1884] Recent Literature. 275 
WHERE DID LIFE BEGIN ?!—This brochure is devoted to the 
demonstration of the proposition that life made its appearance 
on the earth at the poles. e obvious reason for this conclusion 
is the fact that it was at the poles that the temperature of the 
earth first reached a point sufficiently low to permit life as it ap- 
pears to us now. The question is discussed from both the phys- 
ical and biological standpoints, and the facts of geographical dis- 
tribution are brought to bear. The reasoning is good and fairly 
deducible from the premises. The law, while true in general, is 
nevertheless subordinated in its workings to questions of the dis- 
tribution of land and water. We cannot, therefore, agree with 
Mr. Scribner in the supposition that hairy elephants and rhinoce- 
roses have always dwelt in arctic climes, and had not migrated 
from tropical regions in earlier ages. The land of the arctics 
which belongs to the possible age of higher mammals is of later 
geologic age than that of the south, so that many of the terres- 
trial types of animals and plants have of necessity originated in 
southern regions. 
GEOLOGICAL Report oF INDIANA FOR 18822—This useful vol- 
ume comprises the results of further surveys of different counties, 
besides containing an outline of the geology of the State, with 
an outline map. It likewise contains a catalogue of the flora of 
central-eastern Indiana by Dr. A. J. Phinney. A large propor- 
tion of the volume, with thirty-two plates, is devoted to the elu- 
cidation, by Professor James Hall, of the late Mr. Van Cleve’s 
fossils, and manuscripts relating to them; also lengthy notes on 
the Spergen Hill carboniferous fossils, by Professor Hall. The 
report closes with a brief reference to the diatoms of the waters 
of Indiana accompanying six plates of figures. 
Martin’s Human Bopy3—This is an abridgement of the au- 
thor’s larger text-book on human physiology, and seems to us to 
be as well, if not much better adapted for general use than any 
book on this subject. Teachers certainly will find it a fresh 
and original book, and will be aided in their work of teaching 
this difficult study by the appendices to many of the chapters, 
Siving directions for the performance of simple physiological ex- 
Periments. The illustrations are abundant and excellent, particu- 
larly the full-page illustrations in colors, which are well printed. 
A brief inqui inni igra- 
> inquiry as to the probable place of beginning and natural course of mig 
Nn therefrom of the Flora frae piarchi the Earth. By G. HILTON SCRIBNER. 
ew York, Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1883. 
"Indiana D, i fth Annual Re- 
a Department of Geology and Natural History. (Twel nn 
T% JouN CoLLert, State Geologist, 1882. Indianapolis, 1883. 8vo, pp. 400. 
American Science Series, Briefer Course. ‘The Human Body. An elementary 
oe of Anatomy, Physiology and Hygiene. By H. Newett Martin. M. D., 
ew York, Henry Holt & Co., 1883. 12mo, pp. 355- $1-50- 
