Apeil 29, 1887.] 



SGIElSrCE. 



425 



geology, which throws so much new light upon 

 the subject, is almost completely ignored. 



Mr. Jukes-Browne is not a biologist, and his re- 

 marks on the sti'ucture and affinities of extinct or- 

 ganisms are not always happy. The anatomist will 

 hardly agree with such statements as the following 

 (p. 437) : "Of the mammals, Coryphodon and 

 Lophiodon resembled the recent tapir ; Palaeothe- 

 rium andPaloplotherium were animals from which 

 both the rhinoceros and the horse seem to have 

 descended ; Hyracotherium was a small animal 

 combining characters now found in the peccary 

 and the hyrax or Syrian coney." On the same 

 page the snout of an alligator is inverted and 

 called the lower jaw. Our author seems not to 

 have heard of the great paleontological discov- 

 eries of the last twenty years on this side of the 

 Atlantic, as he mentions only the mastodon, of 

 which a wretched figure is given, and the mam- 

 moth. 



It would, however, be very unfair to leave the 

 impression that this is a carelessly written book. 

 It is nothing of the sort, but, on the contrary, 

 has been compiled with painstaking accuracy, 

 and in many respects has been admirably done. 

 While it cannot be recommended as a text-book 

 in this country, it will prove of great service to 

 investigators as a book of reference and com- 

 parison, containing much valuable information in 

 a small space. 



BEBGHAUS'S Al'LAS OF PHYSICAL GEOG- 

 BAPHY. 



The geographical institute of Justus Perthes in 

 Gotha is publishing a new edition of Berghaus's 

 ' Atlas of physical geography ' (' Physikalischer 

 Atlas'). Though the editor retains the name of 

 the old edition of 1838-48 and of 1853, this is a 

 totally new work, not one of the old maps being 

 used in the new edition. The most eminent au- 

 thorities in the different branches of physical 

 geography contribute to this work, each depart- 

 ment being intrusted to a specialist. Berghaus 

 himself is the author of the hydrographical part, 

 and to him is due the excellent execution of the 

 work, which comes up to the standard we are 

 used to apply- to works published by Justus 

 Perthes. J. Hann edits the meteorology ; G. Neu- 

 mayer, the part on terrestrial magnetism ; von 

 Zittel, geology ; O. Drude, geography of plants ; 

 G. Hartlaub and W. Marshall, the distribution of 

 animals ; and G. Gerland, the ethnological part. 

 The names of these scientists warrant that the 

 material will be reliable, and in every respect be 

 kept up to date. The maps are copperplate prints, 

 and bear the date of publication. This way of re- 



production will enable the publisher to have any 

 desirable corrections made, so that we may be 

 sure to see the maps always corresponding to the 

 latest state of our knowledge. The economical 

 use of space on the single sheets is really admir- 

 able. Map 16, for instance, contains the drainage- 

 areas of the oceans, which are represented in 

 Lambert's equivalent projection. These maps 

 show the limits of ice-drifts, currents, deltas, 

 and the navigable extent of rivers. On the same 

 sheet we find, eleven detail-maps showing the dif- 

 ferent kinds of bifurcations, and two diagrams 

 showing the extent of land in different latitudes. 

 The general principle of the atlas is, first, to 

 give maps of the earth and of continents, showing 

 the distribution of physical phenomena ; and then 

 detail-maps, which are particularly illustrative of 

 it. On the map showing the annual rainfall 

 (No. 37) we may observe the influence of elevation 

 and wind on detail-maps of Jamaica, Mauritius, 

 and New Zealand. On the map of the German 

 Ocean (No. 28) we find the various types of coasts, 

 — the rias of the north coast of Spain, the downs 

 of France and Germany, and the fjords of Nor- 

 way. Diagrams show the temperatures of the 

 ocean. This atlas is an indispensable work for 

 the student of physical geography. Its systemati- 

 cally selected contents and excellent execution 

 make it a worthy companion of Stieler's ' Hand- 

 atlas ' and Spruner-Mencke's ' Historical atlas.' 

 As the editor does not give any preference to the 

 physical geography of Europe, it is as valuable for 

 the American student as for the European. 



A CENTUBY OF ELECTBICITY. 



Those whose curiosity is excited by the pres- 

 ence on every street-corner of an electric light, 

 and in every doctor's office of a telephone, in every 

 railway -station of a clicking telegraph instru- 

 ment, and yet have been unable to find time or 

 opportunities for understanding how these things 

 have been brought into existence, will find in Pro- 

 fessor Mendenhall's little book, ' A century of 

 electricity,' a trusty guide which will lead them 

 by easy steps from the beginnings of a science 

 of electricity towards the end of the eighteenth 

 century, through the discoveries of Gal vani, Volta, 

 Oersted, Faraday, and others, to the present time. 

 Professor Mendenhall's success as a writer is too 

 well known to need especial praise in this place. 

 The author has endeavored to sketch the growth 

 of the science of electricity and its principal 

 applications. The book is not a history of the 

 science, nor is it a scientific treatise, and the use 

 of technical language has been avoided as far as 

 A century of electricity. By T. C. Mendenhall. Boston, 

 Houghton, 1887. 16°. 



