other we know for any young person, with a teacher or without, who wishes to get a right start in cultivating this branch of science.
The Refutation of Darwinism and the Converse Theory of Development; based exclusively upon Darwin's Facts. By T. Warren O'Neill, Member of the Philadelphia Bar. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott & Co. Pp. 454. Price, $2.50.
Opposite in every respect to Huxley's book is this volume of Mr. O'Neill upon an aspect of the same subject. Huxley's idea is that, when a man makes a biological book, he ought really to know something about the matter—to know it at first hand independently and authoritatively. But this man, who comes forward to put an end to Darwin, has no scientific credentials, but, quite the contrary, he reports himself as a member of the bar. That is, he is an advocate, a professional hireling, who first gets a fee and then argues accordingly. His vocation is not to search for truth by the methods of science, but to win cases by the methods of law-practice. Mr. O'Neill comes into biology as an attorney who proposes to show what dialectics is capable of by refuting Darwin with his own facts, and showing how he can work them all backward and establish a converse theory of development.
We gather, from a very hasty glance at his book, which is all that it is worth, that the author's position is this: He assumes the exploded doctrine of the fixity, or what he calls the normal immutability, of species—the old traditional doctrine that prevailed before the rise of modern biological knowledge. As man was created perfect and "fell," so species were created with a primitive "physiological integrity" from which they have become degraded. So the Darwinian progress, proved by Darwinian facts, is but a kind of atavism or reversion upward toward the recovery of lost characters. The book is ingenious from the lawyer's point of view, and makes merry throughout at the expense of Mr. Darwin's gross ignorance of the subjects to which he has devoted his life, but which become luminous in the hands of the man who really knows nothing about them. Another book ia promised by the author, and meantime we recommend the present one to all young law-students, that they may see what they are in danger of coming to.
The Geological and Natural History Survey of Minnesota, under the Direction of Mr. N. H. Winchell. 1879. Pp. 123.
This survey was conducted during 1878 in the northern part of the State, and was devoted principally to the examination of the coast-line of Lake Superior from Duluth to the Pigeon River, for geological and lithological data. It was intended to give especial attention to mining interests, but very few persons were found to have any concern in them, and no actual mining is now done in the State. The zoölogical and botanical investigations were kept in abeyance, or carried only so far as possible without much additional expense. The ornithological section made, however, satisfactory progress, and a good account is given in the report of the plants of the northern shore of Lake Superior. A paper is appended by Mr. C. L. Herrick on the microscopic Entomostraca of the State, with twenty-one full-page plates of illustrations; the first attempt, the author believes, that has been made to describe these little crustaceans as a class.
The Kansas Review. Vol. L, No. 1. November, 1879. Monthly. 75 cents per year.
This succeeds the "Kansas Collegiate" as the periodical of the students of the University of Kansas. Its scope will be more general than that of its predecessor; and it begins by having something to say on scientific and practical subjects. The number before us hag signed papers on "Molecules," the comets of the year, and the college course, and the health of college girls.
The Californian. A Western Monthly Magazine. Vol. I., No. 1. January, 1880. Pp. 100. Price, $3 a year.
This is a new periodical, of prepossessing appearance, published by the A. Roman Publishing Company at San Francisco. The first number offers a varied list of articles, among which "The Pacific Coast and Geodetic Surveys" and "Physical and Moral Influence of the Vine" are of scientific interest.
