April 1, 1887.J 



SCIEJSrCE. 



325 



Bell is in favor of the hypothesis of Dr. Starry 

 Hunt, who regards it as due to terrestrial radia- 

 tion, and analogous to the formation of hoar-frost 

 on the surface of the ground in clear weather. 

 A similar opinion was held by Arago, but this 

 theory does not explain all the phenomena ; and 

 the views of Zschokke, that the anchor-ice is 

 formed on the surface and carried to the bottom 

 by the current, seem to agree better with the facta. 

 C. W. Weber and J. Rae agree with this theory. 

 It is doubtful whether water is so diathermal for 

 dark rays that the radiation should have any 

 effect on the formation of anchor-ice. 



Of great interest are Bell's remarks and observa- 

 tions on the long fissures which remain open 

 throughout the winter. He proves that the changes 

 of temperature have no influence upon their width. 

 They form every winter in the same situations, 

 and generally between the extremities of points 

 on opposite sides of the water. He considers it 

 probable that the progressive lowering of the 

 water going on during the winter produces a ten- 

 sion on such places sufficient to keep the fissures 

 open. 



Finally, Bell explains the remarkable rings and 

 dikes of bowlders caused by the action of the ice. 

 In ponds which freeze to the bottom, bowlders are 

 incorporated in the ice. As the ice is evaporating 

 at its surface, while accessions of water lift the ice, 

 the bowlders are raised and gradually carried to- 

 ward the periphery. On large lakes the drifting 

 ice is pressed against the shores, and thus forms 

 dikes of bowlders. 



MULLER8 SCIENCE OF LANGUAGE. 



The appearance of the concluding part of Dr. 

 Miiller's great work on linguistic science, which 

 has occupied ten years in its publication and of 

 course a much longer time in its preparation, af- 

 fords a good opportunity for considering this im- 

 portant contribution to science as a whole. In 

 speaking of it as concluded, however, the term 

 must be understood as applying to the original 

 plan, which contemplated only three volumes. In 

 this sense, the author regards his work as com- 

 pleted. But, as we learn from the preface to the 

 latest portion, he purposes adding two supplemen- 

 tary volumes, one of which will be occupied with 

 the analytic and the so-called ' mixed languages,' 

 as well as with new idioms, extinct and living, of 

 undetermined position, while the other will com- 

 prise the materials which have accumulated dur- 

 ing the past ten years. 



Like the other inductive sciences, — and per- 

 haps even more than the majority of them, — 



Grundriss der sprachwissenschaft. Von Dr. Priedrich 

 MULLBB. Vienna, Alfred Holder ; London, Trubner. 8°. 



comparative philology has been a rapidly growing 

 science. No better evidence of this fact can be 

 found than in the comparison, to which the author 

 himself invites us, of his work with that of his 

 noted predecessors. Professors Adelung and Vater, 

 whose well-known ' Mithridates ' presented the 

 first general survey of languages ever attempted 

 on a scientific plan. That great work, of which 

 the last volume appeared in 1817, is justly 

 deemed a monument of erudition and laborious 

 research. The authors undertook to give an ac- 

 count of all known languages, with (wherever 

 practicable) the Lord's Prayer as a specimen of 

 each, translated and carefully analyzed. The 

 work was as well accomplished as was possible at 

 the time. But the necessary materials were to a 

 large extent lacking, and the principles of the 

 science were imperfectly understood. During the 

 sixty years which have since elapsed, the progress 

 of research has not only added largely to the data, 

 but has developed many laws of the science, and 

 in a great measure revolutionized its character. 

 Exploring expeditions, missionary labors, and the 

 study of ancient monuments have more than 

 doubled the number of known idioms. At the 

 same time, the profound investigations of many 

 eminent scholars, in Europe and America, have 

 elucidated the principles which lie, or seem to lie, 

 at the foundation of the science. Some qualifica- 

 tion is necessary in this statement, for in the sci- 

 ence of language, as in other sciences, new dis- 

 coveries are constantly appearing, which alter 

 materially the aspect of what was deemed to be 

 established truth. Not the less, however, is it 

 certain that a vast progress has been made since 

 the time of Adelung and Vater. Some able and 

 practised hand was needed to gather up the im- 

 mense mass of scattered material, and to frame a 

 structure which should represent the present con- 

 dition of the science, and make a solid platform on 

 which other inquirers might safely build. No one, 

 certainly, could be better fitted for this office, by 

 experience and talent, than the distinguished 

 scholar to whom we owe the linguistic portion of 

 the history of the Novara expedition, and the 

 well-known ' Algemeine Ethnographic,' which has 

 long been a standard work. 



In the brief preface to his first volume. Dr. 

 Miilier remarks that his work is designed specially 

 for the use of academic lecturers and for students 

 who desire the means of self-instruction. He has 

 therefore purposely avoided the more popular and 

 discursive method of books intended merely for 

 general reading, and has adopted in preference 

 the concise and systematic form of treatises de- 

 voted to the exact sciences. Throughout the 

 greater portion of his work he has adhered strictly 



