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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



fact, can be brought into harmony with the 

 existing environment, and embraces, in a 

 wider synthesis, all that is good in other 

 philosophies and religions." 



Mr. Laing does not deny the excellent 

 moral elements to be found in Christianity ; 

 but ho thinks that there are also serious 

 moral deficiencies in it, and that Zoroas- 

 trianism has " the most complete and com- 

 prehensive code of morals to be found in any 

 system of religion." Moreover, he thinks 

 that Christians at the present day are really 

 worshipers of the good principle as per- 

 sonified in Christ ; or, in other words, that 

 " modern Christians are, to a great extent, 

 without knowing it, worshipers of Ormuzd, 

 with Christ for their Ormuzd " ; and this he 

 regards as an excellent thing, and perfectly 

 in harmony with his own principles. Of 

 course, Mr. Laing recognizes the fact that 

 the Zoroastrian religion can not be adapted 

 to modern needs without some changes ; but 

 he thinks it requires fewer changes than 

 any other ancient religion, while it can at 

 the same time absorb into itself all that is 

 good in the others. We should add that 

 the author's views are well expressed ; the 

 printer's part of the work has been well 

 done ; and readers having a taste for this 

 class of subjects will find the book an in- 

 teresting one. 



The Story of Metlakahtla. By Henry S. 

 Wellcome. New York : Saxon & Co. 

 Pp. 483. Price, $1.50. 



This story is intended to excite sym- 

 pathy. A tribe of savage Indians living in 

 British Columbia, near the Alaska line, has 

 been Christianized and civilized under the 

 missionary efforts of the Rev. William Dun- 

 can, several thousand souls being compre- 

 hended under the influence of the work. 

 An Anglican bishop has attempted to im- 

 pose upon them a ritual and discipline which 

 they reject, and the Colonial Government 

 has taken land which they claim and given 

 it to the Church Missionary Society. Their 

 appeals for recompense having been refused, 

 they are now seeking to remove in a body 

 to Alaska, within the territory of the United 

 Statep. The story of their claims and al- 

 leged wrongs is told in detail, with numer- 

 ous references to official documents and 

 public correspondence. 



A IIlSTORY OF THE DOCTRINE OF COMETS. By 



Andrew D. White. New York : G. 

 P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 43. Price, 25 

 cents. 



This is a fuller version of the author's 

 essay, which was published, as the first of 

 " New Chapters in the Warfare of Science," 

 in the "Monthly" for October, 1885, and 

 was read at the meeting of the American 

 Historical Association in September of the 

 same year. It is published in substantial 

 form, on thick paper, and with clear, open 

 type, as No. II, Vol. II, of the " Tapers of 

 the American Historical Association." With 

 its copious citations from authors and nota- 

 bles of every age, and of the most curious 

 theories and opinions on the subject, it is 

 a paper of rare interest. 



DlNOCERATA : A MONOGRAPH OF AN EXTINCT 



Order of Gigantic Mammalia. By 

 Othniel Charles Marsh. Washington : 

 Government Printing-Office. Pp. 243, 

 with Fifty-six Plates. 



This memoir is the second in the au- 

 thor's series of monographs on the extinct 

 vertebrate life of North America. The 

 first volume described the Odontowiiflies, or 

 birds with teeth, of the cretaceous deposits 

 on the eastern slope of the Rocky Mount- 

 ains. The present volume contains the rec- 

 ord of a peculiar order of mammals, which 

 Professor Marsh has brought to light in 

 the early Tertiary strata of the great central 

 plateau of the continent. Their remains 

 have hitherto been found in a single Eocene 

 lake-basin in Wyoming, and none arc known 

 from any other part of this country, or from 

 the Old World. This lake-basin, now drained 

 by the Green River, slowly filled up with 

 sediment coming from the Wahsatch, Uintah, 

 and Wind River Mountains, but remained a 

 lake so long that the deposits formed in it, 

 during Eocene time, reached a vertical thick- 

 ness of more than a mile. It has since been 

 subjected to a vast erosion, by which it has 

 been carved into the picturesque Bad Lands ; 

 and this erosion has brought to light the re- 

 mains of many extinct animals, among which 

 the bones of the Dinocerata, from their great 

 size, attracted particular attention. Among 

 the other animals represented were ances- 

 tral forms of the modern horse and tapir, 

 and of the pig. Many others were found 

 related to the recent lemurs ; also various 



