December 23, 1887.] 



SCIENCE. 



307 



less area, it is shown more clearly that the marginal] phenomena 

 confirm Professor Chamberlin's previously published classification 

 of the quaternary epochs. He recognizes (i) an earlier glacial 

 epoch, in which two successive ice-sheets were separated by an 

 interglacial period sufficiently marked to permit the growth of vege- 

 tation over the surface ; (2) a prolonged interglacial epoch, during 

 which the land was elevated to the extent of eight hundred to one 

 thousand feet, and again forest-clad ; (3) a later glacial epoch, dur- 

 ing which the great terminal moraine was formed, while subordi- 

 nate moraines and vegetal deposits testify to repeated recessions 

 and advances of the ice ; (4) the Champlain epoch, during which 

 marine and lacustrine deposits were formed ; (5) the terrace epoch, 

 when the streanis carved the flood-plains of the Champlain epoch 

 ■into terraces. 



The origin of the driftless area is found in the fact that the ele- 

 vated land lying north-east of it must have acted as a wedge to 

 ■divide the ice, while the diverging troughs of Lake Superior and 

 Lake Michigan tended to prevent the streams from re-uniting im- 

 mediately south of the obstruction. Climatic influences also prob- 

 ably played an important part in staying the progress of the ice 

 which was advancing directly toward the driftless area. In the 

 language of the authors, diverted by highlands, led away by valleys, 

 consumed by wastage where weak, self-perpetuated where strong, 

 the fingers of the mer de glace closed around the ancient Jardin of 

 the LTpper Mississippi valley, but failed to close upon it. 

 A History of Elizabethan Literature. By GEORGE Saintsbury. 

 New York, Macmillan. 12". $1.75. 



This book forms the second part of a general history of English 

 literature from the earliest period to the present day. The whole 

 work will be completed in four volumes, by four different writers, 

 each specially qualified for his individual task. Mr. Saintsbury has 

 ■been for many years an enthusiastic student of the period of which 

 he treats, and he here gives the main results of his studies in a clear 

 and well-ordered form. He wisely confines himself in the main to 

 the purely literary aspects of his subject, with much less attention to 

 biography and bibliography than some writers would give. He 

 allows considerable space to the minor writers, a knowledge of 

 whom he thinks essential to a correct understanding of the period. 

 His enthusiasm for his subject is almost unbounded, and some 

 readers will think it excessive. He styles the Elizabethan era " the 

 greatest period in the greatest literature of the world," and seems 

 too little aware of its defects. His admiration for Shakspeare is 

 carried to the verge of idolatry, and he does not appear to see any 

 faults at all in him. 



Spenser he esteems almost as highly, and thinks the 'Faerie 

 Oueen ' the greatest poem in the English language. With regard 

 to the forms of poetry, he maintains that " every English metre 

 since Chaucer at least can be scanned, within the proper limits, 

 according to the strictest rules of classical prosody," — an opinion 

 with which very few persons will agree. The greater part of the 

 book is of course devoted to the writers of verse, yet the prose writers 

 are treated with sufficient fulness. Bacon, in Mr. Saintsbury's opinion, 

 was more of a rhetorician than a philosopher, and might better have 

 gone into the Church than into politics. Hobbes is spoken of as 

 the first prose writer whose style is clear and uninvolved ; while 

 the general style of the period is well characterized in the remark, 

 that at that time " the sense of proportion and order in prose com- 

 position was not born." Mr. Saintsbury's work, notwithstanding 

 some defects, will be valuable both to the student and to the gen- 

 eral reader ; and, if the other volumes of the series are equally well 

 ■done, the whole work will be the standard history of English litera- 

 ture. 



Hegel's Philosophy of the State and of History. By GEORGE S. 

 Morris. Chicago, Griggs & Co. 16". 

 This book is the sixth in the series of philosophical classics now 

 in course of publication under the editorial supervision of Professor 

 Morris. It gives in a brief, by no means superficial form the theo- 

 ries of Hegel on the constitution of the state and of civil society, and 

 also on the philosophy of history. Hegel's terminology is so strange 

 to the English reader, and his processes of thought often so obscure, 

 that it is not an easy task to make his meaning plain and compre- 

 hensible, but Professor Morris has succeeded in doing this as well 



as could be expected. The theory of the state which the German 

 philosopher has given is not in all respects such as the people of a 

 free country are likely to accept. He repudiates the intention of 

 describing an ideal state, such as Plato and others have dreamed 

 of, and he has little respect, apparently, for such attempts on the 

 part of others ; yet it is not difficult to see that a constitutional 

 monarchy is in his eyes, if not an ideal state, at least the most per- 

 fect type that has yet been devised. He divides the powers of gov- 

 ernment into three classes, — the legislative power, the executive 

 power, and the power of ultimate decision, which properly resides 

 in the monarch alone. He is strongly in favor of a representative 

 assembly to take part in legislation, but he regards with great dis- 

 trust the influence of public opinion, which is the inevitable conse- 

 quence of representation. On the subject of war, Hegel is not in 

 accord with the peacemakers, his view being that " war is to nations 

 what wind is to the sea, — it preserves them from stagnation and 

 putrescence." 



On the subject of history the views of Hegel are in some respects 

 a little behind the age, owing partly to the new theories of develop- 

 ment which now prevail, and partly to the discovery and interpreta- 

 tion since his time of the ancient records of Egypt and Assyria. 

 Still his theories are well worth pondering. He holds that history 

 as a whole is "the development of the conception of freedom," — 

 a remark that seems to apply rather too exclusively to mere politi- 

 cal history. He passes in review the history of the leading nations, 

 briefly characterizing the civilization of each, and showing the con- 

 nection of them all with the life of modern Europe. In the course 

 of this exposition he has many interesting observations on special 

 points which we should be glad to quote if space permitted, but 

 we must content ourselves with recommending our readers to look 

 them out for themselves. 



NOTES AND NEWS. 



In compliance with what seems to be a wide-spread desire on 

 the part of the geologists of America, a few have united in an effort 

 to establish an American journal devoted to geology and its allied 

 sciences. The subscription price is three dollars .per year, and the 

 place of issue for the present is Minneapolis, Minn., where corre- 

 spondence should be addressed to The American Geologist. From 

 all geologists the editors solicit original contributions and items of 

 scientific news. The editors and publishers, for the year beginning 

 Jan. I, 1888, are as follows : Prof. S. Calvin, Iowa City, lo. ; Prof. 

 E. W. Claypole, Akron, O. ; Dr. Persifor Frazer, Philadelphia, 

 Penn. ; Prof. L. E. Hicks, Lincoln, Neb. ; Mr. E. O. Ulrich, New- 

 port, Ky. ; Dr. A. Winchell, Ann Arbor, Mich.; Prof. N. H. 

 Winchell, Minneapolis, Minn. 



— A company has been incorporated for building a railroad from 

 Winnipeg to Fort Simpson, British Columbia, crossing the Rocky 

 Mountains by way of the Peace River Pass. This is one of the 

 routes surveyed by the Canadian Pacific Railroad. It was recom- 

 mended, as the distance from Fort Simpson to eastern Asia is still 

 shorter than that from Vancouver. Part of the country through 

 which this road would pass is suitable for agricultural purposes. 

 The charter compels the incorporation to build at least fifty miles 

 each year, the whole distance being a little more than si-xteen hun- 

 dred miles. 



— The second number of the bibliographies of Indian languages 

 by James C. Pilling has just been issued by the Bureau of Ethnology. 

 It treats of the Siouan stock. The plan of this bibliography is the 

 same as the one followed in the ' Bibliography of the Eskimo Lan- 

 guage,' which was referred to in No. 235 of Science. The dictionary 

 plan has been followed to its extreme limit, the subject and tribal 

 indexes, references to libraries, etc., being included in one alphabetic 

 series. The arrangement is excellent, and makes the bibliography 

 very handy for use. 



— ■ The Pennsylvania State College Agricultural Experiment Station 

 was established by vote of the trustees June 30, 1887, in accordance 

 with the provisions of the Hatch act, and will continue and greatly en- 

 large the experimental work of past years. It investigates such sub- 

 jects as are of immediate importance to the farmer of the State, 

 and publishes the results in reports and bulletins, which are distrib- 



