LITERARY NOTICES. 



417 



the scientific method applies both to phe- 

 nomena and noumena — both to things as 

 they seem and things as they are. Agnos- 

 ticism, destitute of the conception that God 

 is immanent in nature, does not see that to 

 know nature in any degree is to know God 

 in precisely that degree. There is no un- 

 knowable, but simply the unknown or the 

 imperfectly known. Against the relativity 

 of knowledge as held by Herbert Spencer, 

 he affirms that knowledge is based upon the 

 internal self-relatedness of an object. This 

 self-relatedness in its unity and constancy, 

 as Kant observed, is the reason why all who 

 judge an object come to agreement. For- 

 mulating the three types of real beings as 

 machine, organism, and person, Dr. Abbot 

 finds the universe to be all three. In the 

 perfect intelligibility of the universe he places 

 his hope for new light on the problems of 

 immortality and duty, which shall be as cer- 

 tain and trustworthy as the light science has 

 already cast on problems of physical nature. 



The Elements of Laboratory Work. By 

 A. G. Earl, M. A. London and New 

 York: Longmans, Green & Co. Pp. 179. 

 Price, $1.40. 



Text-books adapted to the new and genu- 

 ine method of science study are so few as 

 yet that every progressive educator will wel- 

 come this addition to their number. The 

 course which it embodies is designed as an 

 introduction to all branches of natural sci- 

 ence, its object being to teach a method of 

 study rather than to convey information in a 

 prescribed field. It is adapted to s-tudents in 

 colleges and high-schools. To give an idea 

 of the method of the book we quote the di- 

 rections for the first exercise : 



" To find equal quantities of matter : 1. 

 Use a balance, and counterpoise two pieces 

 of wood, cutting away one or the other with 

 a knife until exact balance is obtained. 2. 

 Counterpoise a piece of wood and a piece of 

 lead. 3. Counterpoise another piece of wood 

 with the lead, and then observe that the two 

 pieces of wood counterpoised by the lead 

 counterpoise one another. 



" The above exercises show : 1. That with 

 the same kind of matter, wood, the pieces 

 which counterpoise each other are the same 

 size, or thereabout; but different kinds of 

 matter which counterpoise each other are 



vol. xxxvii. — 31 



not of the same size. 2. That two bodies 

 counterpoise each other if they each counter- 

 poise a third body, for these two bodies have 

 been, found to act alike under the same con- 

 ditions — that is, when placed in the same po- 

 sition, and with all the surroundings the same. 

 Two such pieces of matter are said to be equal 

 quantities of matter, however unequal in size 

 or different in appearance they may be." 



Other exercises in weighing and some in 

 measuring length and volume follow. While 

 occupied with weighing, the student is di- 

 rected to take to pieces a balance very care- 

 fully, the points in its construction which it 

 is specially instructive for him to notice be- 

 ing stated. Observations of change of posi- 

 tion, of changes of temperature, and of cer- 

 tain mutual changes common to all kinds of 

 matter are among the early exercises of the 

 course. A chapter is devoted to " observa- 

 tions of certain mutual changes exhibited by 

 certain kinds of matter," namely, electrical 

 phenomena. Under the head of " observa- 

 tions which lead to the theory that all mat- 

 ter is made up of very small separate par- 

 ticles" are embraced experiments on solu- 

 tion, diffusion, and the pressure of gases. A 

 number of chemical experiments are given 

 in a chapter devoted to " investigation of 

 the composition of various kinds of matter." 

 The final division comprises experiments in 

 optics, designed to lead to the theory of 

 the ether. An appendix gives many practi- 

 cal hints in regard to conducting the work 

 in the laboratory. Lists of additional exer- 

 cises and questions are inserted at the end 

 of each chapter, and the text is illustrated 

 with many figures of apparatus and dia- 

 grams. 



Numbers Universalized is the latter or 

 advanced part of the text-book of algebra 

 by Prof. David M. Sensenig (Appleton, 

 $1.25). The work is believed by its author 

 to embrace all algebraic subjects usually 

 taught in the preparatory and scientific 

 schools and the colleges of this country. 

 Part Second is divided into five chapters, as 

 follows : one embracing serial functions, in- 

 cluding, among other things, the binomial 

 theorem, and exponential and logarithmic 

 series ; one treating of complex numbers, 

 graphically and analytically ; one embodying 

 a discussion on the theory of functions ; one 



