Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 40.djvu/438

422 the Testudinata, with notes on the evolution of the pelvis in general. Prof. C. O. Whitman has two papers in this number, one dealing with Spermatophores as a Means of Hypodermic Impregnation, the other being a Description of Clepsine Plana. Each is accompanied by a plate.

The most extended paper in No. 1 of Vol. V is by W. B. Scott, of Princeton, on The Osteology of Poebrotherium. This number contains also A Contribution to the Morphology of the Vertebrate Head, based on a Study of Acanthias vulgaris, by Julia B. Platt; a short paper on the Reproductive Organs of Diopatra, by E. A. Andrews; the third of Dr. McMurrich's series, dealing with The Phytogeny of the Actinozoa; and an account of the Development of the Lesser Peritoneal Cavity in Birds and Mammals, by F. Mall. Plates and small figures accompany the papers.

An address to the New England Cremation Society by its president, Mr. John Storer Cobb, has been printed in pamphlet form, with the title The Torch and the Tomb. Mr. Cobb cites many instances in which the decomposition of buried bodies has caused disease by polluting water-supplies, by contaminating the air that passes over cemeteries, or by allowing the escape of bacteria into the overlying soil in cases of deaths from infectious disease. He also shows the lack of foundation for the current objections to cremation, and quotes the enthusiastic approval of this process expressed by a clergyman whose prejudice had been completely removed by witnessing the incineration of a friend's remains. The society was organized in January, 1891, and Dr. W. H. Wescott, P. O. box 2,436, Boston, is its general secretary.

The Archæological Institute of America has published Contributions to the History of the Southwestern Portion of the United States, by A. F. Bandelier, one of the archæologists of the Hemenway Expedition. These papers embody materials derived from the archives of Santa Fé, Santa Clara, El Paso del Norte, and Mexico, together with topographical and archaeological data obtained by exploration. A preliminary sketch is given of the knowledge which the Spaniards in Mexico possessed of the countries north of the province of New Galicia previous to the return of Cabeza de Vaca, in 1536. This is followed by four monographs, dealing respectively with the wanderings of De Vaca; Spanish efforts to penetrate to the north of Sinaloa, between 1536 and 1539; Fray Marcos of Nizza; and the expedition of Pedro de Villazur from Santa Fé to the Platte River in 1720. A subscription of one thousand dollars is solicited to complete the final report of Mr. Bandelier on his investigations among the Indians of the Southwest.

The Third Year-book of the Brooklyn Institute, 1890-'91, gives evidence of renewed vigor in this old institution. The book contains lists of officers and members, the bylaws, a brief history of the Institute, and an account of the work of 1890-91. During the past winter each of the many departments of the Institute provided a lecture once a month, making a large aggregate of such lectures. The library of the Institute comprises 13,000 volumes, and its circulation for the year ending September 1, 1890, was 55,891. A biological laboratory course was carried on during July and August, 1891, at Cold Spring Harbor, Long Island, under the direction of Prof. H. W. Conn. In December, 1888, a movement for the formation of Museums of Art and Science in Brooklyn was initiated by the Institute, and considerable progress has been made in this direction.

The principle of the slide-rule has been applied by Mr. H. J. Thomas in the Slide-Rule Perpetual Calendar (Jerome-Thomas Co., New York, 25 cents). This calendar can be set for any month of any year, past or future, and old style as well as new style. We note one misprint—29 for 59—in the Year Letter Table.

An essay from the pen of Edward L. Anderson, sketching the origin and development of man, has been sent us (R. Clarke & Co., 25 cents). It is untechnical in language and highly finished as to literary style. The author entitles the essay The Universality of Man's Appearance and Primitive Man, and affirms his conviction that man "appeared everywhere upon the earth, where the conditions were favorable, during a certain geological period." He also asserts that man has a soul, and that a pure soul is worthy of immortality.

The Report of the New York Agricultural Experiment Station, for 1890, records the