First Principles of Evolution (The). By S.

Herbert. The Macmillan Company, New York. $2. This volume is distinguished by its comprehensiveness, presenting all the aspects of the problems of evolution in clear and compact statements, both scientific and simple. In successive sections and sub-sections the author proceeds from the evolution of inorganic matter-cosmic, geological, atomic-to the organic evolution of animal structures. Of this the facts are presented, with numerous illustrations, and then the various theories, with a discussion of their difficulties. The third and last section is given to "superorganic" evolution, mental and moral; animal origins and human developments; the evolution of the human species and of human society-the family, the state, and religion. The discussion leans strongly toward mere naturalism, pronouncing this "sufficient for religion," and regarding the religious instinct as "not peculiarly human." "A still unknown factor," however, is admitted at the first beginnings of the evolutionary process, while it is pronounced "not supposable" that these could have been initiated by pre-existent life. That Dr. Herbert does not rest content with the naturalism of Haeckel and Pflüger, which he has declared "the most plausible hypothesis," is clear from his concluding three pages, in which he presents "the philosophy of change" set forth in Bergson's "Creative Evolution." Declaring that Bergson seems to go to the very heart of the matter, and has revealed an aspect of evolution which is as startling as it is profound," Dr. Herbert quite abandons the field on which his whole discussion seems to have camped, saying, It is in the field of metaphysics rather than that of biology that the riddle of evolution will have to find its final solution."

Meaning of Evolution (The). By Samuel C. Schmucker. The Macmillan Company, New York. $1.50.

Professor Schmucker undertakes an entirely different task from Dr. Herbert's. He endeavors to reconcile anti-evolutionists to the unpalatable truth which they fancy antagonistic to religion. His argument is simplified like a primer, and advances by easy steps, often in a chatty, story-telling way, with an abundance of interesting facts concerning familiar creaturestoads, katydids, grasshoppers, etc. The story of Darwin forms a chapter at the outset, and the story of the horse another near the close,

with illustrations of the successive stages of its evolution through millions of years from its small five-toed progenitor. Thus, after confirming the fact of evolution as incontestable, and showing that present scientific controversies relate only to questions about its method, he reaches this conclusion: God's method of creation is revealed in nature as interpreted by science. We must accept evolution whether we like or dislike, for it is true. If we rightly understand God's revelation in the Bible, there is no contradiction between the two.

Wanderings on the Italian Riviera. By Frederic Lees. Little, Brown & Co., Boston. $2.50. To most travelers the port of Genoa is an end and aim. This is particularly true of American travelers going to and from Italy. It is almost a relief, then, as one takes up Mr. Lees's book, to discover in it that Genoa is only an incident in the long, lovely tour covering the Italian Riviera from Ventmiglia, on the French frontier, to Spezzia, away to the south. Most books on Italy have to do with the Italian cities. But the real tourist loves the country road most of all, no matter how large the towns may be along that road. Mere size or mere commercial or even artistic importance by no means determines the human interest which may attach to a place much smaller and with perhaps no commercial importance. Take, for instance, this very tour from Ventmiglia to Spezzia. If one "does " it on foot or by bicycle, or even in a carriage or motor, after the delight in the bewitching road itself, one is quite as likely to find interest and very vivid memories in such places as Bordighera, San Remo, Albenga, Alassio, Finalmarina, or Savona before he reaches Genoa as in Genoa itself; or in Nervi, Santa Margherita, Portofino, or Rapallo after he leaves the Ligurian capital. Again, in describing that capital itself, we are glad to note that Mr. Lees closely follows the associations with the place of men who have lived there-Dickens, for instance; indeed, throughout the tour the author follows in the footsteps of Byron, Shelley, Dickens, and Symonds, not to mention such names in Italian literature as Dante and Ruffini, separated as they are by centuries and importance. Thus Mr. Lees's book is well worth while to the leisurely traveler. The text has been supplemented by not always adequate but certainly striking illustration.

Poland of To-Day and Yesterday. By Nevin O. Winter. L. C. Page & Co., Boston. $3. Mr. Winter adds to his list of informative books on various countries one on Poland. It would be well if the volume could contain in a later edition a list of well-known Polish names with their proper English pronunciation. The appendices in the present edition, however, are interesting and valuable, and the book as a whole is a worthy addition to Mr. Winter's list of publications.

AUSTRALIA TO AMERICA

The following letter from the Right Reverend Charles H. Brent, Bishop of the Philippines, is self-explanatory:

"This poem appeared anonymously in the Sydney (Australia) ' Herald' a few weeks ago. The author, a dear friend, who is a man of noble character and deep influence, sent me a copy. The message is so searching and so needed by America that, without waiting for the author's consent, I am giving it to the American public through The Outlook.

"C. H. BRENT."

We may add from later information received from Bishop Brent that the author is Bishop Gilbert White. Many years ago he was supposed by his medical advisers to be an incurable-some twenty-eight or thirty years since. Thinking he had but a year to live, he chose to go to Australia. He completely recovered his health. In 1900 he was made Bishop of Carpentaria, a diocese of 600,000 square miles with a population of 40,000, of whom 4,000 only are white. He has labored there unremittingly and has influence throughout the Church in Australia. In connection with this poem we call attention to the article called "Childless Americans in another part of this number.THE EDITORS.

AUSTRALIA

O land of the good grass plains,
Where wander the countless kine,
Fair land of the swelling downs,

That are fat with corn and wine;
Whose capes for ten thousand miles
Shock full to the surging tide,
And girdle the far-flung hills

Where the gold and silver hide;
Where slowly the vaster winds

Than blow in the older world
Are wafting from south to north
Thy banner of peace unfurled;
O land where the whitening dawn
Turns ever a smiling face,
Where Nature is kind of heart,
Fit home for a goodly race;
O land that our fathers gained
Through hunger and thirst and toil,
Uprooting the matted scrub

And plowing the world-old soil;
They scorched on the fiery plains

And gasped on the desert sand, They tramped out the white man's trail, And sighted the promised land. They waited and worked and won, Strong men of the ancient stock, As true to their friends as steel, In trouble and danger rock. Their sons, by their toiling, heirs

To leisure and wealth and ease, Give thanks to their gods that they Have only themselves to please.

O men of a race too small
To handle your fathers' spade,
To shoulder the ringing ax

And level the forest glade,
Ye crowd to the reeking town,

And swarm in the stifling street, But shrink from the calling land, Too rough for your dainty feet. Ye measure and dole your work, Give least for the greatest pay, Work not for the honor of work, But only for means to play. Your wives have a barren womb, Your stock fill the empty wild, Your paddocks are filled with lambs, Your homes with a single child. Endowed with a land set free From hunger, disease, and war, Ye gather your easy gold,

And hug to yourselves your store. "O pleasure, be thou our god," Comes ever your restless cry; To-day let us eat and drink, To-morrow, perchance, we die."

O people that honor well

Your prophets that flatter your pride, Grown used to recent alarms,

And turn on the other side,

Ye sneer at the faithful friends
Who care for your honest name,
Condemning as traitors vile

The sons who bewail your shame;
Who count you as souls asleep,

Not dead to the nobler strife, Who bid you arise and stand,

And strive even yet for life;
By all the good gifts of God,

By all the fair hopes for man,
Awake from the sleep of death,
And fight while as yet ye can.
By all that have died for men,
By Christ who endured the cross,
Count nothing but honor gain,
Count all that is selfish loss.
Take up with a loyal heart
The burden upon you laid :
Who fights on the side of God
Needs never to be afraid.

Be true to the great good land,
And rear 'neath the southern sun
A race that shall hold its own,

And last till the world be done.
O land that we love so well,
Awake and redeem thy fate,
Arise ere the watchers cry,
"O land of lost hopes-too late!"
A. B.

THE CHATHAM PAGEANT

i

In a recent issue of The Outlook the Spectator delightfully described the historical pageant held at Deerfield, and in conclusion told of a certain college president who had recounted to

him and others the wonderful legendry with which the Hudson Valley was possessed.

A pageant was held this year in the village of Chatham, Columbia County, New York, which endeavored to portray the historical wealth of this particular section, the absence of fame and notoriety being due largely to the fact that it was an experiment in what might be termed community life.

The pageant was given in the first week in September, and as a part of a series of evening celebrations held in the village at the time of the County Fair. These celebrations were held absolutely without hope of gain or reward, and merely as an entertainment for the people who visited the village at this time and as a benefit to the agricultural exhibition held during the day. The evening celebrations consisted on one night of an illuminated parade, fireworks, and music, and on the next of singing by a choral club, speeches, and music, the last two evenings being devoted to the historical pageant. Chatham is a village of 2,500 people, about fifteen miles from the river, so that it had few people in comparison with other pageants, but, in proportion to its size, probably a great many more, for in all one-tenth of its population participated. Its wealth of subjects, however, was tremendous. Beginning with the landing of Hendrik Hudson and his crew at Stockport in September, 1609, the county's history was traced down through the bartering of lands by the Livingstons with the Indians; the party at the home of Katrina van Tassel in Kinderhook, as described in "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow;" the coming of the Palatine settlers to Germantown, which gained its name from them; the activity of the Tories during the Revolutionary War; the great festivities held at the home of President Martin Van Buren, where so many famous men gathered not alone to discuss with, but to be entertained by, the Fox of Kinderhook; loyal troops leaving for the Civil War, and the efforts of the Sanitary Commission during their absence. All of these episodes were given in the Chatham Pageant, and it proved such a success that it netted a goodly sum, which was given to the Women's Improvement League to purchase a park for the village.

I agree with the Spectator when he says that "living history is much easier and more convincing than studying it." People will live and die and never know the rich heritage of history which they possess. It takes action, possibly augmented by bright colors, to arouse historical interest in many, but I feel convinced that when this interest is once aroused it is extremely active and tends to create a feeling of local pride, and then, as this rich field becomes broken, a desire to search and uncover

more.

The historical pageant is playing a great part in arousing people to a subject which, while

SENSIBLE TRADE METHODS

To those of us here in South America who are trying to keep up our end of American foreign trade nothing could appeal more than Mr. Kennan's powerful article in The Outlook for August 9 called "Screws in Blue Paper."

Countless are the tales current here-all of them too true that match the blue-paper story. Word for word the article could be parodied to make it apply to South America, and every conclusion would be even stronger, since this foreign trade is comparatively near, and the languages spoken comparatively familiar.

The especial point of Mr. Kennan's suggestions to which I wish to refer is that as to efficient methods of developing foreign trade for American manufacturers. Some who are studying this question may not know that there is already at work in the South American field a most practical scheme for advancing foreign trade. In 1911 the Chicago Association of Commerce, under the presidency of Mr. H. A. Wheeler, now President of the Chamber of Commerce of the United States, appointed a resident representative of their organization in southern South America-that is, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, and Chile. This representative, Argentina born, had had successful business experience in both hemispheres, and of course had a perfect command of Spanish.

A permanent office of the Association was opened by the South American representative in Buenos Aires. Here catalogues and general information as to the articles 'manufactured by members of the Association are kept on file for the use of importers here wishing to get in touch with Chicago manufacturers with a view to selling their products. Inquiries for special articles or lines are sent to headquarters in Chicago, for transmission to members interested. In the event that it is found that no member of the Association is interested, the inquiry is given to any American manufacturer of the line desired. Members of the Association may always obtain from the Buenos Aires office information as to general trade requirements and conditions, as well as names of firms who might take the sales agency of their products. The representative himself does no selling whatever, being a member of the Association staff, at liberty literally to represent every member, without pecuniary interest in any. In this way he is always free to act as intermediary in arranging sales agencies for members, and as a sort of referee in cases of disagreement between manufacturers and agents here, endeavoring to settle them diplomatically.

This plan for foreign trade work is entirely free from possible conflict with anti-trust laws,

and can in no way be considered a combination in restraint of trade.

It was gratifying to find, in summing up the work of the first two years, that the number of members of the Association known to be doing business in Buenos Aires alone had been doubled during that period; and nearly all of this increase is due to the work of the South American office. The data in this respect for the other countries have not been made up, but many agencies have been placed.

It was felt that much more than this could be accomplished with samples, therefore in 1913 the representative was authorized to take a large show-room in Buenos Aires, the exhibits of about fifty members were installed, and the exposition formally opened in July of this year.

This is the first foreign trade work of this kind in the world, and the first exposition in a foreign country ever undertaken by a private commercial organization, and it has naturally aroused much interest, especially in the city of Buenos Aires. MARY O. CARPENTER.

Buenos Aires, Argentina.

A NURSES' SETTLEMENT IN JERUSALEM The paragraph in The Outlook of October 11 called "A Nurses' Settlement in Jerusalem had some errors of fact and emphasis.

An organization of women Zionists, known as the Daughters of Zion, founded in the spring of 1912, took as one of its objects the establishment of a system of district nursing among the destitute Jews of Palestine, to begin in the city of Jerusalem. The New York chapter of the Daughters of Zion, that is, Hadassan Chapter, was able to initiate this undertaking by the following means:

In January, 1913, the President of Hadassan Chapter, Miss Henrietta Szold, received an unsolicited offer from Mr. and Mrs. Nathan Straus to pay the passage and four months' salary of a nurse to Jerusalem, provided she be sent at once. It was understood that the Daughters of Zion would be responsible for all expenditures incidental to the nurse's work, and for her salary after the fourth month. At the same time one of the members of Hadassan, Miss Eva Léon, while visiting the West, enlisted the interest of a group of Chicagoans in Palestinian conditions. With the aid derived from Chicago, and from Mr. and Mrs. Straus, Hadassan Chapter sent two nurses to Palestine. Miss Léon, who is acquainted with many of the languages spoken in the Orient, accompanied the nurses at the invitation of Mr. and Mrs. Straus, and installed their work.

They had not been in Jerusalem long when one of the nurses, at Miss Léon's suggestion, offered her services to the Le-Maan Zion Eye Clinic, a Jewish institution maintained chiefly by European supporters, and the work there led to work among children in the Jewish schools.

Here the nurses have already been successful in combating the ravages of trachoma, which in Jerusalem has attacked about twenty per cent of the school population. In some schools as many as eighty per cent of the children are afflicted. If neglected, trachoma often causes blindness.

Hadassan Chapter has rented a settlement house in Jerusalem, which is used as a clinic as well as a residence. There, under doctors' orders, the nurses give treatments for anæmia, malaria, trachoma, and other diseases. The nurses also direct the work of three Jewish midwives.

There are chapters of the Daughters of Zion in five other American cities besides New York, and new chapters are forming. The Daughters of Zion intend to develop their Palestinian work, and at the same time to make Zionist propaganda and foster Jewish ideals among the Jewish women in the United States. GERTRUDE GOLDSMITH.

Hartford, Connecticut.

THE PREFERENTIAL BALLOT

Mr. Louis Heaton Pink, in a recent issue of The Outlook, in speaking of the preferential ballot which has just been adopted in Cleveland, unintentionally gave a wrong impression of that ballot in a way that is more serious than it might appear on first thought.

As one much interested in the further application of that ballot in its proper form, I beg to point out that it is better even than Mr. Pink indicated. It enables voters to express not only their first, second, and third choices out of a list of candidates for any office, but it enables them to express their support for an unlimited number of choices, the first being expressed in the first column, the second choice in the second column, and the third column, headed "Other Choices," receives the crosses for all other candidates whom the voter wishes to support. The fact that the number of choices is unlimited needs emphasis, because there is a tendencyhappily thus far it has taken effect in only two of the larger preferential voting cities-to place a restriction upon the number of choices which a voter may express. Obviously, such restrictions tend to interfere with the possibility of all voters of like mind getting together upon a candidate of their sort, and thus to defeat one of the prime objects which the preferential ballot is intended to secure.

In an election in which there are a large number of good candidates, with the opposition massed, as is apt to be the case, behind only one, it is obviously of the highest importance that there should be no arbitrary obstruction to the good side getting together behind some one of their candidates. Limitation in the number of choices is arbitrary, dangerous, unusual, and wholly needless.

LEWIS J. JOHNSON. Harvard University School of Engineering.

CEMENT AND CONCRETE

There was recently printed in "Many Inventions" a brief series of definitions of the nature and uses of cement, concrete, and reinforced concrete. The definitions were ascribed to "World's Work," but two or three correspondents tell us that they originally appeared in the "Technical World Magazine." These quoted paragraphs have aroused dissent among some of our readers, and to present another view, as well as because of their intrinsic interest, we give below extracts from a letter from Mr. Ernest McCullough, C.E., of Chicago:

Cement is a material with adhesive properties which binds together materials lacking in this particular. Paste, glue, mortar, etc., are cements. Mortar is composed of sand and lime, the lime acting as a cement to bind the stone or bricks together, the sand making it to a certain extent porous so air can enter the mass and harden the lime, which requires air for the purpose. Common lime mortar will not set under water; so a mortar with hydraulic properties must be used when moisture might otherwise interfere with the setting process. Hydraulic cement is composed of a limestone containing clay, generally in the proportion of one-third to one-half lime and two-thirds to one-half clay. This limestone is burned as any limestone, and then ground. It is called natural cement in America and hydraulic lime in Europe. Owing to the presence of impurities in all deposits found in nature, an artificial hydraulic cement is made by mixing lime and alumina in certain proportions and burning in kilns to incipient fusion. The result is a clinker which is ground to powder, ranging from material that will pass a mesh having ten thousand holes to the square inch to forty thousand holes to the square inch, the cement having the largest percentage of fine material showing the greatest strength. This artificially made hydraulic cement is uniform in composition, and at the present time about ninety million barrels are produced each year in the United States, while proportionate amounts are credited to every European country. The name of Portland was given to this cement because stone made from it resembled in color the building stone obtained from the quarries in Portland, England.

Molded into any desirable form, Portland cement shows a high crushing resistance, but a low tensile strength, about one-tenth the crushing strength; in this particular a stone made with hydraulic cement resembles natural stone. It will not sustain almost any load without injury to itself. But it does possess great compressive strength, sufficient at least for the purpose for which it is used.

Concrete is composed of broken stone, cinders, brick, gravel, or other aggregate cemented together with a mortar composed of sand, hydraulic cement, and water, mixed together in a paste. Natural cement and other hydraulic cements do not possess the strength or durability of Portland cement, so the latter is generally meant when the word cement is used.

Concrete when properly made is very dense, the water and cement filling the voids in the sand and the sand-cement paste filling the voids in the aggregates. Concrete is stronger than mortar in large masses, so it is economical, and therefore used instead of cement mortar made of sand and cement or of cement only. Surface checking is more apparent the more cement the mixture contains, so the best concrete is that which uses the smallest amount of cement mortar that will fill the voids properly, and have a sufficient surplus of cement to coat each grain of sand and aggregate. Concrete is preferable to natural stone for many uses, because it is free from defects found in all natural deposits, and therefore is very durable. Cement is not attacked by the acids found free in the atmosphere, so the aggregate and sand used in concrete are protected by the coating of cement from decomposition.

Reinforced concrete is concrete reinforced with metal so that the metal will take all tensional stresses and the concrete all compressive stresses. This is done because cement and concrete in which cement is used are very weak in tension. Columns of reinforced concrete will not "sustain almost any concentrated burden," there being a limit to the strength of all materials. Up to a certain limit a reinforced concrete column is economical, but the limit is low. In fact, reinforced concrete columns are not the best example to give of the value of reinforced concrete, and when floor space is valuable they cannot be used, steel columns, fireproofed, occupying less space and giving the necessary strength, without having to consider a number of things still disputed by authorities.

Reinforced concrete is a very valuable structural material, and is used for floors and walls. It may be proportioned for loads that cause bending stresses, and is a competitor of steel and wood. For some buildings it is cheaper than wood, while it is in all cases a close competitor of steel.

THE USES OF MAPLE

Though at one time in the early history of the country an average of 6,000 maple trees were destroyed in clearing the ordinary New York or Pennsylvania farm, maple is to-day, according to the Department of Agriculture in one of its interesting tree bulletins, one of the most widely used and valuable native hardwoods. The wood finds place in an enormous number of articles in daily use, from rolling-pins to pianos and organs. It is one of the best woods for flooring, and is always a favorite material for the floors of roller-skating rinks and bowling alleys. It leads all other woods as a material for shoe lasts, the demand for which in Massachusetts alone exceeds thirteen million board feet annually.

Sugar maple stands near the top of the list of furniture woods in this country. The so-called "bird's-eye" effect, the Department explains, is