every ten miles. The tax at each station is small, but, when the distance traversed is great, it may reach fifty per cent of the gross value. No definite control can be had over the income of these stations, as there is little or no check upon them. In fact, the officers in charge generally get what they can from the transporter, whose willingness to pay depends very much upon whether he can evade the tax by going round the station. Often the carrier and collector wrangle over the price, and finally settle upon one much less than first demanded. The data for estimating the sums derived from this tax are more reliable than those of any other. The minister at Pekin gives between seventeen and eighteen million taels as the annual income from this source, and his figures are probably nearly correct. Of this amount, about one-half is derived from likin on salt and opium, the remainder from various other goods. The entire amount of all the taxes which have been spoken of reaches the sum of sixty-eight million taels, or ninety-seven million dollars. The amount which each province has to furnish is estimated annually by the minister of finances. Should some extraordinary necessity, as famine or war, require larger contributions than are laid down in the annual budget, those provinces most likely to respond are called upon for additional amounts. When the last cash is exhausted from these sources, then recourse is had to extraordinary means, appeals to wealthy citizens, requests couched in such urgent terms that a disregard of them is perilous. Not many reforms can be expected in China's financial systems. The absolute monarchical government, the hordes of mandarins who find their living in the present systems, and the yet general distrust of foreign advice and counsel, all hinder the empire from throwing off the shackles that now impede her every movement. S. W. DRAWING IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS. For many years past, those who are most interested in improving the elementary education of this country have been agreed that far more attention ought to be bestowed upon the art of drawing. Those especially who are interested in schools for manual training and in scientific schools have been firm in demanding that all young scholars should be encouraged, if not required, to attain some proficiency in this useful art. Many have insisted that drawing should be placed next in importance to reading, writing, and arithmetic, Industrial and high art education in the United States. By I. EDWARDS CLARKE. Washington, U. S. bureau of education, 1885. and have regretted that the children in public schools have been forced to give so much time to acquiring a familiarity with geographical nomenclature, when an equal amount of labor would have trained the eye to observe with minute accuracy, and the hand to delineate with truth that which the eye has seen. Notwithstanding this unanimity of opinion among those who are qualified to give advice, the schools of the country are in general far from doing what they ought, to provide instruction in drawing. Great advances have been made within the past fifteen or twenty years; and in certain schools, and even in certain groups of schools, good results have been attained. It is now most important that the experience which has been acquired, and the methods which have been successfully employed, should be ascertained, compiled, and promulgated in such ways as will secure the widest consideration. For many years past, Mr. Isaac Edwards Clarke, of the Bureau of education, has been engaged in compiling such a report. Two or three times his work has been made ready for the printer; but its issue has been postponed for the lack, we believe, of adequate appropriations from congress. At length we have before us a volume of a thousand pages, distributed in four parts. There is, first, a series of papers by the author on 'The democracy of art; then an account of the efforts which have been made to secure instruction in drawing in the public schools; third, a series of statistical tables illustrating the condition of art schools and museums; and, finally, an appendix, occupying four hundred pages, and including a great variety of reports, lectures, and schedules pertinent to the subject of art education. The work is very comprehensive, being evidently designed for very different sorts of readers, - those who are interested in the historical aspects of the subject, those who need to be persuaded of the importance of art education, and those who require to be enlightened in respect to methods of instruction which have been employed. By the use of the elaborate index, readers of all these classes may derive from this volume much useful information not otherwise accessible; but the author would have rendered an additional service if he had added with greater freedom his own critical comments upon the various plans which have been adopted. His preliminary essays reveal the mind of one who has long been familiar with the progress of the fine arts, and who has been accustomed to reflect upon their relation to the progress of society. He points out with clearness the influence of taste and skill upon the enjoyments, the trade, and the prosperity of the people. He touches with facility upon all the indications which are to be seen, especially in architecture and manufactures, of American progress. He writes with enthusiasm and sympathy, aiming to encourage what is good rather than to contemn what is bad. He has apparently in view as his readers the managers of public education, and he strives to incite them by the description of what has been accomplished, and by gently persuasive illustrations, to 'lend a hand' in the new educational movement. His purpose is deserving of the highest commendation; and the facts and figures which he has brought together, with a vast amount of painstaking, will prove to be a store of arguments and examples to be drawn upon by innumerable commissioners, superintendents, and directors of education in schools of every grade, from the kindergarten to the university. TRIUMPHANT DEMOCRACY. MR. ANDREW CARNEGIE is well known as a shrewd and successful business man, a capitalist of great wealth, a traveller of experience, and an American citizen of public spirit. He is an excellent type of a class more numerous and more influential in America than in any other country of the world: he is eminently a practical man. There is a wide-spread impression that the practical man is not only more competent to carry on affairs, but that he has a great advantage over the theorist, buried in his books and unacquainted with human nature, in the theorist's own walks in life; that he can, if he tries, run a better newspaper, secure better legislation, and write a better book. When the practical man, therefore, enters the field of literature, and discusses important public questions, much is expected of him: his knowledge of affairs should give him a broader point of view; his observation should be keener; his information should be more exact and more complete; he should have a better grasp of the principles which have grown to be axiomatic, a greater power of combining facts and principles into general statements; his views should be more vigorous and more lucid than those of the ordinary writer. Judged by this high standard, it must be frankly confessed that 'Triumphant democracy' is not successful. The author's point of view is sufficiently set forth in the dedication, the keynote of the whole work: "To the BELOVED REPUBLIC under whose equal laws I am made the peer of any man, although denied political equality by my native land, I dedicate this book with an intensity of gratitude and admiration which the native-born citizen can neither feel nor under Triumphant democracy; or, Fifty years' march of the republic. By ANDREW CARNEGIE. New York, Scribner, 1886. 8°. stand." To make the native-born citizen appreciate the full measure of his birthright, and to teach the foreigner the blessings of the American system, the first requisite is accuracy of statement. If grave errors of observation and of statement of fact are found, the effect of the book is marred, if not wholly taken away. What will the native prohibitionist think of the statement that 'drunkenness is quite rare' among American workmen (p. 125)? What will the Norwegian say to the assertion that 'the lumber-trade is an industry peculiarly American' (p. 219)? How will the man who remembers the Mexican war accept the glorification of "the American people [who] have never taken up the sword except in self-defence or in defence of their institutions" (p. 265)? Can the author ever have been in Germany without knowing that the United States is not "the country containing the smallest proportion of illiterates" (p. 489)? Does any man who thoughtfully considers the present state of public feeling in France believe that the reign of the masses is the road to universal peace' (p. 102)? Is the practical man satisfied that "the theatres and operahouses of the principal cities in America are, of course, much superior to those in Europe because they were built more recently" (p. 336)? The passages just quoted are fair examples of recurring errors, mistakes, incomplete statements, and hasty generalizations. The idea of the book- to put into readable, entertaining form the causes of the marvellous growth of America - the idea is not a bad one: the execution is totally inadequate, and inadequate for a very simple reason. Mr. Carnegie has been too busy in doing other things to give the necessary time for reading and reflection: his knowledge is insufficient. That the United States is triumphant we all know that the triumph is wholly or largely due to democracy may or may not be true; but Mr. Carnegie has not proved it : if it is ever to be proved, it must be by the despised theorists, who are willing to spend a lifetime in grovelling after the dry details of the history of many nations. A. B. HART. PRESTWICH'S GEOLOGY. as a THE reputation of Professor Prestwich geologist lends an especial interest to the appearance of a general treatise from his hands, embodying the facts and theories that his long experience has led him to regard of the greatest value to the student. The first volume of the work, lately issued by the Clarendon press, treats of subjects chemical and physical. The second volume, not Geology, chemical, physical, and stratigraphical. By JOSEPH PRESTWICH. Vol. i. Oxford, Clarendon pr., 1886. 8°. yet published, will include chapters on stratigraphy and paleontology, and a discussion of theoretical questions connected with historical geology and the evolutions of the earth. This will therefore probably be the more entertaining of the two; but the book now before us is attractively written and makes easier reading than most geological manuals. Its style is between the extreme condensation of the encyclopedic text-books, and the more literary form of Lyell's Principles.' Except in the chapters that are necessarily occupied with simple definition and tabulation, there is a satisfactory amount of argument and discussion, and a careful presentation of both sides of a question; so that the learner's attention is held to the facts long enough to allow him to acquire them familiarly, and to perceive that their proper understanding requires a higher mental process than mere memorizing. The work is further intentionally a statement of the evolutionary rather than of the uniformitarian view of geology, which Lyell's leadership so long in England placed too prominently before many students: there was under Lyell's teaching no room between uniformitarianism and catastrophism for the safer middle ground which Prestwich clearly states, and which is now certainly the dominant view held by working geologists. The change in the rate of denuding processes and of eruptive action from ancient to later geological times may be named in illustration of this. Under the latter subject, it is an additional satisfaction to see prominence given to the mechanical origin of eruptions, and only a subordinate importance attached to Scrope's theory of the action of steam and other gases; and to find definite statement of the metamorphism of eruptive as well as of sedimentary rocks. Indeed, it would be easy to name many more examples of treatment that must commend themselves to the American as well as to the English taste, while there are only two sections that are likely to excite any general dissent, - one on the origin of valleys, which attributes too much influence to fissures to find full acceptance, at least in this country; and another in which much importance is attached to Elie de Beaumont's extinct theory of parallel mountain-ranges, which is certainly given more space than students in this last quarter of the century should ask for it. The author's familiarity with the geology of this country has not been such as to prompt many quotations from our surveys, nor to change the triassic coloring of the copper-bearing rocks of Lake Superior on he reduced copy of Marcou's geological map of the world, which serves as a frontispiece; so that, as a book for class reference in our higher schools and colleges, this work will hardly gain the reputation of Geikie's text-book: but, if the excellent fashion of placing different books in the hands of every member of a class could be introduced, this one would certainly be one of the most popular. W. M. D. PORTER'S MECHANICS AND FAITH. THIS work is one of those attempts, so common in our day, to 'reconcile science and religion.' The main thesis of the author, which he endeavors through many chapters to prove, is this; that all truth, physical and spiritual, is made known to us by 'revelation,' and could never become known to us by any other means. Thus, he says that in mechanical science, "man, in his conscious ignorance, and with a sense of entire dependence, makes his appeal immediately to the Infinite Source of truth; that the methods of experiment and observation are the divinely appointed way in which this appeal is made and the revelation of physical truth is received" (p. 32). Having established this thesis, to his own satisfaction, he goes on to infer, that, since all other truth is given by revelation, we should naturally expect that religious truth, the most important of all, would be given in the same way. Thus he thinks to establish the doctrine of revelation in the theological sense. Now, in all this there is great confusion of thought, resulting from the use of the word 'revelation' in two quite different senses. The 'revelation' which the author speaks of in physical science is nothing but the presentation of objects to our senses, and this is not a revelation of truth at all. Truth is not a property of objects, but of thoughts; and all our thoughts, whether true or false, are the product of our own mental activity. It is absurd, therefore, to say that scientific truth is revealed to us from an external source. On the other hand, the sacred books of religion are held to contain religious truth itself in the form of propositions, and we have nothing to do but to receive and assimilate it. At best, therefore, there is nothing more than a poetic analogy between the two cases, and nothing whatever to base an argument on. Mr. Porter's main doctrine being thus defective, it is unnecessary to criticise his book in detail; but we would call attention to the chapter on The revelation of God,' as an example of the author's method. He expressly says that God cannot be known by the intellect, but only by love with much more to the same effect. It is not by such methods as these that science and religion can be harmonized. Mechanics and faith: a study of spiritual truth in nature. By CHARLES TALBOT PORTER. New York, Putnam, 1886. 12. SCIENCE. FRIDAY, AUGUST 6, 1886. COMMENT AND CRITICISM. A RECENT NUMBER of the Philadelphia American has an article on 'Unrecognized proprietorships, pointing out the difficulties encountered in ' rewarding men of the most beneficent inventiveness,' and recounting with many illustrations how seldom the originator of a new device reaps a fortune, while those who come after and make new adaptations of the original artifice become prosperous. Wyatt invented roller-spinning, and Hargreaves invented the spinning-jenny; but Arkwright appropriated both, and was the only 'successful' man of the three. On reading further, it is with surprise that we find 'Myer,' whose weather-charts have saved thousands of dollars,' classed, not with the successful Arkwrights, but with the neglected Wyatts and Hargreaves, where he is notoriously out of place. It is difficult to say in whose mind the idea of daily weathercharts first took practical shape; but the idea was fully carried out in Europe several years before its introduction here, if we except the charts with which Professor Henry used to entertain visitors to the Smithsonian in 1859 or 1860, and which might have early grown into a systematic service had it not been for the interruptions of 1861. Besides this, Professor Cleveland Abbe had, with the assistance of local enterprise, established an actual, continuous, and successful weather-service in Cincinnati a year before weather-prediction was undertaken by the government. It was essentially this Cincinnati service that General Myer, with his imperious executive ability and the support of the government treasury, appropriated and expanded into a national service; taking not only its methods, but its director, who has ever since been, even though anonymously, the leading scientific member of the weather-bureau. The American's article is an example of the very neglect that it laments. A SON OF CHARLES GOODYEAR, the well-known inventor, has lately felt it to be his duty to make public some particulars in respect to the origin of the india-rubber patents, which, if not hitherto No. 188.-1886. unknown, have been generally forgotten by those who participate in the great advantages which have followed the wonderful expansion of indiarubber manufactures. He wishes particularly to controvert the idea that his father's discovery was accidental; and for this purpose he publishes his father's account of the various steps which were taken by him as far back as 1838 to ascertain what modifications could be made in 'the material,' as he was accustomed to call the gum-elastic, in order to adapt its peculiar properties to the greater service of mankind. The inventor's own narrative was printed in 1849, in a very few impressions, upon thin sheets of a tissue made of cotton, and shows conclusively by what prolonged, intelligent, painstaking endeavors he reached the processes which are known as 'vulcanization.' Few persons are aware of the great changes which were introduced by these discoveries, or of the constant increase in india-rubber manufactures. In 1870 the imports of the crude material were five million pounds; in 1885 they were twentyfive millions. The narrative from which we draw these particulars also calls attention to the fact that Goodyear at an early day foresaw most of the innumerable applications which were destined to follow the promulgation of his process. There is a circular of his, which was issued in 1844, announcing the invention or discovery of a metallic gumelastic composition,' enumerating its properties and its possible uses, and inviting the most searching investigation and the most severe trial.' In the light of all that has followed, the prophetic sagacity of the inventor is as noteworthy as his inventive power. It is a pity that a life arduously devoted to the advancement of an idea which was fertile in utilities should have been so much depressed at one stage by penury, at another by extreme i'l health, and again by vexatious and almost interminable litigations. The final decision of the U. S. supreme court, confirming Goodyear's claims, was given four years after the patent had expired, and eight years after his death. DR. M. A. VEEDER of Lyons, N.Y., has sent a letter to the Rochester Democrat and chronicle (July 21) on 'The significance of coincident weather-conditions,' in which he points out that the recent tornadoes in Kansas City and Madrid were nearly simultaneous, that the late ' sirocco' in Dakota accompanied intense heat in southern Europe, and that many other examples of corresponding weather may be found in widely separated localities. From this basis he concludes, with out any sufficient examination of the dissimilar weather that so generally prevails in widely separated localities, that "the common cause which originates wide-spread atmospheric conditions of exceptional character can be none other than variations in the condition of the sun." This can hardly mean that the appearance of a spot on the sun at once brings forth tornadoes on the earth: tornadoes are known to arise under much more local conditions; and the coincidence of their occurrence in Kansas and Spain is most trivial when it is recollected that the large disturbances in which the tornadoes spring up probably came from remote beginnings, unequally distant in time and place from these points of action. The coincidence is especially trivial in view of the great amount of non-coincidence it has to balance. Yet if this be not the meaning, the suggestion is simply a vague truism, of no value from its very antiquity and indefiniteness. No one will deny that the sun is at the bottom of all our weather-changes; but who will explain the full control that it exerts, and follow the process from beginning to end? Theories of this kind have a remarkable resemblance. They pass at once from near effect to a remote cause, impatiently bridging over with wide-spanning assertions a whole world of process that lies between. They fail to see behind the immediate facts, and discover the long train of events leading up to them. They represent the theory of special creations on the inorganic side of nature. They always include a convenient corollary of about this form: "the disturbing influence due to changes in the condition of the sun may be modified to some extent by local conditions, so that it will not always manifest itself in the same way in every part of the earth." What with an entire lack of definition of the sun's disturbing influence, a complete assortment of local conditions' on the earth, and a glorious variety in our weather, coincidences may be found without limit. Finally, there is the unfail ing presumption of novelty. "Studied in this way, meteorology becomes a science. The mere collection of miscellaneous facts without reference to underlying causes gives no insight, and reaches no conclusion; " but the new theory "may serve at least to direct our inquiries, and may open up new and unexpected fields of research" - just as if the ideas of his letter had not been written over and over again, until their truth and error are almost as old as the beautiful hills around Dr. Veeder's home! THE POISONING of 143 persons in Michigan, followed by a similar accident in Charleston, Ill., by which fifty persons were made sick, both attacks being attributed to ice-cream, has incited chemists throughout the country to examine critically the ingredients employed, in order to discover if possible which one is accountable for the poisonous effects. As has already been stated in Science, Professor Vaughan of Michigan charges it upon tyrotoxicon, a new poison which he has discovered, and which he believes to be produced during the decomposition of milk. Professor Bartley of the L. I. college hospital has investigated a number of cases, and gives as his opinion that the deleterious effects produced in these cases of poisoning by ice-cream is due to the gelatine which is now largely employed by manufacturers of ice-cream to give body to their product. If this gelatine is of poor quality it readily undergoes decomposition. Dr. P. A. Morrow, in the Medical record, July 24, 1886, refers the poisonous effects to the flavoring extract, and finds that in all the reported cases vanilla has been used for this purpose. He has found a number of references to similar poisoning-cases in French and German literature, which toxic phenomena have been spoken of as 'vanillism.' In Europe for years the vanilla used in flavoring ices and pastries has been recognized as in some cases poisonous. Orfila more than thirty years ago recorded such cases. Whether these poisonous effects are due to some principle in the vanilla bean itself, or to cardol, which is an oil used as a coating to prevent the deterioration of the bean, or to the too early gathering of the pods, is still a matter of dispute. It is to be hoped that the cause of the frequently occurring poisonings may be soon determined on, that ice-cream may not cease to be a part of the bountiful feasts provided at church picnics. |