n8 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Secchi, researches which are always going 

 on ; the reader will find with interest va- 

 rious important results of these studies for 

 instance, the existence in many stars of a 

 ^ood number of terrestrial substances hy- 

 drogen, nitrogen, magnesium, sodium, etc. 



One of the most interesting facts is the 

 observation of the temporary star which ap- 

 peared in May, 1866; the great brightness 

 of the star was due, as indicated by the 

 spectroscope, to an immense mass of incan- 

 descent hydrogen. 



At the end of the work the author gives 

 some very important observations of Hug- 

 gins and others on the spectrum of nebulas ; 

 the chief result is the possibility, with the 

 aid of the spectroscope, of distinguishing by 

 the composition of their light the true neb- 

 ulas from the clusters of stars. 



Finally, a description of the spectrum 

 of the aurora borealis, the identification of 

 its bright lines with some bright lines of 

 the solar corona, a description of various 

 meteors, lightnings and their spectra, show 

 into what difficult objects this new branch 

 of science has pushed its investigations. 



On the whole, this book must be con- 

 sidered as a good type of a " popular 

 work ; " it deserves the attention of the 

 public, and the esteem of scientific men ; 

 and, finally, it recommends itself by a gra- 

 cious side. It was translated into English 

 by two ladies, who have had the double 

 merit of giving a proof of their good scien- 

 tific taste, and of showing an example of 

 the help which their sex is able to afford to 

 science. 



Life in Nature. Man and his Dwell- 

 ing-Place. By James Hinton. New 

 York : D. Appleton & Co. 



These works are unique in the scientific 

 literature of the present time, and, although 

 treating of different topics, are so charac- 

 terized by a common spirit and method, 

 that they may properly be considered to- 

 gether. Their author is a London surgeon 

 in busy practice, but who has not permitted 

 the pressure of professional duties to pre- 

 vent him from giving close attention to the 

 grave questions by which the mind of the 

 age is agitated. Nor is Mr. Hinton a mere 

 amateur who recreates with philosophy ; he 

 is a pioneer investigator in the field of sci- 



ence, and has occupied himself much with 

 those new and large dynamical questions, 

 and their various applications, with which 

 scientific philosophers have been so intently 

 engaged during the last quarter of a cen- 

 tury. His inquiry into the physical condi- 

 tions of vegetable growth, showing that it 

 is governed by definite and traceable forces, 

 and takes place in the direction of least re- 

 sistance, like all mechanical effects, forms 

 an important contribution to biological sci- 

 ence, and was arrived at independently by 

 Mr. Hinton and Herbert Spencer. Yet the 

 author of these works has not dedicated 

 himself to any line of special research (al- 

 though from the fertility of his ideas, and 

 the acuteness and originality of his views, 

 he might, undoubtedly, have done so with 

 eminent success) ; but, having mastered the 

 more vital and comprehensive principles of 

 modern research, he takes them as the 

 starting-point for still larger views. Sci- 

 ence, indeed, in its ordinary acceptation, is 

 not to him an end. Though deeply imbued 

 with its spirit, and equipped with its latest 

 results, he is not satisfied to rest in this 

 sphere of ideas : it is as leading to some- 

 thing beyond, or as furnishing a basis for 

 something higher, that they have to him 

 their principal value. As Bacon holds sci- 

 ence subordinate to the ends of utility, and 

 the practical service of humanity, Mr. Hin- 

 ton would make it subordinate to the un- 

 folding of man's spiritual nature. He prizes 

 science chiefly for its religious uses, or as 

 an interpretation of the divine order of the 

 world. Maintaining the fundamental har- 

 mony of all truth, and that religion repre- 

 sents a verity of the universe as much as 

 astronomy, he has taken it as his task to 

 elucidate the harmonies that must prevail 

 among the different aspects of truth in or- 

 der that religious faith may be grounded in 

 scientific principles. The results of science, 

 and the knowledge we have of man and the 

 external world, are the author's postulates ; 

 and from these he aims to pass, by un- 

 broken logic, to the spiritual order of be- 

 ing. Holding Nature to be a sphere divine- 

 ly designed for man's highest development, 

 he admits no breaks in the order, and in- 

 sists that the former must be understood 

 before the latter can be determined. Sci- 

 ence, therefore, according to Mr. Hinton, is 



