LITERARY NOTICES. 



709 



attempt will be made to include all portions 

 of the subject, so that the final results shall 

 form a complete discussion of the constitu- 

 tion and conditions of the stars, as revealed 

 by their spectra, so far as present scientific 

 methods permit. The investigations already 

 undertaken include a catalogue of the spec- 

 tra of all stars north of 24 of the sixth 

 magnitude and brighter, a more extensive 

 catalogue of spectra of stars brighter than 

 the eighth magnitude, and a detailed study 

 of the spectra of the bright stars. The re- 

 port describes the instruments which are 

 employed and the methods of observation, 

 and gives accounts, illustrated by a plate, of 

 the studies of five bright stars. The whole 

 field of studies is intended to comprise cata- 

 logues and classification of the spectra of 

 bright and faint stars, determinations of 

 the wave-lengths of the lines, comparisons 

 with terrestrial spectra, and an application 

 of the results to the measurement of the 

 approach and recession of the stars. Spe- 

 cial photographic investigations will also be 

 undertaken of the spectra of the banded 

 stars, and of the ends of the spectra of the 

 bright stars. 



A Modern Zoroastrian. By Samuel Laing. 

 London : F. V. White & Co. 1887. Pp. 

 265. 



This book, like many others of late 

 years, is evidence of two facts : first, that 

 the traditional religion has lost its hold on 

 most scientifically educated minds ; and, sec- 

 ond, that such minds are not content with- 

 out some religion. In Mr. Laing's view all 

 religions are " working hypotheses, by which 

 successive ages and races of men try to 

 satisfy the aspirations and harmonize the 

 knowledge which in the course of evolution 

 have come to be for the time their spiritual 

 equipment." But when the " environment 

 changes, when loftier views of morality pre- 

 vail, when knowledge is increased, and the 

 domain of science everywhere extends its 

 frontier, religions must change with it if 

 they are to remain good working, and not 

 become unworkable and unbelievable hy- 

 potheses." That Christianity has become 

 an unworkable hypothesis the author en- 

 deavors to show by the arguments that 

 others have used for that purpose. He 

 dwells particularly on such impossible doc- 



trines as the Trinity, and also on the mira- 

 cles which form so important an element in 

 historical Christianity. He does not pro- 

 nounce miracles impossible, but thinks that, 

 as they are contrary to all we know of the 

 course of Nature, they can not be believed 

 without the most indubitable evidence of 

 their occurrence, and such evidence is not 

 forthcoming. 



Moreover, Mr. Laing is troubled by the 

 existence of evil, and hence he is unable to 

 believe in the personality of the First Cause, 

 since an omnipotent personal Creator must, 

 in his opinion, be the cause of the evil as 

 well as the good. His view of the First 

 Cause is similar to Herbert Spencer's ; but 

 he thinks it necessary that our religious doc- 

 trine should frankly recognize the existence 

 of evil as a fundamental constituent of the 

 universe proceeding, like good, from the 

 unknowable First Cause. The antithesis of 

 good and evil he seeks to identify with the 

 principle of polarity in the material world, 

 hoping thereby to bring it under a general 

 law of the whole universe. He devotes sev- 

 eral chapters to an account of this principle, 

 beginning, of course, with the magnet, and 

 then proceeding to the world of life and to 

 those of morals and politics. He treats the 

 antitheses of plant and animal, of male and 

 female, and of heredity and variation, as 

 examples of polarity, and regards the pro- 

 gressive and conservative tendencies in poli- 

 tics as another instance of the same princi- 

 ple. And, finally, the antithesis of good and 

 evil is brought under the same category, so 

 that in the author's view evil no less than 

 good is an essential element in the universe. 

 Such being the case, he says : " Now of all 

 the religious hypotheses which remain work- 

 able in the present state of human knowl- 

 edge, that seems to me the best which 

 frankly recognizes the existence of this dual 

 law, or law of polarity, as the fundamental 

 condition of the universe, and, personifying 

 the good principle under the name of Or- 

 muzd, and the evil one under that of Ahri- 

 man, looks with earnest but silent and un- 

 spoken reverence on the great unknown 

 beyond, which may, in some way incompre- 

 hensible to mortals, reconcile the two oppo- 

 sites, and give the final victory to good. . . . 

 This, and this alone, seems to me to afford 

 a working hypothesis which is based on 



