May 11, 1900.] 



SCIENCE. 



745 



sixth lectures. The other lectures, already 

 noted as of importance to scientific readers, 

 really deal with the metaphysical conclusions 

 which modern inquiry, broadly viewed as a 

 whole, most fully warrants. They constitute the 

 first attempt in the United States, so far as I 

 know, to supply a reasoned account of first 

 principles from the standpoint — the only rea- 

 sonable, and therefore the only defensible one 

 as I think — that human experience is a closed 

 circle, and that if it is to be justified at all, 

 justification must proceed from within this 

 circle. 



This is not the place to attempt an estimate 

 of Mr. Royce's contribution to ' natural theol- 

 ogy ' {i. e., philosophy of religion); moreover, 

 it were more just not to anticipate his second 

 series of lectures, in which he promises to apply 

 his principles. I wish, in conclusion, to draw 

 the attention of mathematicians to the impor- 

 tance of the Supplementary Essay. Written in 

 reply to Mr. F. H. Bradley's conclusions, in 

 'Appearance and Reality,' it is necessarily of a 

 most technical character. But its suggestive- 

 ness will repay some effort. It will serve, also, 

 as I believe, to render many more completely 

 conscious of the change that the last fifty years 

 have wrought upon the old ideals of definite- 

 ness and accuracy. These, indispensable de- 

 siderata as thoy are, possess certain limitations. 

 Perception of these limitations has led some to 

 reconsider conceptions once deemed funda- 

 mental without question. No doubt, as Mr. C. 

 S. Peirce seems to indicate (Science, No. 272, 

 pp. 430 flf.), Mr. Royce may be mistaken re- 

 garding some matters that lie specially within 

 the purview of the mathematical expert. But, 

 all the same, so far as I am capable of judging, 

 no one can fail to be stimulated by his discus- 

 sion, not merely of Bradley, but also of Cantor 

 and Dedekind. If he were to have formulated 

 no more than a forcible illustration of the inti- 

 mate connection between mathematical and 

 metaphysical problems, he would have earned 

 our warm congratulations. 



It need hardly be added that the book is one 

 with which all workers in Professor Royce's 

 own field will have to reckon. 



R. M. Wenley. 



University of Michigan. 



A Preliminary Report on the Geology of Louis- 

 iana. By Gilbert D. Harris and A. C. 

 Veatch. Baton Rouge. 1900. 8vo. Pp. 

 354. PI. 62. 



This report on the geology of Louisiana is the 

 first annual report of Professor Harris and one 

 of a series of annual State reports bearing on 

 agriculture, geology, and the development of 

 the State, which are issued under the auspices 

 of the State Board of Agriculture, and distrib- 

 uted free on application. It covers the opera- 

 tions for the season of 1899, and in printing, 

 illustration, etc., is very well gotten up, though, 

 as in many State reports, there are rather more 

 than a fair share of typographical errors. There 

 is an excellent index which is a boon to be 

 thankful for, though, curiously enough, there 

 is nowhere any date of publication. 



The contents are divided into three sections 

 (I) an historical synopsis of previous geological 

 work done in the State ; (II) general geology ; 

 and (III) special reports by various authors, in 

 this case including the geology of the salt mines 

 of the Five Islands, reports on clays, on fossil 

 plants and invertebrates and a popular article 

 on fungi injurious to standing timber. 



From the well-known energy and acquire- 

 ments of the geologist in charge, ably assisted 

 by Mr. Veatch, one naturally expects the clear- 

 ing up of problems which have long puzzled 

 geologists, with other positive additions to 

 geological knowledge. And, since Professor 

 Harris is a paleontologist and stratigrapher, 

 we do not expect to see complicated questions 

 settled oflF-hand on the physiographic aspect of 

 a few gravel banks. Nor are these anticipations 

 disappointed. 



Earlier workers, especially Hilgard, have in- 

 sisted on the presence of cretaceous rocks in 

 Louisiana, but their distribution has been more 

 or less uncertain and in the absence of skilled 

 paleontological assistance Lower Eocene fos- 

 sils have been sometimes taken for Cretaceous 

 remains, etc. One important result of the cur- 

 rent work has been the establishment of the fact 

 that the upper Cretaceous (Ripley) under its 

 blanket of Tertiary strata, extends, with a 

 general parallelism to the old Eocene shore line, 

 in many folds in a NE-SW direction. A fairly 

 good list of Cretaceous fossils has been secured, 



