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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



LITERARY NOTICES. 



The Physiology of Man. By Austin 

 Flint, Jr., M. D. Vol. IV. The Ner- 

 vous System. 



The comprehensive work ou Human 

 Physiology, by Dr. Flint, approaches its com- 

 pletion ; 2,000 pages of it are done, and 

 another volume of perhaps 500 more will 

 finish the treatise. This is the most con- 

 siderable effort yet made by an American in 

 physiology, and the work, by its extent and 

 thoroughness, will prove an honor to Ameri- 

 can science. Although covering extensive 

 ground, and dealing with a wide range of 

 topics, Dr. Flint's work is by no means a 

 mere compilation. Its author is a working 

 physiologist ; a careful and industrious ex- 

 perimenter, he has done much, both in the 

 way of original investigation, and in testing 

 and verifying the investigations of others. 

 The first volume of the series treats of Blood, 

 Circulation, and Respiration; the second of 

 Alimentation, Digestion, and Absorption ; 

 the third of Secretion, Excretion, Nutrition, 

 Animal Heat, Movements, Voice, and Speech ; 

 and the fourth of the interesting and com- 

 plicated subject of Nervous Structure and 

 Nerve-actions. This is the most obscure 

 and difficult of all the branches of physi- 

 ology, and it is consequently that division 

 of the science in which clear and definite 

 knowledge being most wanting, its place is 

 supplied by speculation and hypothesis. 

 Dr. Flint has been very careful to guard 

 against the danger that here arises, and to 

 limit his exposition to those facts and con- 

 clusions which may be regarded as fairly 

 and decisively settled. In his preface, he 

 says : " The present volume treats of the 

 physiological anatomy and the functions 

 of the nervous system, as they appear to a 

 practical physiologist, accustomed to ac- 

 cept nothing that is not capable of positive 

 demonstration or well-sustained inference. 

 Adhering conscientiously to the positive 

 method of study, the author has endeavored 

 to present an account of the nervous sys- 

 tem which, though it will undoubtedly be 

 extended by future investigations, is made 

 up mainly of statements of facts that will 

 probably not undergo serious modification 

 as we advance in our knowledge of the sub- 

 ject, ne has considered the properties 



and functions of the cerebro-spinal ar.d 

 sympathetic nervous systems mainly from 

 this point of view; and has touched but 

 slightly upon psychology, which has long 

 been considered a science by itself. The 

 special senses have been deferred, to be 

 taken up in the fifth and last volume of the 

 series." Dr. Flint's work is written in a 

 remarkably clear and agreeable style ; and, 

 although he would probably not himself 

 claim that it is a popular treatise, as it must 

 needs deal with many things that are un- 

 familiar to the common mind, and clothed 

 in scientific language, yet his pages are 

 nevertheless in a high degree attractive to 

 all intelligent persons who are interested in 

 the higher problems and processes of life. 

 His work will be as valuable for reading 

 and reference in the libraries of laymen as 

 in those of the professional student, and 

 for this purpose we know of no work upon 

 physiological science that equals the pres- 

 ent. It is just the treatise for reference in 

 school libraries. Our popular physiological 

 text-books are necessarily very meagre and 

 often unsatisfactory, and it is therefore de- 

 sirable that some larger work should be at 

 hand for consultation. Flint's "Physiology 

 of Man " will be well suited for this purpose, 

 not only from its fulness and authenticity, 

 but also from the convenience of its form, 

 which is in several handy volumes, instead 

 of an unwieldy single volume. 



Niagara : its History and Geology, with Il- 

 lustrations. By George W. Holley. 

 New York : Sheldon & Co. 



An instructive description of Niagara 

 and its surroundings, not a mere traveller's 

 guide to its sights and curiosities, but an 

 account of it as a great natural phenome- 

 non, was much needed, and the want has 

 been well supplied by the neat little hand- 

 book just issued by Sheldon. The author 

 observes in his preface that, of all places so 

 extensively known, Niagara Falls is proba- 

 bly the least known ; the mass of people 

 being quite satisfied with it as a grand spec- 

 tacular sensation. To the geologists, how- 

 ever, it has ever been an interesting study, 

 while the number of those who share their 

 interest, who care to understand it as well 

 as to see it, to know something of its past 

 and future as well as of its present, must 



