258 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. VII., No. 163 



The traditions of the present tribes, as well as the 

 archeological evidences in connection with its 

 discovery, all attest its great antiquity. As corn 

 is supposed to be a native of this continent, its 

 discovery under these peculiar circumstances will 

 aid in throwing considerable light on its origin 

 and history. 



HEALTH OF NEW YORK DURING FEB- 

 RUARY. 



On the opposite page will be found a graphic 

 representation of the daily mortality in the city of 

 New York for the month of February, together 

 with certain meteorological data for the same 

 period. The deaths are those from all causes, 

 those from a few of the prominent causes which 

 are constantly at work in all populous centres, 

 and those of children under five years of age. 

 These statistics are furnished to Science through 

 the courtesy of Dr. John T. Nagle, of the board of 

 health. The large number of those who die after 

 having just commenced to live is a striking fea- 

 ture here, as it is in all reports of mortality. That 

 the number is as low as it is, is accounted for by 

 the few deaths which at this season of the year 

 are caused by diarrhoeal affections ; for seven 

 days in the month there having been no deaths 

 due to this form of disease, and in eleven days 

 only one death each day, while the highest was 

 but two deaths. When the spring has fairly set 

 in, and the warm days appear, we shall expect to 

 see this condition change, the disease assuming a 

 more prominent place among the death factors, 

 until, during the intense heat of the midsummer, 

 it will overtop them all, and carry off its victims 

 by the scores. Scarlet-fever was, during the month, 

 a little more active as a cause of death than the 

 diarrhoeal diseases ; and yet the difference was so 

 slight that the lines representing the mortality 

 from these two affections cross each other repeat- 

 edly, and often coincide. Consumption occupies 

 the most prominent position in the diagram, — a 

 disease which has prevailed in all communities for 

 ages, and which has been the subject of as much 

 study and experimental research as, perhaps, any 

 disease which affects the human race, and yet one 

 which still ravages the world, and appears only 

 in a slight degree to be amenable to treatment. 

 Much has been done by sanitarians to point out 

 the influences under which it thrives, and the 

 means to be adopted to lessen its prevalence ; and 

 it is more than probable, that, if the advice which 

 has been so freely given were to be put into prac- 

 tice, the number of deaths would be greatly re- 

 duced. 



The meteorological data are obtained from the 



observatory in Central Park, through the kindness 

 of Director Daniel Draper, Ph.D. The instruments 

 from which these observations are made are placed 

 fifty-three feet above the ground, and ninety-seven 

 feet above the sea. The daily mean humidity is 

 obtained from readings taken at seven a.m., two 

 and nine p.m. The ' rainfall ' recorded on the 4th 

 as .10 of an inch was in reality 5 inches of snow ; 

 the .01 of an inch on the 6th was also snow, which 

 fell to the amount of one-quarter of an inch. 

 These, as is usual, have been reduced to water, 

 and so recorded. February will be remembered 

 as a month in which the thermometer fell to a 

 very low point, —4° F. on the 5th ; while on the 

 previous day it was at 0°, and on the 6th but three 

 degrees above that point. 



RAILROAD TRANSPORTATION. 



Mr. Hadley's book deserves high praise. It is 

 clear, scholarly, well written, well arranged, tem- 

 perate and impartial, and yet vigorous and out- 

 spoken. It supplies a need which Mr. C. F. 

 Adams's book on railroads filled with great, even 

 though incomplete, success, for matters as they 

 stood ten years ago, — the need of a compact dis- 

 cussion of what the railroad problem is, and what 

 it means. It gives a brief history of the growth of 

 the railroad system, points out the problems and 

 evils that are now before us, and discusses the 

 solutions and remedies. There are excellent 

 chapters on the railroad experience of other coun- 

 tries, and abundant references to the literature of 

 the subject. The book may be strongly recom- 

 mended, both to those who are specially interested 

 in railroads and the railway problem, and to the 

 general reader who wishes to inform himself on 

 one of the most important of public questions. It 

 is much to be wished that studies of this kind 

 should be read, and not only read, but bought. 

 We have by far not enough of intelligent and 

 careful investigation of our industrial and political 

 problems ; and it is a regrettable fact that the publi- 

 cation of such investigations has not been found, 

 as a rule, to be profitable to the publishing-houses, 

 not to mention the authors. The growing impor- 

 tance of such questions, the arousing of public 

 attention to them, the increasing number of 

 thoughtful men who wish information, ought to 

 give a widening circle of readers of books like Mr. 

 Hadley's. 



The most important conclusion which the reader 

 who approaches the problem through this book 

 will reach — the conclusion which enforces itself 

 on anyone who gives intelligent study to the sub- 



Railroad transportation, its history and its laws. By 

 Arthur T. Hadlky. New York, Putnam, 1885 . 8°. 



