550 The American Naturalist. [June, 
Wright’s Man and the Glacial Period.'—This book is the best 
synopsis of present knowledge of the glacial epochs and its relations to 
human history which has yet appeared. The compass of the work 
necessarily does not permit as great detail as would he appropriate to a 
technical monograph, but it is admirably adapted for the purpose for 
which it is designed, i. e., that of giving the greatest amount of informa- 
tion in a readable form in the smallest space. The treatment of dis- 
puted topics is generally judicial, and the author has brought to bear 
on the subject a great wealth of facts not only from all published 
sources, but also from his own original research in North America 
and Europe. A question of much general interest is that of the 
age of the great ice period. He brings together evidences from 
various observers to show that its close cannot have been more than 
15,000 years ago, and that its duration may have been twice as long. 
The basis of this estimate isthe rate of cutting of various post-glacial 
gorges, of which well-known examples are that of the Niagara River, 
and that of the Mississippi below the falls of St. Anthony. This 
shortened time is in remarkable contrast to the estimate made by the 
geologists who first attacked the problem. 
The portion of the book relating to the antiquity of man is the 
smaller half, but the conclusive evidences of man’s existence during the 
glacial epoch are necessarily local. Such evidence as this is handled 
judiciously, and all objections are duly considered. Professor Wright 
is of the opinion that some of the finds which indicate the existence of 
man during the glacial epoch are trustworthy evidence to that effect. 
He cites especially as American localities, Trenton, New Jersey, 
(Abbott) ; Newcomerstown and Madisonville, Ohio; Little Falls, Min- 
nesota, Miss Babbitt; Nampa, Idaho, and Calaveras Co., California. 
These finds will be mentioned again below. He considers the supposed 
finds of human implements in beds of Neocene age as not established. 
Dr. Wright’s book has been made the object of a vigorous attack by 
the geologists of the U. S. Geological Survey in a way which shows an 
animus on their part not strictly scientific. President Chamberlin 1n 
the Chicago Dial, charged the author with improperly alleging on the 
title page that he was an assistant on the U. S. Geological Survey. To 
this Dr. Wright replied that he was so employed at the time the book 
assistant. One of the other criticisms was regrettably free from the 
amenities which should characterize scientific discussion, while others — 
*Man and the Glacial Period by G. Frederick Wright, D.D. LL.D. International i 
Scientific Series No. LXIX. New York, D. Appleton & Co., 1892. 
was written and demonstrated satisfactorily his right to use the title ae 
Se ae Bog ay eS oy RI 2 rth OS eR 
