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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



thor's mind, in the use of such a word. 

 Jelly would seem a more appropriate word, 

 as convejing the idea of the consistency re- 

 quisite for life, and would have the sanction 

 of use. Thus the Noctilucaj, called in this vol- 

 ume " tiny bags of slime," were described, 

 if we mistake not, by their discoverer as 

 " tiny spherical gelatinous bodies," and Pro- 

 fessor Huxley says, " Noctiluca may be de- 

 scribed as ' a gelatinous transparent body 

 about the one sixtieth of an inch in diam- 

 eter.' " 



The chapter on " How Starfish walk 

 and Sea-Urchins grow" is excellent. The 

 story of how the five curious little oval jelly 

 bodies, swimming about by their jelly lashes 

 in the depths of the smooth water in some 

 English bay ended in becoming respective- 

 ly a lily-star, a brittle-star, a starfish, a sea- 

 urchin, and a sea-cucumber, is well told, and 

 woodcuts, though they make one see as in a 

 glass darkly, help in their own way to make 

 the meaning plain. In the " Outtasts of 

 Animal Life " a difficult problem is treated 

 of. It need not surprise one that it is not 

 solved. The last four chapters tell of " the 

 Snare-Weavers and their Hunting Rela- 

 tions (spiders)"; the insects which change 

 their coats but not their bodies, and those 

 which remodel their bodies within cover of 

 their coats ; " the Intelligent Insects with 

 Helpless Children, as illustrated by the 

 Ants." This volume thus tells of the greater 

 part of the living invertebrate animals as 

 they are spread over the earth to fight the 

 battle of life. " Though in many places the 

 battle is fierce and each one must fight re- 

 morselessly for himself and his little ones, 

 yet the struggle consists chiefly in all the 

 members of the various brigades doing their 

 work in life to the best of their power, so 

 that all while they live may lead a healthy, 

 active existence. The little bird is fighting 

 his battle when he builds his nest and seeks 

 food for his mate and his little ones ; and 

 though in doing this he must kill the worm, 

 and may perhaps by and by fall a victim 

 himself to the hungry hawk, yet the worm 

 heeds nothing of its danger till its life comes 

 to an end ; and the bird trills his merry 

 song after his breakfast, and enjoys his life 

 without thinking of perils to come. So Life 

 sends her Children forth ; and it remains 

 for U3 to learn something of their history. 



If we could but know it all, and the thou- 

 sands of different ways in which the beings 

 around us struggle and live, we should be 

 overwhelmed with wonder. Even as it is, 

 we may perhaps hope to gain such a glimpse 

 of the labors of this great multitude as may 

 lead us to wish to fight our own battle brave- 

 ly and to work and strive and bear patiently, 

 if only that we may be worthy to stand at 

 the head of the vast family of Life's Chil- 

 dren." 



The work forms a charming introduction 

 to the study of zoology the science of liv- 

 ing things which we trust will find its way 

 into many hands. Nature. 



Transcendental Physics : An Account of 

 Experimental Investigations from the 

 Scientific Treatises of Johann Carl 

 Friedrich Zollner, Professor of Phys- 

 ical Astronomy at the University of 

 Leipsie. Translated from the German, 

 with a Preface and Appendices, by 

 Charles Carleton Massey. With Il- 

 lustrations. Boston : Colby & Rich. 

 Pp. 217. Price, $1.50. 



There was considerable excitement a 

 year or two since over the spiritualistic 

 demonstrations at Leipsie, Germany, in 

 which the professors took up the claims of 

 Henry Slade, the eminent American "me- 

 dium." Zollner was prominent in the in- 

 quiry, and published his results, which ar- 

 rested attention chiefly from the novelty of 

 some of the doctrines which he connected 

 with the experiments. lie published a book 

 of views and results under the title of 

 " Transcendental Physics," which was the 

 third volume of a course of scientific criti- 

 cism. The substance of that work is re- 

 produced in the present translation, together 

 with numerous well-executed illustrations 

 of the appliances used and the operations 

 performed. 



The book is a contribution to spiritual- 

 ism, and treats of a portion of the experi- 

 ences of Mr. Slade in his great mission over 

 the world to establish, by slate-manipula- 

 tions, etc., the immortality of the human 

 soul. Poor old senile Dr. Hare, when cap- 

 tured by the Philadelphia spiritualist sev- 

 eral years ago, undertook to prove that the 

 soul is immortal by inventing a wooden 

 spiritoscope for public exhibitions. Believ- 

 ing that this great question has been left in 



