Established by Edward L. Youmans APPLETONS' POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY EDITED BY WILLIAM JAY YOUMANS VOL. LIV NOVEMBER, 1898, TO APRIL, 1899 NEW YORK D. APPLETON AND COMPANY 1899 COPYRIGHT, 1899, BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. VOL. LIV. ESTABLISHED BY EDWARD L. YOUMANS. NO. 1. APPLETONS' POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. NOVEMBER, 1898. _EDITED BY WILLIAM JAY YOUMANS._ CONTENTS. PAGE I. Was Middle America Peopled from Asia? By Prof. E. S. MORSE. 1 II. The Possible Fiber Industries of the United States. By CHARLES RICHARDS DODGE. (Illustrated.) 15 III. What is Social Evolution? By HERBERT SPENCER. 35 IV. The Torrents of Switzerland. By EDGAR R. DAWSON, M. E. 46 V. The Evolution of Colonies. V. Political Evolution. By J. COLLIER. 52 VI. Architectural Forms in Nature. By F. S. DELLENBAUGH. (Illus.) 63 VII. The Herds of the Yellow Ant. By JAMES WEIR, Jr., M. D. (Illus.) 75 VIII. Two Gifts to French Science. By M. HENRI DE PARVILLE. (Illus.) 81 IX. The Mongoose in Jamaica. By C. W. WILLIS. (Illustrated.) 86 X. The Cause of Rain. By J. R. PLUMANDON. 89 XI. Dream and Reality. By M. CAMILLE MELINAND. 96 XII. A Practical Dutch Charity. By Prof. J. HOWARD GORE. 103 XIII. Sketch of Frank Wigglesworth Clarke. (With Portrait.) 110 XIV. Correspondence: The Moon and the Weather. 118 XV. Editor's Table: The Goal of Education.--A Doubtful Appendix to Science.--The Cause of Spain's Decadence.--Dream and Reality. 118 XVI. Scientific Literature. 126 XVII. Fragments of Science. 135 NEW YORK: D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, 72 FIFTH AVENUE. SINGLE NUMBER, 50 CENTS. YEARLY SUBSCRIPTION, $5.00. COPYRIGHT, 1898, BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. Entered at the Post Office at New York, and admitted for transmission through the mails at second-class rates. [Illustration: FRANK WIGGLESWORTH CLARKE.] APPLETONS' POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. NOVEMBER, 1898. WAS MIDDLE AMERICA PEOPLED FROM ASIA? BY PROF. EDWARD S. MORSE.