554 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. VI., No. 151. 



or less depression of trade.*' Seize an Englishman 

 by his pocket, and you can convince his mind. 



The flow of the rm-al population to the cities 

 is pointed out as one of the causes of the great 

 distress in the centres of population, because of 

 the vastly greater competition for employment. 

 Together with this movement he instances the 

 fact that "from 1873 to 1884 the quantity of 

 arable land in the country has decreased by con- 

 siderably more than a million acres." These seem 

 to be local causes, and have little effect on other 

 nations ; for they are probably the evidences of a 

 re-adjustment of industries to new conditions, 

 such, for example, as the great produce of 

 American wheat districts. The ownership of 

 land by great millionnaires, he argues, also works 

 injury. In 1863-72 the fortunes above a quarter 

 of a milhon were 162, but in 1873-82 they had 

 increased to 208, — an increase of more than 30 

 per cent. But we do not regard these causes of 

 general importance. 



The book, in fact, only in its description of the 

 evil effects consequent on speculation, and the 

 mania for foreign loans, gets close at the real 

 cause. But when he gets to his remedies, he 

 does not hit very near the mark. As foreign 

 loans, he thinks, are made chiefly for the glory 

 of raonarchs, and to aid in wars for the personal 

 aggrandizement of ruling families, he would have 

 England stand ready to aid the tax-payers in these 

 borrowing countries whenever they revolt against 

 the heavy taxation caused by the loans which 

 they have had no share in spending. Speculative 

 transactions he would discourage by high stamp- 

 duties ; and large fortunes should be prevented 

 by a graduated income-tax. If our author were 

 to extract the ever-springing sanguineness of 

 human nature from the business-man, he would 

 best prevent over-trading and the recurrence of 

 periodic panics, but in scarcely any other way. 



NIMROD IN THE NORTH. 



In this book Lieutenant Schwatka has given a 

 most entertaining story of hunting and fishing in 

 the north polar regions. Seven chapters of the 

 book have been devoted to stories of adventure 

 with animals whose homes are within the arctic 

 circle. Many of the stories told in the volume are 

 similar to some found in the writings of Gerard 

 de Veer, of the Barentz expedition ; in the writ- 

 ings of Parry, Beechey, Hearne, Rink, Richardson, 

 Rae, Kane, McClintock, and Hall ; so that they are 

 not entirely new ; but Lieutenant Schwatka has 

 added to them many interesting observations of 



Nimrod in the north. By Lieut. Frederick Schwatka. 

 New York, CasseU, 1885. 8°. 



his own, upon the haunts and habits of the land 

 and water game of the regions he explored, which 

 modify ideas derived from other writers. 



The volume is illustrated with numerous faith- 

 ful and lifelike pictures of the animals, birds, and 

 scenery of the regions beyond the parallel of 66° 

 30' north. This feature of the book will make it 

 most attractive to the reader, but more especially 

 to the younger generation, who will find much 

 pleasure in having before them such excellent rep- 

 resentations of the bear, reindeer, musk ox, wal- 

 rus, etc. , with which Lieutenant Schwatka's party 

 had so many exciting and perilous adventures 

 during their stay in the country between Depot 

 Island and King William's Land. 



The story of the sledge-journey to King Wil- 

 liam's Land, as told in this book by Lieutenant 

 Schwatka, is unparalleled in arctic exploration. 

 The vicissitudes of storm and intense cold encoun- 

 tered and overcome are most interesting and in- 

 structive. To one of less determination or of 

 less hardihood, the journey must have failed ; but 

 the indomitable will and inexhaustible self-reli- 

 ance set forth in the story made success certain 

 where failure would have likely occurred to any 

 one less gifted. 



It is almost inconceivable that travel could have 

 been practicable in a temperature of 83° below the 

 freezing-point, or that no discomfort was felt at 

 such times. But the credence of arctic explorers 

 will be tested almost to its elastic limit, to believe 

 that Lieutenant Schwatka's party, when in chase 

 of musk ox, travelled at * a good round dog-trot 

 from nine in the morning until four in the after- 

 noon,' making about forty miles in a temperature 

 of 97° below the freezing-point, without suffering 

 from the cold, but, on the contrary, that he felt at 

 times uncomfortably warm ! 



The last two chapters describe the beginning 

 and ending of a rather remarkable raft-journey of 

 thirteen hundred miles down the Yukon River, in 

 Alaska. This trip led to the discovery of several 

 rapids, the passage of which was full of innocent 

 adventuj'e ; otherwise there is but little in it to 

 excite interest. 



GEOGRAPHICAL NOTES. 



Explorations in central Asia. — A letter has 

 been received from Prjevalski, from which it ap- 

 pears that the Altine chain extends about 360 

 kilometres westward from Lobnor, then gradually 

 declines, and terminates at the Cherchen River. 

 Westward from this point the principal range of 

 the Kuenlun looms over the plains of eastern 

 Turkestan. This intrepid explorer, after having 

 explored aU of the Kuenlun between the YeUow 



