LITERARY NOTICES. 



853 



and are perfectly competent, not only to 

 know the results obtained, but to under- 

 stand the principles and methods on which 

 they depend without caring to master all the 

 details of the investigation. I have tried 

 to keep distinct the line between the cer- 

 tain and the conjectural, and to indicate as 

 far as possible the degree of confidence to 

 be placed in data and conclusions." 



It is unnecessary further to dilate on 

 the merits of this volume, especially as the 

 readers of " The Popular Science Monthly " 

 are not unacquainted with Professor Young's 

 skill in scientific exposition ; nor will it be 

 possible, in any notice, to illustrate the 

 richness of these pages in striking facts, 

 felicitous illustrations, and lucid explana- 

 tions, concerning the constitution, astronom- 

 ical relations, and stupendous influence, of 

 the solar body. There is an introduction on 

 *' The Sun's Relation to Life and Activity 

 upon the Earth." This is followed by a 

 systematic discussion of the main prob- 

 lems of solar phenomena, in a succession 

 of chapters treating of " The Distance and 

 Dimensions of the Sun," the " Methods and 

 Apparatus for studying the Surface of the 

 Sun," "The Spectroscope and the Solar 

 Spectrum," " Sun-spots on the Solar Sur- 

 face," "Periodicity of Sun-spots, their 

 Effects upon the Earth, and Theories as 

 to their Cause and Nature," " The Chromo- 

 sphere and its Prominences," "The Coro- 

 na," and " The Sun's Light and Heat." The 

 concluding chapter is an excellent "Sum- 

 mary of Facts and Discussion of the Con- 

 stitution of the Sun." An appendix is added, 

 which has been contributed by Professor 

 Langley, one of the most zealous and suc- 

 cessful American cultivators of solar as- 

 tronomy. It presents certain important 

 views, which this investigator has reached, 

 with regard to the light and heat of the sun. 



Professor Young's book is not written in 

 rhyme, and does not profess to be " poetry." 

 Perhaps it is inimical to poetry, as it deals 

 with hard scientific material facts, and, if 

 these are truly incompatible with poetic 

 thought, the book will be open to the male- 

 dictions of all who consider error better 

 than truth for the purposes of the poetic 

 mind. But this, at any rate, may be said : 

 no one can read Professor Young's book 

 without recognizing very clearly that the 



sun, as interpreted by the science of to-day, 

 is a far grander and more impressive object 

 of thought than was the sun of a century 

 or two ago. Milton traversed the universe 

 of his time with intrepid imagination, but 

 what was his conception of the " powerful 

 king of day," compared with the concep- 

 tion of the sun which science has now 

 shown to be true ? The poetic imagination 

 has never pictured anything to be compared 

 with the sublimity and unspeakable grand- 

 eur of the all-regulating, life-giving star 

 round which we are revolving, and which, 

 so far as the human mind is concerned, sci- 

 ence may be said to have created. Has not 

 science, in this and kindred exploits, given 

 a transcendent enlargement to the sphere of 

 the imagination ? We do not believe that 

 ignorance is the mother of legitimate devo- 

 tion or of genuine poetry ; and those who 

 think that the truth-seeking faculty in man, 

 which, in a certain aspect, is simply occu- 

 pied in extending the realm of wonder, and 

 disclosing the beauty, the harmony, and the 

 magnificence of Nature's operations, is the 

 enemy of real poetry, have a good deal yet 

 to learn about the subject. It will damage 

 no sound poet to absorb the contents of 

 Professor Young's book. 



Chinese Immigration in its Social and 

 Economical Aspects. By George F. 

 Seward, late United States Minister to 

 China. New York: Scribners. 1881. 

 8vo. Pp. xv-421. Price, $2.50. 



Reserving for a possible future volume 

 the question of "the political and commer- 

 cial issues " involved in the Chinese ques- 

 tion, Mr. Seward limits himself in the pres- 

 ent work to its social and economical as- 

 pects, as those which are likely to determine 

 the legislative action of the country. These 

 aspects he considers under the following 

 heads: 1. The number of Chinese in the 

 United States; 2. The material results of 

 Chinese labor in California ; 3. Objections 

 to Chinese immigration; and, 4. Fears of 

 an overflowing immigration. 



And 1. The number of Chinese in this 

 country has been habitually over-estimated 

 by the anti-Chinese partisans. In Califor- 

 nia it was common to hear it said, a few 

 years ago, that there were " more Chinamen 

 than voters " in that State The facts have 



