LITERARY NOTICES. 



4 J 5 



no longer has command of language, in the 

 light of which the organic conditions of 

 learning to speak are considered, with im- 

 portant physiological results. The develop- 

 ment of speech in the child during the first 

 three years is described from observations 

 on the author's own infant. The growth of 

 the feeling of self, or the " I " feeling, is 

 examined in a like manner ; and the results 

 are summarized, particularly as they bear 

 upon the theory of the formation of con- 

 cepts without language. In the appendixes 

 are given " Comparative Observations com- 

 cerning the Acquirement of Speech by Ger- 

 man and Foreign Children " ; " Notes con- 

 cerning Lacking, Defective, and Arrested 

 Mental Development in the First Years of 

 Life"; and reports of several cases illus- 

 trating the process of learning to see, on the 

 part of persons born blind, but acquiring 

 sight through surgical treatment. A full 

 conspectus, showing the results of Prof. 

 Preyer's observations in a chronological or- 

 der, arranged by months, is added by the 

 translator, and very greatly augments the 

 value of the book. 



Popular Lectures and Addresses. By Sir 

 William Thomson. In Three Volumes. 

 Vol. I. Constitution of Matter. With 

 Illustrations. London and New York : 

 Macmillan & Co. Pp. 460. Price, $2. 



The first lecture included in this volume 

 deals with capillary attraction, explaining 

 with the aid of diagrams the action of the 

 forces which produce capillary phenomena. 

 There are two lectures on electrical measure- 

 ments: one describing how the units in 

 present use have been arrived at and point- 

 ing out certain things in relation to them 

 which should be advanced and perfected ; 

 the other dealing mainly with the construc- 

 tion of electrometers. The collection con- 

 tains an extended discussion of the size of 

 atoms, and an address entitled " Steps 

 toward a Kinetic Theory of Matter." The 

 most popular address in the volume is en- 

 titled " The Six Gateways of Knowledge," 

 and deals with the senses, including among 

 them the temperature-sense. Prof. Thomson 

 says there is no evidence for the existence of a 

 magnetic sense. Another attractive paper to 

 the general reader is a lecture on the wave 

 theory of light, delivered in Philadelphia. 

 There are two lectures on the sun's heat, one 



of which considers the probable limits to the 

 periods of time past and future during which 

 the sun can be reckoned on as a source of heat 

 and light. The second volume of this series 

 will include subjects connected with geology, 

 and the third will be chiefly concerned with 

 phenomena of the ocean and with maritime 

 affairs. 



Seventh Annual Report op the United 

 States Geological Survey to the Sec- 

 retary of the Interior — 1885-'86. By 

 J. W. Powell, Director. Washington: 

 Government Printing - Office. Pp. 656, 

 with Plates. 



The report begins with an explanation of 

 the purposes of the geographic division of 

 the survey and the object of the topographic 

 maps and methods of preparing them. In 

 the geologic division the adoption of a scheme 

 of taxonomic representation that shall be 

 comprehensive and susceptible of extension 

 as new features come to light is shown to be 

 important. The perfection of the work of 

 the survey has made necessary the estab- 

 lishment of accessory divisions of paleon- 

 tology, chemistry, microscopic petrography, 

 statistics and technology, forestry, and illus- 

 trations ; and, in order that needed facilities 

 may be provided for the consultation of the 

 results obtained by other geologists, a libra- 

 ry of 17,255 books, 19,600 pamphlets, and 

 9,000 maps, has been collected. Topograph- 

 ic surveys were carried on during the year 

 over 81,829 square miles, at an average cost 

 of about $2.75 per square mile. In the dis- 

 tribution of the work, the investigation of 

 the archsean rocks has been conducted under 

 the direction of Prof. Raphael Pumpelly ; 

 investigations of the Atlantic coast, includ- 

 ing changes of level, by Prof. Shaler; in- 

 the Appalachian region, by Mr. G. K. Gil- 

 bert ; in the Lake Superior region, by Prof. 

 R. D. Irving; in Glacial Geology, by Prof. 

 T. C. Chamberlin ; in Montana, Yellowstone 

 Park, Colorado, California, Volcanic Geology, 

 the Lower Mississippi region (iron and other 

 ores, sulphur and salt deposits, etc.), Poto- 

 mac River and the head of Chesapeake Bay, 

 by Dr. Hayden, Arnold Hague, S. F. Emmons, 

 G. F. Becker, Captain Dutton, L. C. John- 

 son, and W J McGee, respectively. In 

 other branches of the studies, the surveys 

 have been continued under the several spe- 

 cialists who have had them in charge in pre- 



