E. D. Cope, on extinct vertebrata from New Mexico. The fossils here described and determined represent four geological periods, in basins that had not previously been explored, viz., the Trias, the Eocene, the Loup-Fork Epoch, and the Post-pliocene of the Sandia Mountains. The first vertebrate fossils ever determined from the Trias of the Rocky Mountains are included in this memoir. Of the high intrinsic value of Prof. Cope's work there is no need for us to say anything: his memoirs on the paleontology of our Western Territories are authoritative documents throughout the world of science. But we cannot refrain from commending the truly admirable lithographic plates by which the text is illustrated and adorned.
The Future of Sanitary Science. An Address before the Sanitary Institute of Great Britain. By B. W. Richardson, M. D. Macmillan & Co. Pp. 47. Price, 25 cents.
Dr. Richardson has become the prophet of our sanitary future, and discourses of its prospects in this pamphlet in his peculiar style. He does not fail to magnify his calling, and presents its claims in a quite extraordinary way, saying: "All political troubles have a physiological cause. To the statesman not less than to the physician, physiology is the only true source of knowledge. A society such as ours, therefore, possessing as it does professed physiological skill, may render most important service by tracing out for the legislator the simplest scientific means for removing atmospheric impurities, and by preparing for that sanitary future when men universally shall breathe purity even with their freedom."
Cerebral Hyperæmia: The Result of Mental Strain or Emotional Disturbance. By William A. Hammond, M. D. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 108. Price, $1.
This is a very important little monograph by an eminent medical authority, who has had large special experience in all that pertains to morbid conditions of the brain. The reason for and character of his little book are thus well represented by the author in his preface:
"It is, perhaps, too much to expect the emotions to be entirely under the control of the individual, nor is it desirable that we should be reduced to the condition of intellectual automata, moved always by reason and judgment, and never by feeling. But it is entirely within the power of every one, by that self-discipline so seemly in all, to obtain such a degree of mastery over unworthy or excessive passions as will prevent them dominating over the whole mind and body, to the detriment of both.
"Ill-regulated emotions are even more prolific of brain-disorders than severe mental labor, and many a person considered to be suffering from what is called nervous prostration or exhaustion is simply the subject of emotional disturbance and a consequent condition of cerebral hyperæmia."First Principles of Agriculture. By Henry Tanner, F. C. S. New York: Macmillan & Co. Pp. 95.
This is a very good little summary of elementary scientific facts and principles relating to agriculture. The difficulty about it is that it is too small—a mere primer; but those who want an introduction to the subject, to be followed by the use of larger works, will find it serviceable. Scientific agriculture, from the complexity of all its problems and the obscurity of many of them, requires to be studied with some thoroughness, in fact to be mastered, before it can be made practically and safely available.
A Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Edited by George Grove, D. C. L. Vol. I., Part II. New York: Macmillan & Co. Pp. 127. Price, $1.25.
The second number of this elaborate work is now ready, and its topics range from Ballad to Boïeldieu. Its character is well sustained, and the admirable sketch of Beethoven, with the analysis of his music, is alone worth the price of the work.
