57« 



THE QUARTERLY REVIEW OF BIOLOGY 



there is an impulse to turn the book over, 

 and we were prompted finally to read it 

 like the translation of a Hebrew bible, 

 beginning at the back. So read it is the 

 tale of how man has developed from a 

 primitive form of life in the "Primary 

 Era" to the stage reached in La Tine III 

 Period. This is a sizable history to 

 compress into ijo pages, and since the 

 author deals with paleontology and 

 geology, as well as archeology, and does 

 not neglect the history of these subjects 

 themselves, it becomes in many places only 

 a compact cataloging of facts . Withal, it 

 is a fascinating story, the Etruscan and 

 Cretan cultures being described with 

 especial spirit. 



There are many fine illustrations, some 

 in color, and an index. 



TRAVELS IN NORTH AFRICA. 



By Nahum Slousch^. 



The Jewish Publication Society of America 

 $2-50 Philadelphia 



5 x 7§ ; x + 488 

 Nahum Slouschz is a peripatetic Hebrew 

 scholar who has written widely on 

 Jewish literature and ethnography. Here 

 he recounts his observations among the 

 Haras (the Arabic ghettos) of North 

 Africa, which he explored in successive 

 expeditions from 1906 to 191 6. With a 

 rare equipment of learning he discusses 

 the physical setting, the historical back- 

 ground, the social and religious life of 

 the communities he visited. The discur- 

 sive style hinders somewhat the securing 

 of an impression of broad perspective, but 

 there are compensations in the colorfulness 

 of the situations and incidents he recalls . 

 There are, for instance, the cave dwellers 

 of the Libyan hinterland who still main- 

 tain a Talmud Torah (Hebrew School), the 

 desert Jews who on Tish'a he Ab (com- 



memorating the destruction of the temple) 

 emerge in the early morn to await the 

 Messiah, who is to appear poor and 

 mounted on an ass, (and therefore quite 

 naturally mistake our author for him); 

 the Jewish Croesus, who, a complete 

 ignoramus himself, does not give a penny 

 for the synagogue, but imports a poor 

 talmudist from Egypt to marry his 

 daughter; and much more of the curious 

 and piquant. 



A book that emphasizes the strangeness 

 of this strange people. 



There is no index. 



THE NATIVE PROBLEM IN AFRICA. 



z vols. 



By Raymond L. Buell. The Macmillan Co. 

 $15 set New York 



6? x 9^; Vol. I, xiii + 1045 

 Vol. II, x+ 1101 



How is an African native, who can 

 easily satisfy his limited wants in his own 

 fashion, to be persuaded to spend his time 

 working for Europeans? That is the 

 fundamental native problem in Africa. 

 The attempts which have been made at a 

 solution of this problem vary from out- 

 right slaving through all the degrees of 

 peaceful persuasion and economic pressure. 

 Dr. Buell has set forth these attempts in a 

 scholarly, dispassionate manner, at some 

 length, but never tiresomely. All things 

 considered, the story is not one of which 

 the Nordic need be proud. 



The book contains a mass of information 

 political, social, and economic. It is 

 heavily documented; important reports 

 and papers are printed as appendices to the 

 various sections; the bibliography covers 

 66 pages and the index 50. It will be 

 indispensable to anyone who wishes to 

 learn about the present condition of the 

 Negro in Africa. Incidentally, it may 



