tions, rate of action, and the like, the type of processes in the lower tissues. So far disposition is merely a part of constitution; and cheerfulness, hope, apathy, or gloom are only expressions of physical change. That all such qualities react upon the body in such a way as to influence its vitality, is undoubted. On the other hand, they may certainly be overruled by the action of the will, so as to be no longer mere bodily impulses, but trained servants of a governing intellect. They may thus acquire a compensatory value in correcting faults of constitution, and strengthen in proportion the tenure of life.

This brings us to the sphere of intelligent effort. There can be no doubt, in our opinion, that there is much room for exercise of private judgment and energy in seeking the prolongation of one's own life. If there is any known diathetic fault, this implies a law of one's being which will repay in a gain of vitality the man who recognizes it, and guides himself accordingly. The doctrine of the survival of the fittest' does not work itself out by blind chance, or without evident design, even among the lowest forms of life. Much less is it to be believed that man is unable so to adjust his circumstances to his needs as to continue to live after a certain mean period. The weaker will sometimes prove himself the more tenacious of life by observing rational methods of living, of which the more robust is careless. Moderation has probably more to do with success in this respect than any thing else. To eat sufficiently, and drink stimulants sparingly, to alternate work with adequate rest, and to meet worries heartily, will afford to every one the best chance of arriving at a ripe old age.

SOME interesting particulars of the German universities have recently been published by the London illustrated news. There are, it appears, twenty-nine now existing, including those in the Austrian empire and Switzerland, and the RussoGerman university of Dorpat. Twelve have ceased to exist, with only one exception during the first sixteen years of the present century. The oldest is Prague (1348); the youngest, Czernowitz (1875). Six have been founded during the present century, among them four of the most important, Bonn, Munich, and Zurich. The number of students in the universities belonging to the German empire has risen from 14,808 in 1830, to 23,207 in 1883; but the percentage to the population is exactly the same. This percentage had declined very greatly during the intervening epoch, but has been rapidly recovering itself since the renovation of the German empire in 1871. The per

Berlin,

centage of students of Catholic theology has declined during these fifty-three years from 12 to 3, mainly owing to the establishment of seminaries under direct Episcopal control. Protestant theology also exhibits a falling-off in percentage from 27 to 13, but the actual number of students is diminished only by a fourth. Jurisprudence has gained in number, but suffered in percentage. Medicine has more than doubled its numbers, and philosophy nearly quadrupled them, the percentage of the two united being 52, against 32 in 1830. The students of the exact sciences in the philosophical faculty are now 37 per cent, against 13 per cent in 1841.

IT has been estimated, says the New York medical record, that one-half the adult men of American birth living in our cities are bald-headed. The estimate is not exaggerated, if it is applied to persons above the age of thirty, and it may be rather under the mark. If, now, it be conceded that one-half of our American business and professional men are bald at the present time, it would be interesting to speculate as to the condition of the heads of their descendants some hundreds of years from now. The probabilities point toward a race of hairless Americans, for baldness is extremely liable to be propagated in the male line, and to appear a little earlier in each generation. The American nation is threatened with the catastrophe of a universal alopecia. The cause is usually imputed to the excessive strain and ceaseless mental and physical activity to which our methods of business and modes of

living conduce. From the visitors' gallery of the stock exchange, for example, one views a mob of shining pates, belonging, as a rule, to rather young men.

The much neglected scalp should be thoroughly cleansed at certain intervals. It should be carefully and regularly examined, and if it be unhealthy, dry, and scurvy, the proper applications should be made to it. The wearing of unventilated hats is one of the greatest sources of failure of nutrition of the hair, and these must be avoided. The beard never falls out, because it gets plenty of sunlight and air. These are what the hair of the scalp needs also. Women are less bald than men, because, for one reason, their scalps are better ventilated. In fine, civilization has made the hair-producing organs of the scalp delicate and feeble. They have to be nursed and cared for, or they atrophy and disappear. Young Americans who do not wish to lose their hair before they are forty must begin to look after their scalps before they are twenty.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1886.

COMMENT AND CRITICISM.

THE INTERNATIONAL COPYRIGHT LAW has received new interest by the introduction of Senator Hawley's recent bill. It is remarkable with what unanimity the better class of authors, periodicals, and publishers have long sought unavailingly the passage of such a bill. In the recent hearing before the senate committee, a number of our most prominent authors spoke in favor of the passage of some law on international copyright. Prominent among those who favored the measures were the Rev. Dr. Crosby, Mr. Henry Holt, Mr. George Ticknor Curtis, Mr. H. E. Scudder, Mr. James Russell Lowell, Mr. Estes, Mr. Samuel Clemens, and others. A memorial signed by over two hundred prominent authors was also presented. The arguments used by these gentlemen were, that the present system of copyright law was not only disadvantageous, but dishonest and unjust; that it worked to the great disadvantage of American authors, and prevented the publication of many meritorious works; that it made books dearer, and lowered our literary taste. Mr. Lowell was satisfied that the reading public of America being much larger, and the demand for cheap books greater, the result of a copyright law would be the transfer of the great bulk of the book-trade to America. Of course, in the passage of such a law, measures should be instituted to protect those who have been encouraged under our laws to become pirates of foreign books. Some, among whom Mr. Clemens may be mentioned, urged that the bill should require all foreign books to be printed here.

THIS COUNTRY IS NOT ALONE in its trouble with the silver question. At the meeting of the council at Calcutta on Jan. 11, the most diverse views were expressed as to the influence the depreciation of silver has had in benefiting the trade of monometallic (silver) India. On this subject public opinion is said to be hopelessly divided. Speaking generally, the commercial men are inclined to agree with Mr. Steel's view, which he upheld at the council meeting, that India is a distinct gainer

No. 157.-1886.

by the depreciation; while the rest of the community, following the lead of Sir A. Colvin, Mr. Hope, and Mr. Evans, attribute the extension of trade to other causes, and regard the continued depreciation of silver as a most serious danger, calling for careful consideration and prompt action on the part of the home government.

THE GREAT DECREASE in the numbers of many of our birds during late years, brought about in the interests of fashion or other mercenary motives, or through malicious wantonness, has induced the Ornithological union to appoint a committee, composed of a number of our leading ornithologists, on the 'protection of North American birds,' whose object shall be the gathering of information on the subjects of their destruction and protection. The committee will welcome information from any source, and those interested are urged to address such to the officers or members. The secretary is Mr. E. P. Bicknell of New York.

THE INVESTIGATIONS in economic ornithology began under the department of agriculture, July 1, 1885, and have already been successful in bringing together a very large amount of useful material. The scope of the inquiry is, briefly, the collection of all information leading to a thorough knowledge of the inter-relation of birds and agriculture, and concerns both the foodhabits and the migration and geographical distribution of North American birds. About fourteen hundred observers are scattered all over the country. Prof. W. W. Cook, superintendent of the Mississippi valley district has prepared a report which is the most valuable contribution ever made to the subject of bird-migration. It is now in the hands of the printer. The English sparrow exerts a more marked effect upon the interests of the country than any other species of bird. The unprecedented increase and spread of this naturalized exotic, taken in connection with the extent of its ravages in certain districts, is regarded with grave apprehension. The study of this little pest developed the fact, that while it does sometimes eat grasshoppers, cicadae, and other insects, the sum of its injurious qualities probably exceeds and outweighs the sum of its

benefits. The Ornithological union has hopes that congress, during the coming session, will provide means for the proper extension of the inquiry. The practical bearings of the investigations are not obscure. When the limitations of the several faunal areas have been ascertained with sufficient exactness, it will be possible to predict the course which an injurious insect will pursue in extending its march from the point where its first devastations are committed; and farmers may be thus forewarned, so that those living in districts likely to be infested can plant different crops, and thus be saved large pecuniary loss, while those living just outside will derive increased revenue from the particular crop affected.

THOSE WHO DO NOT as yet feel sure of M. de Lesseps' ability to carry through his canal from ocean to ocean will be surprised to learn that he is already planning to take part in the long-discussed project of an African inland sea. On the 20th of January a meeting was held in Paris by the promoters of the North African inland sea scheme, at which M. de Lesseps stated that Captain Landas was about to survey the Tunisian oases, and that on his own return from Panama, by April at latest, the company would be formally constituted.

RECENT NUMBERS OF THE Rundschau illustrate some aspects of psychological activity to which the German public are giving attention. Professor Golz contributes a lengthy but very well written article on brain localization. Professor Golz is generally regarded as an extreme antilocalizationist.' Perhaps the present article embodies his later convictions, in which, though not yielding his former position, he has stated it in a way that allies his opinions with those of other experimenters. He calls his article Modern phrenology,' comparing the modern attempt to mark off the cortex of the brain into functional areas to the attempts of Gall and Spurzheim to correlate mental faculties with cranial formations. The cortex is not, according to his views, a mosaic of sensory and motor areas, such as Ferrier, and especially Munk, would have us believe. The experiments do not bear out that conclusion: for the loss of motion and sensation following the extirpation of certain brain areas is not permanent; the function is regained if the animal survives. In many cases the animals have not

been kept long enough. The lack of certainty that the underlying fibres have not been stimulated is another objection. Moreover, there is no part of the cortex of which you can say that its removal must cause the loss of sensation or of motion. Not even Broca's convolution, the close relation of which to the language centre has always been a firm support to the localizers, is exempt from this criticism. Professor Golz devotes the main part of his paper to a critical review; in conclusion, however, he suggests what he considers to be the true relation of cortex to function. Flourens thought that the whole cortex was alike in significance: modern localizers' hold that no two parts are functionally alike.

The true view lies between the two. If we compare the cortex to a map, Flourens would make no distinction between one part of the map and another. The 'localizers' mark it off into countries; i.e., political divisions, with sharp, distinct boundaries. Professor Golz would mark his map off like those which represent the distribution of plants. In one part the vine would have its centre; in another, rice; in a third, barley: but each would have some vine, some rice, and some barley, although there would be places which would have neither. The boundaries between the regions are loose we have a focus, but it is not a point. These views are certainly rational, and coincide almost exactly with Lunani's and Exner's results. Perhaps it is not too hazardous to say that a strict localization of function can no longer be upheld.

In the last number, Professor Preyer warns the German public against accepting the results of the English society for psychic research as regards telepathic communication. He explains away the facts upon which their conclusions are based by showing a neglect of the sources of error. In guessing what was being written in another room, the errors made were of such a nature as would occur if the hand had been seen (not errors in the hearing of the words): hence, as the girl who did the guessing was alone in the next room, Professor Preyer ascribes the telepathy to the keyhole. He certainly has made out a strong case, and, what is more important, has shown that the English society has not made its case nearly strong enough to found upon it so alarming an hypothesis as the communication of mind with mind without the use of the ordinary channels of sensation.