LITERARY NOTICES. 



419 



ary enthusiasm, and perhaps through a di- 

 vergeucy of views which became settled in 

 the later period of life. Both men went 

 through important transitional stages in 

 their mental experience, Emerson escaping 

 from the transcendentalism of which he was 

 the early apostle, and is said to have been 

 the inventor, in New England ; and Carlyle 

 escaping from the intense radicalism of his 

 opening career into the pessimistic con- 

 servatism of his maturer years. The work, 

 therefore, has abundant interest as a study 

 of character through the free disclosures of 

 a copious and varied private correspond- 

 ence. In the first place they were both men 

 of unrivaled powers of expression, and the 

 highest capacity of analyzing their own 

 mental conditions, and presenting them with 

 vividness and original force. It is, perhaps, 

 not to be supposed that they were uncon- 

 scious that what they said would ultimately 

 be given to the world ; but this considera- 

 tion operated as but a partial restraint-upon 

 the freedom of their communications. They 

 were both men of opinions thinkers, doc- 

 trinaires, students of men and society and 

 therefore had much to say pertaining to 

 contemporary events, especially in the field 

 of current speculation, and in relation to the 

 literary phenomena of their period. They 

 spoke with a liberty about contemporary 

 men in the world of authorship which gives 

 a pungent interest to the letters, and which 

 was sometimes carried so far that the editor 

 is constrained to disguise the names of 

 parties implicated. But the strictures made 

 were generally within such proper limits 

 that no such editorial kitervention was ne- 

 cessary. The two men are here pictured 

 by themselves in their full individualities. 

 These, of course, are shown in their respect- 

 ive writings, and it can hardly be said that 

 there are any new disclosures in the corre- 

 spondence that can much revise or affect 

 the judgment of those who are already fa- 

 miliar with their books ; but the result of a 

 perusal of their letters is like turning on the 

 gas which brings everything out into greater 

 distinctness. It is unnecessary, of course, 

 to commend these volumes to the attention 

 of readers. All those who are familiar with 

 the thought and the history of these men as 

 authors, displayed in their successive publi- 

 cations, are certain to procure and peruse 



this correspondence. But Carlyle and Em- 

 erson now belong to the past, and the new 

 generation of readers can be but partially 

 familiar with those stages of mental devel- 

 opment through which they passed many 

 years since, and which were eagerly observed 

 by their contemporaries as they went for- 

 ward with the issue of their books. For 

 those younger readers, therefore, to whom 

 these authors are historic, the volumes be- 

 fore us may be recommended as full of 

 special instructiveness in interpreting the 

 character and position of these men whose 

 eminent position will be permanent in the 

 literature of the future. 



The Examination op Medicinal Chemicals : 

 A Guide for thb Determination of their 

 Identity and Quality. Illustrated ; third 

 edition, revised and enlarged. By Fred- 

 erick IIoffmann, A. M., Th. D., Public 

 Analyst to the State of New York, etc., 

 and Frederick B. Bovver, Th. D., Pro- 

 fessor of Analytical Chemistry in the 

 Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. Phil- 

 adelphia : Henry C. Lea's Son & Co. Pp. 

 624. Price, $4.25. 



The present edition of this valuable work 

 contains a large amount of new matter, and 

 has been adapted to the recent editions of 

 the United States and German Pharmaco- 

 poeias. Part I describes the operations and 

 reagents necessary for analytical work, gives 

 a system of cmalitative analysis, directions 

 for volumetric analysis, and for detecting 

 the most important alkaloids. Part II de- 

 scribes the various substances that are used 

 medicinally, giving their physical and chem- 

 ical properties, the impurities that are to be 

 looked for in each, and the way to detect 

 them, and, whenever desirable, a method of 

 assay. Under their appropriate heads are 

 given directions for testing for the impor- 

 tant poisons in forensic investigations, pro- 

 cesses for the determination of glycerine in 

 wine and beer, of the alkaloids in cinchona- 

 barks, etc., and rules for the dilution of the 

 important acids, etc., together with tables of 

 the strength of solutions. 



The authors have aimed to make each 

 article complete in itself, preferring to re- 

 peat text and illustrations rather than send 

 the reader to several cross-references. The 

 volume is well supplied with illustrations of 

 apparatus and forms of crystals, and con. 

 tains unusually detailed tables of equivalent 



