Geology. 149 



conditions in the "infra-world." By the time page 2S is reached, 

 the author has got so far along his way that he can say : "But 

 if the main thesis of this essay is true, and the infra-world is a 

 habitable universe not essentially different from our own, then 

 there is no valid argument either in physiology or psychology, 

 to show the impossibility of our having been inhabitants of the 



infra-world previous to our birth into this world The 



facts of embryology are far from being accounted for and the 

 phenomena of ontogenetic development are so obscure that a 

 reasonable hypothesis like the above can only tend towards their 

 elucidation." 



Analogy leads the author in the second part of his book to con- 

 sider the supra-world in which the earth is but an electron, the 

 solar system an atom, and the whole visible galaxy is perhaps an 

 amoeba. In Chapter 3 of part II, the existence of this supra- 

 world is "proved." On page 134, it is stated in italics that: 

 " Our galactic system is in all probability a supra-organismP 

 It is reassuring to find (p. 137) that: " Possibly our galaxy has 

 no voluntary motion. Its life may be more vegetative than ani- 

 mal ;" but a little later (p. 139) the author considers Kapteyn's 

 theory of two systems of stars, and tentatively suggests that " it 

 may be an act of a great Birth — a mingling of two germ-cells to 

 form a more self-determining being." 



The author has a boundless faith in the future triumphs of man 

 over nature and looks forward to the time when man " will con- 

 trol the sun with a switch like an electric lamp." It may seem 

 unkind, but it will probably be wholesome, to point out that our 

 progress in these directions in the past, and our hopes for the 

 future, depend upon our avoidance of such uses of the reason 

 and the imagination as are exemplified in this book. On the 

 whole we are compelled to think that the book does not fulfill 

 the purpose expressed in its motto, which is : " For the Glory of 

 God and the Honour of Ireland." h. a. b. 



II. Geology. 



1. United States Geological Survey, Twenty-eighth Annual 

 Report, 1906-1 90V, of the Director, George Otis Smith. P,p. 

 80, with one plate. — This report contains a statement of the work 

 done by the various divisions of the Survey during the past fiscal 

 year. The most noteworthy event of the year was the resigna- 

 tion of the former Director, Dr. Charles D. Walcott, in order to 

 accept the position of Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 

 and the appointment of Dr. George Otis Smith as the new 

 Director. 



The organization of the Survey has been modified within the 

 year by the creation of a technologic branch, by changes in the 

 divisions constituting the topographic branch, and by the sub- 



