132 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



deceased, among which a conspicuous posi- 

 tion is given to that of Dr. Crawford W. 

 Long, for whom is claimed absolute priority 

 in the discovery of anaesthesia by ether, and 

 who died in 1S78, "at the bedside of a pa- 

 tient, in the discharge of his duty." 



The Universe; or, The Infinitely Great 

 and the Infinitely Little. By F. A. 

 Pouchet, M. D. Sixth edition. Illus- 

 trated by 270 Engravings on "Wood. 

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

 564. Price, $3.75. 



To present the leading facts of nature to 

 the non-scientific public in such a style that 

 it will read of them with the interest with 

 which it follows the development of a ro- 

 mance, without detracting from the dignity 

 and accuracy of scientific statement, to 

 compose such a vivid word-picture as shall 

 enable the reader to form an adequate con- 

 ception of the marvelousness of the wonders 

 that science has discovered, without falling 

 into exaggeration and sensationalism, are 

 tasks which the most learned investigator 

 in science and the best-trained writer would 

 be justified in shrinking from attempting. 

 Only a man of strong imagination, combined 

 with an unusually even mental poise, could 

 undertake to carry a series of description 

 of this character through the whole field 

 of nature. M. Pouchet has undertaken 

 this, and has accomplished it successfully. 

 He leads us in his most entertaining work, 

 which the child or the student of science 

 may read with equal pleasure, by succes- 

 sive steps, truly from the .infinitely little 

 to the infinitely great. Beginning with the 

 invisible world of the microscope, which 

 includes the animalcules that still live in 

 our fluids, the fossil infusoria of the edi- 

 ble earths, and the nummularia of the lime- 

 stones of which cities and the pyramids 

 are built, and the " architects of the sea," 

 the corals, the boring mollusks, and the 

 u mountain-building " foraminif era, he goes 

 on to make us acquainted with the insects, 

 the abundance of their life, and the magni- 

 tude of their works and their depredations, 

 the birds and the artful structures of which 

 they are the architects, and with the won- 

 derful migrations of animals of every class. 

 Then, passing to the vegetable kingdom, he 

 illustrates the anatomy and physiology of 

 plants, the functions of the seed and the 



process of germination, the " extremes in 

 the vegetable kingdom," from the lichen of 

 the rock to the baobabs and sequoias of the 

 primeval forest, and discourses of the lon- 

 gevity and density of plants, and their mi- 

 grations, even more wonderful than those 

 of animals. Next the department of geology 

 is brought under review, with an account of 

 the formation of the globe by gradual devel- 

 opment and change as recorded on the tab- 

 lets of the rocks, descriptions of fossils, em- 

 bracing here again the extremes, though not 

 infinite, of the little and the great "the 

 mountains, cataclysms, and upheavals of the 

 globe, volcanoes and earthquakes, glaciers 

 and eternal snows, caverns and grottoes, 

 steppes and deserts, and the air and its cor- 

 puscules. The " Infinitely Great " is repre- 

 sented in the sidereal universe, under which 

 head are considered " The Stars and Im- 

 mensity" and the solar world. The final 

 chapter gives a brief account of the mon- 

 sters and superstitions, belief in which was 

 cultivated in the middle ages. The author 

 declares and his work bears him out that 

 his object in composing it has been to in- 

 spire and extend to the utmost of his power 

 a taste for natural science : hence, he has 

 given, " not a learned treatise, but a simple 

 elementary study, conceived with the idea of 

 inducing the reader to seek in other works 

 for more extensive and more profound 

 knowledge." We can onlv refer to the rich- 

 ness of details that characterizes the work 

 and the excellence of the illustrations. 



The Gospel in the Stars ; or, Primeval 

 Astronomy. By Joseph A. Seiss, D. D. 

 Philadelphia: E. Claxton & Co. New 

 York: E. P. Dutton & Co. Pp. 452. 

 Price, 81-50. 



The author of this work, a prominent 

 Lutheran clergyman, has already acquired 

 considerable distinction from the zeal with 

 which he has propagated Piazzi Smyth's 

 theory that the great pyramid of Egypt was 

 constructed in pursuance of a divine revela- 

 tion, for a divine purpose. He here pro- 

 pounds a similar theory for the formation 

 and delineation of the forty-eight original 

 constellations of the sky, which he believes 

 were primarily composed under inspiration, 

 to typify man's redemption by Christ. What- 

 ever skeptics, readers, and scholars may 

 think of the matter, he has no doubt about it. 



