able extent to the great development of the glabella and supra-orbital arches. Now these processes are well known to present very striking variations in existing human races. They are usually supposed to be developed as buttresses for the purpose of affording support to the large upper jaw and enable it to resist the pressure of the lower jaw due to the contraction of the powerful muscles of mastication. These processes, however, are usually feebly marked in the microcephalic, prognathous and macrodont negro skull, and may be well developed in the macrocephalic and orthognathous skulls of some of the higher races. Indeed, their variations are too great and their significance too obscure for them to form a basis for the creation of a new species of man. Both Huxley and Turner have shown that the low vault of the Neanderthal calvaria can be closely paralleled by specimens of existing races.

If the characters of the Neanderthai calvaria are so distinctive as to justify the recognition of a new species, a new genus ought to be made for the Trinil skull-cap. In nearly every respect it is distinctly lower in type than the Neanderthal, and yet many of the anatomists who have expressed their opinion on the subject maintain that the Trinil specimen is distinctly human.

Important and interesting as are the facts which may be ascertained from a study of a series of skulls regarding the size and form of the brain, it is evident that there are distinct limits to the knowledge to be obtained from this source. Much additional information as to racial characters would undoubtedly be gained had we collections of brains at all corresponding in number and variety with the skulls in our museums. We know that as a rule the brains of the less civilized races are smaller, and the convolutions and fissures simpler, than those of the more cul

tured nations; beyond this but little more is definitely determined.

As the results of investigations in human and comparative anatomy, physiology and pathology, we know that definite areas of the cerebral cortex are connected with the action of definite groups of muscles, and that the nervous impulses starting from the organs of smell, sight, hearing and common sensibility reach defined cortical fields. All these, however, do not cover more than a third of the convoluted surface of the brain, and the remaining two thirds are still to a large extent a terra incognita so far as their precise function is concerned. Is there a definite localization of special mental qualities or moral tendencies, and if so, where are they situated? These are problems of extreme difficulty, but their interest and importance are difficult to exaggerate. In the solution of this problem anthropologists are bound to take an active and important part. When they have collected information as to the relative development of the various parts of the higher brain in all classes of mankind with the same thoroughness with which they have investigated the racial peculiarities of the skull, the question will be within a measurable distance of solution.

JOHNSON SYMINGTON.

SCIENTIFIC BOOKS.

The Alchemist. By BEN JONSON, edited with introduction, notes and glossary by CHARLES MONTGOMERY HATHAWAY, JR. New York, Henry Holt & Co. 1903. Pp. vi+373. 8vo. This comedy was first produced in 1610, and proved a most severe satire on alchemy and an effective exposure of many of the swindles associated with it; in this satisfactory edition Dr. Hathaway has given his readers a text based on the folio of 1616, together with variants of several other early and rare editions.

Prefixed to the text are sections on the history and on the theory of alchemy; these

include its status in England at the period of the production of the play and narratives showing its adaptability to swindling credulous persons at all periods. The editor then points out the originality of Jonson and his slight indebtedness to previous writers; he also draws a picture of Simon Forman, a notorious London quack flourishing in Jonson's day, who probably furnished the author one of the characters of the play (Subtle).

The editor gives many instances of the swindling operations in recent times by pretended alchemists, especially dwelling on the tricks of Morrell and Harris in New York, of Pinter in London, and of the Rev. Mr. Jernegan, of Connecticut (in connection with the fraudulent extraction of gold from sea water), and he gives references to the daily press for particulars. Elsewhere he names the three principal branches of astrology and refers to some of the modern aspects of this pseudo science. In a note on Jonson 'taking in of shaddows with a glass' he writes of catoptiomancy, and refers to the notorious Kelley who acted as 'skryer' for Dr. Dee, in Queen Elizabeth's day.

Following the text are one hundred pages of notes, partly taken from preceding editions, notably Gifford and Whalley; a bibliography of works consulted, in which one misses the names of Hermann Kopp (Geschichte der Chemie,' 4 vols., 1843, 'Die Alchemie in älterer und neuerer Zeit,' 2 vols., 1886), of William Johnson ('Lexicon chymicum,' London, 1652), and the Chymicall Dictionary,' bound with Michael Sandivogius' New Light of Alchemie' (London, 1650), but perhaps these were not accessible to Dr. Hathaway.

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There is also a glossary of forty columns, and finally an index. Each section is marked by thorough work and painstaking study on the part of the editor; the glossary in particular may be of much assistance in explaining archaic and obsolete terms in the alchemical writings of other authors than Jonson.

The notes refer to passages in a variety of languages, show judicious selection and a wide acquaintance with literature. The deep study of alchemical jargon has familiarized

the editor with incomprehensible gibberish to such an extent that he himself is not always perfectly clear. (See note on page 288, last three lines.) And he is sometimes tempted to substitute conjectures for more definite information, especially in discussing the signification of impossible words.

Dr. Hathaway shows the relations which Jonson's comedy bears to John Lyly's 'Gallathea,' printed in 1592, to Gower's and Chaucer's well-known poems, to Lydgate's 'Secrees of old Philisoffers' and to the principal metrical treatises on alchemy preserved by Elias Ashmole in his 'Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum' (London, 1652), from which he gives many citations.

The editor has been very successful in demonstrating that 'Nothing in Jonson is done at random.' The whole work is creditable to the editor, and for its typographical excellence to the publisher.

HENRY CARRINGTON BOLTON.

BLATCHLEY'S ORTHOPTERA OF INDIANA. IN the Twenty-seventh Annual Report of the Department of Geology and Natural Resources of Indiana, 1902, Mr. W. S. Blatchley, State Geologist, has devoted over 350 pages to the Orthoptera of his state, and under this modest title has given us one of the best pieces of entomological work that has come to us during the present year. Not only are all of the species known to the author to occur in the state fully described, some of them for the first time, but he has given in connection therewith every scrap of information relating to them that he has been able to obtain, either by observation, correspondence or found recorded in entomological literature. The list includes 148 species, many of which are figured, the illustrations consisting of 121 figures, one colored and two uncolored plates, which with a full bibliography and synonymy, keys to families, genera and species found in Indiana, sections relating to the external anatomy of the order, natural enemies, life zones of Indiana, a glossary of terms used in the text, together with a full index, gives the work a

finish that is seldom found in connection with such papers. The author has himself studied the orthoptera of his state in the field, during the last twenty years, and many of the statements given relative to habits have come first hand fresh from the observer. The student of geographical distribution will find much of interest, while even those not especially interested in the technical descriptions will certainly not fail to appreciate the copious notes on habits, abundance, etc., etc., but it will be of the greatest value to those who make a specialty of the orthoptera.

URBANA, ILLINOIS, September 30, 1903.

F. M. WEBSTER.

SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. THE closing (October) number of volume 4 of the Transactions of the American Mathematical Society contains the following papers: 'On the subgroups of order a power of P in the quaternary abelian group in the Galois field of order p",' by L. E. Dickson; 'On the order of linear homogeneous groups,' by H. F. Blichfeldt; 'Non-abelian groups in which every subgroup is abelian,' by G. A. Miller and H. C. Moreno; On nilpotent algebras,' by J. B. Shaw; 'On solutions of differential equations which possess an oscillation theorem,' by Helen A. Merrill; On the reducibility of linear groups,' by L. E. Dickson; 'Semireducible hypercomplex number systems,' by S. Epsteen; 'A symbolic treatment of the theory of invariants of quadratic differential quantics of n variables,' by H. Maschke; 'Congruences of curves,' by L. P. Eisenhart; 'Similar conics through three points,' by T. J. l'a Bromwich.

THE opening (October) number of volume 10 of the Bulletin of the Society contains the following papers: 'Poincaré's Review of Hilbert's Foundations of Geometry,' translated by E. V. Huntington; 'On linear differential congruences,' by S. Epsteen; Fields whose elements are linear differential expressions,' by L. E. Dickson; 'On directrix curves of quintic scrolls,' by C. H. Sisam; 'Josiah Willard Gibbs, Ph.D., LL.D., a short sketch

and appreciation of his work in pure mathematics,' by P. F. Smith; Notes; New Publications.

THE November number of the Bulletin contains: Report of the tenth summer meeting of the American Mathematical Society,' by F. N. Cole; 'Report of the committee of the American Mathematical Society on definitions of college entrance requirements'; 'On the congruence (p=1, mod. P", by J. Westlund; Review of Mach's Mechanics, by E. B. Wilson; Review of Forsyth's Differential Equations, by E. J. Wilczynski; Notes; New Publications.

The Journal of the Franklin Institute prints, in its October number, the paper of Mr. Thomas M. Gardner, instructor in Sibley College, on 'The Graphics of Carbon-Disulphide, with Formulas and Vapor-Table.'

It is a practically important contribution to the literature of the subject, as it provides the essential entropy-values of a substance which is thought by some authorities to be likely to have importance as the working fluid of a secondary heat-motor, as in the waste-heat engines.'

A plate is given exhibiting the properties of the substance having importance in the thermodynamic operations, and another giving the temperature-entropy diagram with MacFarlane Gray's constant-volume lines. Several other plates present the constant-area lines, pv C, the constant-quality lines, x= = C, the constant-entropy lines, = C; and the general temperature-entropy diagram, after Boulvin, completes the series.

A new and extensive table of the properties of the saturated vapor, in the form of the standard steam-tables, provides data hitherto uncomputed and in forms suitable to the thermodynamic discussion of heat-engines employing this substance. The values of n, also, in pvn = C are determined and the curve is given for adiabatic expansion of qualities ranging from x = 0.10 to x = 1.

It is shown that, with hyperbolic expansion, the 'quality' of wet fluid improves, the proportion of moisture decreasing; with superheated vapor, this expansion becomes isother

NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. SECTION OF BIOLOGY.

THE first meeting of the academic year was held at the American Museum of Natural History on October 12, Professor Wilson acting as temporary chairman. As in former years, this first meeting after the long vacation was devoted to reports on scientific work carried on by members of the section during the summer. The following notes indicate the lines of the work of the members who reported.

Professor Bristol, in association with Professor Mark, of Harvard, directed the summer work at the Bermuda Biological Station. Dr. Hay was very successful in collecting in Wyoming materials for his studies of fossil turtles. Professor Osborn directed explorations in Wyoming, Nebraska and South Dakota in the interest of the American Museum of Natural History, securing much valuable material which supplements collections previously made. Professor Grabau collected in Michigan materials for continuation of his studies on Devonian faunas. Dr. Summer directed the Biological Laboratory of the United States Fish Commission at Woods Hole, Mass. Pro

fessor Calkins studied the relation of Protozoa to cancer and smallpox. Professor Crampton continued the accumulation of data relating to selection in Lepidoptera. Mr. Bigelow studied the early embryology of some crustaceans. Mr. Yatsu experimented on regulation and organization of nemertean eggs. Professor Wilson at Naples studied problems of localization and mosaic development of molluscan eggs. M. A. BIGELOW, Secretary.

SECTION OF ASTRONOMY, PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY. Ar the meeting of the section on October 5, Professor Harold Jacoby and Dr. S. Alfred Mitchell exhibited a combined prismatic transit and zenith telescope. This instrument, just received by the Department of Astronomy of Columbia University, was made by Bamberg of Berlin. It includes all the latest observational devices, including an eye-piece of the Repsold pattern for the automatic registration of transit observations.

Dr. George F. Kunz and Dr. Charles Baskerville gave an exhibition of radium of 300,000 activity, with some notes on the action of the Roentgen ray, ultra-violet light and radium on mineralogical substances. This paper will be published elsewhere in SCIENCE.

S. A. MITCHELL, Secretary of Section.

DISCUSSION AND CORRESPONDENCE. THE INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF ARTS AND

SCIENCE.

TO THE EDITOR OF SCIENCE: I returned only a few days ago from Europe and, therefore, have not scen until now the letter of Professor Dewey in SCIENCE of August 28 and that of Professor Woodward in SCIENCE of September 4, both of which deal with the International Congress of Arts and Science and especially with my essay on that congress, published in the May number of the Atlantic Monthly.

Professor Woodward's document gives me hardly a chance for a reply, since I can not see that it contains an argument. It is only a general expression of his contempt, on principle, for every effort to classify sciences from

a logical point of view. "While we may not go out of our way," he says, "to oppose philosophers and literary folk who indulge in such extravagances, it is our duty to repudiate them when they appear in the public press in the guise of science; for they tend only to make science and scientific men ridiculous." It may appear surprising if my chief aim was to make science ridiculous for the amusement of literary folk, that I took my medical degrees and have since been conducting scientific laboratories. But the worst of it is that those 'philosophers and literary folk' who have indulged in the acceptance of a program'which bordered on absurdity' are the president of the congress, Professor Simon Newcomb, Mr. Pritchett, the president of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and others who were up to this time believed to have a certain interest in 'science'-for Professor Woodward is mistaken if he doubts that the program and classification which he saw has the endorsement of the entire committee. But the kind criticism of Professor Woodward requires the less discussion as he is also mistaken in his second presupposition. He thinks that the classification of sciences which has been accepted for the International Congress was sketched in my article for the purpose of inviting criticism of the scheme. That was not the case. It was merely a communication concerning a settled arrangement, fully discussed and definitely voted by the proper authorities. If I had been longing for criticism, I should hardly have published it in a form which offers merely results and not reasons; and however absurd and ridiculous' my system may be, I have at least never evaded the duty to give the reasons and arguments for my positions. A scientific man' can not of course read what philosophers and literary folk are writing; otherwise, I might refer him to the first volume of my Grundzuege der Psychologie,' in which about 500 pages are devoted to just this discussion; perhaps also to a short essay in the first volume of the Harvard Psychological Studies' (Macmillans), where he might find a large map with a tabular view of such classification. There is no doubt that it is more

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comfortable to repudiate' such extravagances' than to argue about them; but is it really more 'scientific'?

It is quite different with the very interesting letter from Professor Dewey of Chicago. His letter is full of important arguments worthy of serious consideration. He points clearly to certain dangers in the scheme, and the question is only whether those disadvantages ought not to be accepted in order to gain certain advantages which strongly outweigh them. Every one of the points he raises has been indeed matter for long discussion in the committees, and only after conscientious deliberation have we come to the decisions which he regrets.

As I tried to bring out in my Atlantic Monthly article, our real aim is to have a congress which has a definite task and which does not simply do the same kind of work that men of science are attempting every day and everywhere. We do not want, therefore, a bunch of disconnected congresses and in each one a bundle of disconnected papers which could just as well have appeared in the next number of the scientific magazines. We want to use this one great opportunity to work, in a time of scattered specialization, towards the unity of thought. We want to bring out the interrelations of all knowledge and to consider the fundamental principles which bind the sciences together.

We want

to create thus a holiday hour for science, with a purpose different from that of its workaday functions, an hour of reposeful self-reflection. Therefore, not everybody who would like to be heard could be admitted to the platform, but only those who are leaders in their field, and even these may not speak on their chance researches of the last week, but on definite subjects which all together form one systematic whole. Such a monumental work could be created only under the exceptional conditions of a congress embracing all sciences and all countries, and important enough to attract those who are masters in their work with a wide perspective. This was our aim and this alone our chief claim, as I tried to bring out in my essay, and I see with great satisfaction that Professor Dewey feels in full