28o 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



large, if not peculiar. lie says, "Were 

 there not a single convert to Christianity in 

 the Chinese Empire to-day, it would still be 

 too early to pronounce unfavorably on mis- 

 sions." When we remember, as the author 

 tells us, that the Christian gospel was intro- 

 duced among the Chinese as early as a. d. 

 300 ; that Nestorian Christian missionaries 

 began work there in a. d. 639 ; that the 

 Catholic Church entered upon this mission- 

 ary field more than six hundred years ago ; 

 and that the Protestant Church began its 

 missionary labors there early in the present 

 century the statement that, if there were 

 not a single convert to Christianity in the 

 Chinese Empire to-day, it would still be too 

 early to draw an unfavorable inference as 

 to future prospects, shows that faith pays 

 but very little regard to the inductions of 

 experience. The doctor, moreover, inter- 

 prets success in a very liberal way, consid- 

 ering it rather a problem of spiritual dy- 

 namics than of mere numbers. He says, 

 " As each idolater was held fast by the en- 

 tire force of native superstition, the conver- 

 sion of one was a triumph over the whole 

 might of paganism." 



As to Confucianism, the religion of China, 

 Dr. Wheeler has no hesitation in declaring 

 that to be a " stupendous failure," leaving 

 the people in a wretched spiritual condition, 

 notwithstanding its long and undisturbed 

 ascendency. He quotes the Rev. William 

 Ashmore, who describes the prevalence of 

 the precepts of Confucius as follows : " The 

 roads to honor, to wealth, and to official 

 preferment all start out from the skill dis- 

 played in stating and applying the maxim 

 of the sage and his expounders. The most 

 powerful social class is composed of those 

 who have been covered with literary honors 

 for their proficiency in the knowledge of 

 Confucius. Confucianism is really the state 

 constitution; it is the state religion; it is 

 the state etiquette. Confucius and his 

 teachings are worshiped by three hundred 

 million people. The words that fell from 

 his lips form the thesis of all the literary 

 tournaments of the empire. They are graven 

 deep on granite monuments. They are post- 

 ed on the doorways of pavilions and rest- 

 houses every year. They are written on 

 fans that are ever in hand. They are paint- 

 ed on bed-curtains. They are gilded on 

 rolls and hung up to adorn their temples 



and dwelling-houses. They furnish the 

 phraseology with which men of polite learn- 

 ing exchange amenities with each other ; 

 and they may be heard falling from the lips 

 of the common people in the markets when 

 chaffering about the price of shrimp9 and 

 snails." 



And yet, notwithstanding all this, the 

 moral condition of the Chinese is anything 

 but satisfactory. The virtues of benevo- 

 lence, integrity, propriety, wisdom, sincer- 

 ity, with filial piety, are so far exemplified 

 in the daily life of the people as to explain 

 their remarkable longevity as a nation ; 

 their love of fixed and orderly modes of 

 life ; their thrifty habits ; and their general 

 tendency to practice the arts of peace. But 

 the people are untruthful and dishonest, 

 and, notwithstanding their ostentatious po- 

 liteness, are coarse and brutal under the sur- 

 face, and are loose, lewd, and polygamous. 



Professor Sawyer's introduction to the 

 volume is a brief essay on the present 

 American aspects of the Chinese question. 

 He considers it from the point of view of 

 the recent treaties with China negotiated 

 by the American envoys, Angel, Swift, and 

 Prescott, the text of these treaties being 

 given at the close of the volume. Professor 

 Sawyer takes what may be called the liberal 

 or anti-Californian view of the subject. He 

 shows the futility of the reasons commonly 

 offered for excluding the Chinese from the 

 country, and in this connection remarks : 

 " We have long endured the immigration of 

 Celts and Teutons at a rate fifty times more 

 rapid than the coming of the Celestials, and 

 no political economist would dare to say 

 that we should be better off without them, 

 although they have made it almost impos- 

 sible to govern New York and some other 

 cities even respectably. Strange to say, 

 these very Celts and Teutons are the men 

 whose minds are most exercised lest we 

 should be overrun by an inferior race ; and 

 their hoodlum sons, not the Chinese, are 

 the disturbing element in San Francisco." 



A Hand-book of Vertebrate Dissection. 

 By II. Newell Martin, D. S. C, and Wil- 

 liam A. Hoele, M. D. Part I. How 

 to dissect a Chelonian. New York : 

 Macmillan & Co. 1881. Pp. 94. Price, 

 Y5 cents. 

 The multiplication of special monographs 



for guidance in practical scientific study is 



