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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



silver were or had been carried on, and were 

 also direeted to a certain extent to the oc- 

 currence of the baser metals. After describ- 

 ing the surface geology and the mines of 

 the counties named with considerable full- 

 ness, the author summarizes his conclusions 

 that there is but little reason to believe that 

 any workable deposits of gold occur in the 

 State. The promise is better, though not 

 brilliant, for silver ; and much of the profit 

 to arise in the working of the silver ores is 

 likely to ensue from the presence of other 

 metals, chiefly lead and zinc, with which the 

 silver ores are closely linked. Other metals 

 looked for were copper, which does not prob- 

 ably exist in deposits that can be profitably 

 worked ; tin, of which there is one slight in- 

 dication ; nickel and cobalt, of which one 

 " claim " is mentioned that " deserves devel- 

 opment " ; manganese, which exists in con- 

 siderable amount ; iron, in ores the quantity 

 and quality of which do not appear to have 

 been definitely determined ; and miscellane- 

 ous products, such as graphite, silica powder, 

 pyrites, and mineral paints. A list of the 

 minerals of western central Arkansas, and 

 a chapter on the location of mining claims, 

 complete the volume. 



A Handbook of Crtptogamic Botany. By 

 Alfred W. Bennett, F. L. S., and George 

 Murray, F. L. S. London and New York : 

 Longmans, Green & Co. Pp. 473. Price, 



$5. 



This work fills an important gap in our 

 botanical literature, for, while we have, on 

 the one hand, numerous elaborate mono- 

 graphs dealing with special families or groups 

 of cryptogams, and, on the other, our gen- 

 eral treatises on botany give a sketch of the 

 cryptogamic series, there is no book in the 

 English language devoted to presenting the 

 main facts of cryptogamic botany as they 

 are known at the present time. The first 

 subdivision treated is the vascular crypto- 

 gams, including fossil forms, and embrac- 

 ing six classes. In this subdivision and the 

 Muscinece, the classification adopted by the 

 authors follows generally accepted princi- 

 ples. In the Thallophytes, however, where, 

 on account of less complete knowledge, 

 there is less general agreement, the systems 

 are numerous, and the authors state that in 

 choosing among them they have made an 



effort to bring together those organizations 

 which are most nearly related to one another. 

 To this end, while they adopt the Proto- 

 phyta of Sachs as a primary class, they differ 

 from that authority in holding to the older 

 division of the higher Thallophytes into the 

 two great groups of Algce and Fungi. Be- 

 sides those already mentioned, the two small 

 groups, Characece and Mycelozoa, make up 

 the seven chief subdivisions employed in 

 this work. The language of the treatise is 

 clear and smooth, and the authors have 

 striven toward a simple terminology in their 

 department by using such Anglicized forms 

 of Latin and Greek terms as sporange, arche- 

 gone, antherid, epiderm, etc. The text is 

 illustrated by nearly four hundred excellent 

 illustrations; lists of the literature of the 

 several groups, classes, or orders are inserted 

 at the appropriate places ; and the volume is 

 adequately indexed. 



The Tree of Mythology, its Growth and 

 Fruitage : A Study. By Charles De B. 

 Mills. Syracuse, N. Y. : C. W. Bardeen. 

 Pp. 288. 



This work, which is declared to be the 

 fruit of a love for the subject, seeks to as- 

 certain something of the origin, nature, and 

 growth of myth, what it primarily was, and 

 what has come of it. The theme can not, in 

 the author's view, be said to have become 

 obsolete, " when the bale-fires are still kin- 

 dled, as in Scotland and Norway, on each re- 

 turn of the solstice ; when the peasant, as 

 in Germany, still fodders wind and flame in 

 deprecatory offering, and hunts on St. John's 

 night the witches from house and stall ; when, 

 as in our own country, the superstitious re- 

 gard for signs, omens, etc., still holds so 

 strongly even in intelligent and compara- 

 tively freed minds, and survivals almost in- 

 numerable of old mythological beliefs exer- 

 cise, to this hour, powerful sway over both 

 opinions and conduct." The origin of myths 

 is sought by the author chiefly in the disposi- 

 tion of childhood, " and so the child-mind of 

 humanity," to view every object about it as 

 having conscious life ; as endowed, in some 

 strange or vague way, with personality. 

 Combined with this is a propensity to ex- 

 aggerate, particularly in matters associated 

 with the religious sentiment. Thus the il- 

 lusions of mythology grew as the original 



