LITERARY NOTICES. 



757 



portance of good habits, self-reliance, and 

 dexterity of hand. 



Legal Responsibility in Old Age. By 

 George M. Beard, A. M., M. D. New 

 York : Printed by Russell's American 

 Steam Printing-House ; 42 pp., 8vo. 



This is an address delivered before the 

 Medico - Legal Society of New York, in 

 March, 1873. It discusses the effects of 

 age on the mental faculties, as evidenced in 

 the works of the greatest men of all times. 

 The author states that his method was to 

 study the biographies of such men, and ob- 

 serve the average age at which their best 

 works were produced. The conclusion 

 reached is, that the best work is done be- 

 tween thirty and forty, the worst between 

 seventy and eighty, and that the growth, 

 maturity, and decay, of the mind, are co- 

 eval with the corresponding stages of the 

 body. As a corollary, it is held that the 

 moral faculties also decay with the down- 

 ward curve of life. The fact is pointed out 

 that one or more of the moral faculties may 

 decay, while the rest remain sound. The 

 address concludes with an earnest protest 

 against the prevailing mode of testing moral 

 responsibility in courts of law, and recom- 

 mends, as an improvement, the appointment 

 by the States of an examining commission, 

 composed of from three to five psycholog- 

 ical experts. It is both interesting and in- 

 structive. 



Physical Geography. By John Young, 

 M. D., L. R. C. S., etc. New York : G. 

 P. Putnam's Sons. 368 pp. Price, 



$1.50. 



This book is a condensed statement of 

 the principal geological and biological 

 truths and such astronomical facts as re- 

 late to the earth. In the introductory 

 chapter, the author thus describes the 

 sphere of his subject : " Physical geogra- 

 phy takes up the results achieved in all 

 these departments — geology, biology, and 

 astronomy — and proceeds to higher gener- 

 alizations. It shows how the behavior of 

 the earth, as a body in space, and its rela- 

 tions to other bodies, determine the atmos- 

 pheric currents, and, through them, the 

 movements of the ocean ; it points out how 

 the ocean-currents modify and are affected 

 by the tides ; it determines the extent to 

 which the character and variation of the 



climate are dependent on secular changes. 

 The changes of sea and land, as ascertained 

 by the geologists, are used to explain the 

 movements of organized forms, and the bi- 

 ologist finds, in atmospheric, topographical, 

 and climatal influences, the key to the pres- 

 ence or absence, the abundance or scarcity, 

 of particular groups in any locality." 



In connection with the composition of 

 the earth's crust, are described the classifica- 

 tion, formation, and chemical constitution 

 of rocks ; also the production and geologi- 

 cal importance of fossils. The configura- 

 tion of the earth's surface, or the distribu 

 tion of land and water, with the changes it 

 has undergone ; the formation of islands 

 and continents ; ocean and atmospheric 

 currents ; forms of water in the atmosphere, 

 as snow, rain, mist, etc. ; climate and 

 weather, are briefly though clearly set 

 forth. Apparently the only fault of the 

 book is that less space has been devoted 

 to describing the distribution of plants and 

 animals than the importance of the subject 

 demands. As may be inferred from its na- 

 ture, the book contains no new truths, but 

 its value suffers no impairment therefrom. 

 It has the merit of being free from the in- 

 fluence of particular theories, and, where 

 unsettled questions are discussed, the au- 

 thor conscientiously endeavors to give the 

 reader the drift of scientific opinion. 



The Birth of Chemistry. By G. F. Rod- 

 well, F. R. S., F. C. S. London : Mac- 

 millan & Co. 135 pp., 12mo. Price, 

 $1.50. 



The origin of chemistry is herein traced 

 through the grotesque alchemic vagaries of 

 the middle ages to the natural philosophy 

 of the ancient Greeks and their contempo- 

 raries. The quaint admixture of truth and 

 error, constituting their so-called natural 

 philosophy, is first shown. The ideas of 

 primary elements and their transmutations ; 

 the metals known to the ancients and the 

 manner in which they were worked ; an- 

 cient colors and chemical compounds, are 

 all described in a manner calculated to 

 please the general reader. The origin of 

 alchemy is traced to Arabia about the 

 fourth century a. d. The mysteries of al- 

 chemy are likewise detailed, as well as the 

 theories of combustion and phlogiston, out 



