. Jahrg. 1899. Bd. II. (S. 1-46 

 Taf. I., II.). 



In this paper Dr. von Ihering has made an 

 important addition to the invertebrate paleon- 

 tology of the Patagonian beds. The paper is 

 based upon a collection of invertebrate fossils 

 recently made by Mr. C. Bicego of the Sao 

 Paulo Museum, from the typical Patagonian 

 beds at the mouth of the Santa Cruz river in 

 southern Patagonia. According to Dr. von 

 Ihering about 50 species are represented in the 

 collection. Among these are nine new to science 

 and some three or four new varieties. 



Not the least important features of Dr. von 

 Ihering's paper are the geological questions dis- 

 cussed in it. Following Dr. Ameghino, von 

 Ihering considers the Patagonian and Supra 

 Patagonian (Santa Cruz) beds, as quite distinct 

 and proceeds to set forth at some length the 

 paleontologic and lithologic features which ac- 

 cording to him are characteristic of each. Hap- 

 pily we have here for the first time a definite 

 locality given where the Patagonian beds may be 

 observed in their typical development and ex- 

 hibiting those lithologic and paleontologic feat- 

 urea, which, according to Dr. von Ihering, dis- 



