December 30, 18S7.] 



SCIENCE. 



317 



notions of time-units. Houzeau took his dogs out wall<ing every 

 alternate day, and after ten \vall<s did not notice a spontaneous de- 

 sire of tlie dogs to go out, although they enjoyed the walk. The 

 dogs did not estimate the interval, but took hints from trifling indi- 

 cations. They notice the return of a complex series of circum- 

 stances. On the other hand, Houzeau ascribes an instinctive time- 

 sense to the crocodile that comes back to its eggs after a definite 

 interval, varying from ten to fifteen days in different species. The 

 mules on the horse-cars in New Orleans make five trips a day, and 

 are always very restless on completing their fifth trip. Such facts 

 need more exact experimentation before they can be ascribed to 

 real counting on the part of the animals. 



The Influence of Sensations onOne Another. — Under 

 this head Dr. Urbanschitsch of Vienna reports some curious ex- 

 periments, the value of which must be left to future research to 

 decide. His general conclusion is, that the excitation of one sense- 

 organ increases the acuteness of the others. If a disk be regarded 

 at such a distance that its color is indistinct, the hearing of a sound 

 will bring out the color. The beating of a watch is heard more 

 clearly with the eyes open than with the eyes closed. Red and 

 green increase auditory perceptions ; blue and yellow weaken them. 

 The fact that we listen to music with our eyes closed is due to 

 other reasons, and also to the fact that the ensemble appears best 

 when the tones are not at their clearest. Smell, taste, and touch 

 are open to the same influence. Red and green increase the sensi- 

 tiveness of each of these senses ; yellow and blue weaken their 

 sensitiveness. Touch and temperature have a reciprocal influence. 

 If one tickles the skin and plunges it into warm water, the tickling 

 ceases ; if into cold water, the tickling brings out the feeling of cold. 

 These observations are regarded as showing the same re-enforcing 

 action between sensations as has been shown to exist between 

 motions, and as offering a mode of explanation of those curious 

 associations between colors and sounds so insistent in some minds. 



BOOK -REVIEWS. 



Greek Life and Thought, from the Age of Alexander to the 

 Roman Conquest. By J. P. Mahaffy. New York, Macmil- 

 lan. 12°. $3.50. 



This work is in the main a continuation of the author's previous 

 volume, ' Social Life in Greece from Homer to Menander,' though 

 somewhat wider in its scope. It lacks the absorbing interest that 

 belongs to the history of the great days of Greece, but it has a new 

 interest of its own in the spread of Hellenic civilization in Egypt 

 and western Asia. The work is not confined to the moral and 

 social life of the times, though this is the most prominent feature, 

 but contains a great amount of information and discussion on al- 

 most every phase of Hellenic life. The political interest of the age 

 immediately succeeding the death of Alexander centres partly in 

 the division of his empire into various kingdoms, and partly in the 

 struggles of the cities in European Hellas to recover their independ- 

 ence. Of the various kingdoms of the Hellenistic world, Egypt 

 was, in Mr. Mahaffy's opinion, the most important and the most 

 prosperous, — a fact which he attributes in great part to the states- 

 manlike genius of its founder, the first Ptolemy. In dealing with 

 the cities of Greece, the author shows a lack of sympathy with the 

 spirit of freedom and local patriotism which is not quite creditable 

 in a citizen of a free country and a historian of Hellenism. It is 

 true, the struggles of the cities to regain their autonomy proved un- 

 availing, and perhaps they were not sufficiently cosmopolitan in 

 their views ; yet freedom is better than empire, and, while we ac- 

 knowledge the defects and the failure of the patriots, we cannot but 

 sympathize with their misfortunes. 



Of the moral life of the period, we get glimpses from many points 

 of view, and yet, as a whole, it is somewhat difiicult to judge. The 

 sins of the royal courts, especially the frequent murders, the use of 

 torture, and the perpetual wars, are sufficiently prominent ; yet Mr. 

 Mahaffy thinks that the morality of private life was purer and more 

 refined than it was in earlier times. In one respect there was cer- 

 tainly a real moral advance : it was during this period that the 

 great schools of ethical philosophy were founded, and men came to 

 regulate their lives by reason instead of by tradition and custom. 



The author gives an interesting account of the philosophical schools 

 at Athens, which were established bylaw as religious corporations 

 with regular endowments ; and he shows clearly that during most 

 of the period under review they were highly respected and influen- 

 tial. 



The intellectual life of the Hellenic world is treated by the author 

 with considerable fulness. The history of physical and mathemati- 

 cal science is omitted, on the ground that the author lacks the 

 special knowledge requisite for treating it. In art the Rhodian and 

 Pergamene schools are of course the most conspicuous ; and Mr. 

 Mahaffy shows, that, though this was an age of decadence, the 

 number of excellent artists was by no means small. In literature, 

 after the decline of the New Comedy at Athens, the chief interest 

 centres in Alexandria. The establishment of the Museum and the 

 great library in that city, and the liberal patronage of both by the 

 Ptolemies, made the place the chief seat of literature, as it after- 

 wards became of philosophy. Of the quality of this literature. Mr. 

 Mahaffy expresses the opinion usually held of it by modern scholars. 

 It was distinguished by erudition and imitation of earlier models 

 rather than by original genius or power of style. It is worthy of 

 note, however, that it was at Alexandria that the practice arose of 

 writing poems, and afterwards prose fictions, on the theme of 

 romantic love, — a theme which has since become the most prolific 

 in literature. 



The concluding chapter of the book gives an account of the in- 

 troduction of Hellenic civilization into Rome consequent on the 

 conquest of Greece by the Roman arms ; but the subject is only 

 just introduced, as the author intends writing another work on the 

 spiritual life of Hellenism in the Roman Empire. Those who have 

 read his other works will look with interest for the promised 

 volume. 



Mount Taylor and the Zuiii Plateau. By Capt. C. E. Dutton. 

 Washington, Government. 4°. 

 Students of American geology who have learned to expect in 

 Captain Button's contributions important results ably elaborated, 

 and presented in a style which is simply fascinating, — clear and 

 graphic, and worthy of the geological wonderland in which it has 

 been his fortune to work, — will experience no disappointment in 

 this paper. The district to which it relates (longitude 107° to 109°, 

 and latitude 35° to 36°) lies in the western part of New Mexico, 

 and in the south-eastern corner of the great plateau country, and 

 embraces two distinct geological problems of the first order, — the 

 volcanic region of which Mount Taylor is the culmination, and 

 the Zuiii Plateau. Captain Dutton's previous studies, as well 

 as those of Gilbert, Powell, and others, were confined mainly to the 

 western side of the plateau province, and especially to the portion 

 traversed by the Grand Cafion of the Colorado. But although no 

 geologist possessing any breadth of comprehension could enter the 

 plateau country, and, after gaining an extended knowledge of its 

 physical features, fail to perceive that it is a great unit, and sharply 

 delimited from every thing which surrounds it, it was still extremely 

 desirable to study the south-eastern extensions of these vast masses 

 of strata and the features carved out of them, in the hope that 

 problems which could be only half solved on one side of the pla- 

 teau could be completely solved on the other. It was felt that the 

 history and evolution of this unique region could be ascertained 

 satisfactorily only by knowing the whole. The survey, therefore, 

 embraced the first opportunity of attacking it from the eastern side ; 

 and the admirable monograph before us sufficiently attests the wis- 

 dom of this policy. 



With the view of putting this new field at once into its natural 

 relations with the whole of which it forms a part. Captain Dutton 

 begins with a summary account of the plateau country in its entirety. 

 The area of the plateau country, south of the Uinta Mountains, is 

 about one hundred and thirty thousand square miles. A shaded 

 map shows its form and its position with reference to the other 

 portions of the western United States. The topographic features 

 and extraordinary scenery of this region have been described many 

 times, and it is deemed needless to descant upon them ; but several 

 pages are devoted to the general geologic features underlying these 

 wonderful reliefs. The strata are normally approximately horizon- 

 tal ; and such slight inclinations as occur are very persistent, car- 



