852 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



serts that many such authors have contra- 

 dicted themselves unwittingly by giving lists 

 of the superstitions of the people against 

 whom they made the charge. In all his 

 own studies on the subject he has not found 

 a people, " no matter how savage, who have 

 no religion, if the word is used in its broad- 

 est sense, to embrace all superstitions." He 

 also denies that any of our Indians were 

 primarily monotheists, or that the belief in 

 a Supreme Being has existed among them 

 for any considerable time, and asserts that 

 no approach to monotheism had been made 

 before the discovery of America by Euro- 

 peans, and that the idea of the Great Spirit 

 mentioned in books on the aboriginal tribes 

 of America is an introduction by Chris- 

 tianity. The body of the work consists of 

 citations from a host of authors illustrative 

 of the condition of Indian thought and 

 development in respect to religion, and es- 

 pecially in regard to the doctrine of spirits, 

 fetichistic superstitions, rites, and cere- 

 monies connected with the dead, animal- 

 worship, the worship of trees and plants, 

 of remarkable natural objects, and of the 

 heavenly bodies, the animistic theory of 

 meteorology, and priestcraft. The whole 

 is as interesting as it is instructive, and as 

 instructive as it is interesting, and is be- 

 lieved by Mr. Dorman to show that a gradual 

 development from the rudest superstition, 

 rather than a degeneracy from monotheism, 

 has taken place ; and that " the religion of 

 the aboriginal tribes of America was a sys- 

 tem of superstitions, all of which are expli- 

 cable by the doctrine of the agency of mul- 

 titudes of spirits, and in no other way." 



Tokio Daigaku (University of Tokio). 

 The Calendar of the Departments of 

 Law, Science, and Literature. 2540 

 to 2541 (1880 to 1881). Tokio, Japan : 

 Published by the University. Pp. (in 

 English) 199. 



Attention is first drawn to the histor- 

 ical summary which immediately follows the 

 list of officers and professors, and relates 

 the different steps in the organization and 

 ' development of the university in detail. It 

 shows that the introduction of Western 

 learning into Japan dates from between 

 1703 and 1*711 ; that an observatory was 

 established in 1744 ; that a translation- 

 office was instituted in 1811 to translate 



Dutch books ; that the Dutch language was 

 taught in 1858, and the English, French, 

 German, and Russian languages were intro- 

 duced, and courses in mathematics, botany, 

 and chemistry were established in and after 

 1858 ; and that instruction was given mainly 

 in the English language in 1867. The sub- 

 sequent course of the university has been 

 in the direction of expansive development, 

 and need not be reviewed minutely. In- 

 struction is given in the departments of 

 law, science, and literature, which names 

 cover nearly all that is included in similar 

 departments in Western institutions, and 

 some other matters peculiarly Japanese and 

 Chinese, by American and European and 

 Japanese professors. The law department 

 includes English and French law, and an- 

 cient and present Japanese law ; the scien- 

 tific department is comprehensive ; the lit- 

 erary department includes English literature, 

 philosophy, political philosophy and econ- 

 omy, history, Buddhism, and Japanese and 

 Chinese literature. More than fifty pro- 

 fessors, assistants, and teachers are em- 

 ployed, two hundred and five students and 

 ninety-two graduates are registered, and 

 fifteen students are entered as sent abroad 

 to England, France, and Germany. 



English Philosophers : Bacon. By Thom- 

 as Fowler, M. A., F. S. A., Professor of 

 Losric in the University of Oxford. New 

 York : G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1881. Pp. 

 202. Price, $1.25. 



Professor Fowler's object is, to pre- 

 sent the character of the revolution which 

 Bacon endeavored to effect in scientific 

 method, as well as the nature of his philo- 

 sophical opinions generally, in a form in- 

 telligible and interesting to readers who 

 have no technical acquaintance with logic 

 or philosophy. The several chapters in- 

 clude the life of Bacon, an account of his 

 works, reviews of his " Survey of the Sci- 

 ences," and his " Reform of Scientific Meth- 

 od," an examination of his philosophical 

 and religious opinions, and an estimation of 

 his influence on philosophy aud science. 

 On the last point, Professor Fowler believes 

 that the influence and direction given by 

 Bacon to science were of " the very highest 

 importance." lie called men to study the 

 I ways and imitate the processes of nature, 



