186 The American Geohxiist. Marcli, 1895 
l)iTCM}itc(l till' ctlVcts of eiiviroiimeiit, accidi'iital \ arial ion. and artificial 
scioclion. (H<i'n, for reasons stattnl. is ranl<c(l inncli lower' by Oshorn 
liian he lias been by Haccl^cl. ]fis philosophy is a ciirioiis niinuliny of 
sficncc anil inyt lis. 
.\iiionu' liic cNolulionists of 1 he ciuhtcfnth ccntui'N . iJntfnn is accorti cd 
a hiii'h phic'c. ^'et his views varied great ly al dilfcrenl periods of his 
career. First lie was a special creationist, then an extreme transmuta- 
tionist, and finally concluded that species are neitlier fi.xed nor mutable. 
Perhaps his greatest service lay in his suggesliveness. Erasmus Darwin 
( 17:51-1802) believed in the spontaneous origin of the lowest forms of 
life. Vi't he was a tlioroug'h evolutionist. The modifications of form, 
lie thought, arose from reactions within tiie organism, — thus lie antici- 
l)ated Jvamarck. He believed in the inheritance of acquired charac- 
ters and made it a factor in exolution. The aiitiior gives an interesting 
sketch of Lamarck whom he jjronounces •'the founder of the complete 
moilern school of descent and the most prominent figure between Aris- 
totle and Darwin." He also takes up the parallelism between the writ- 
ings of E. Darwin and Lamarck, and exonerates the latter from the 
charge of borrowing. Perhaps a criticism may be made iiere that La- 
marck's views are not brougiit into .sufficient relief, though they are 
stati'd at some length. The final chai>ter is dexoted to Darwin and his 
contemporaries. 
Thi' work will be of great serxice to the general readei' as well as to 
the men of sci<'nce. It should l)e widely read. .i. .\. n. 
.1 PriliiiniKirji I'cport im lite (rcoloi/i/ nf Souf/i DuLota. \\\ .1. E, Ti>iJi>. 
State Geologist. (South Dakota Geol. Sur., bulletin No. 1. \iii and 172 
pp., 5 plates and a geological map of the state, IS!).").) This is the first re- 
port issued by the recently inaugurated survey. It gives a detailed ac- 
count of the [)resent state of knowledge concerning the geology of the 
state, and as such will form a convenient starting point for further in- 
vestigations. The Pre-Cambrian of South Dakota consists of (1) tlu' 
granitic rocks of the eastern edge of the state, (2) theSiou.x (juartzite in 
the southeastern corner of the state, and (3) the slates, schists aiul gran- 
ites of the nucleus of the I'.lack hills. The Paleozoic strata are not ex- 
lensi\-ely de\('loped, occurring only in the lilack hills. The Mesozoic 
rocks are the most extensive in thickness(with perhaps the exception of 
the Pre-Cambrian) and area, aiul of these the Colorado and Laramie di- 
visions of the Cretaceous cover half of the state. Tertiary and Quater- 
luiry defjosits are well represented, the Miocene covering a large area on 
the central southern side of the stale, while the drift is confined to the 
eastern half of the slate. After the discussion of the stratified rocks a 
chaiJter is devoted to the erupti\-e rocks, and one to a sketch of the geo- 
logical history of Soutii Dakota. The report closes with an account of 
the economic geology. i'. s. <;. 
A Sammavji of Progress in Minendogy and Petrography in ISUM. Petrog- 
raphy and Mineralogy, by W. S. 1^\yt,kv. Miiu'ralogy by W. H. Honns. 
(From the Amer. Nat. Price ,">lt cents. ) The monthly notes on miner 
