LITERARY NOTICES. 



131 



nal desires unabated, and surviving separation 

 from tlieir gross bodies. 



It is such souls only that are considered to 

 stick to the earth and become what are called 

 Pishachas, or what the Western spiritualists 

 miscall " spirits" ! But even these are not con- 

 sidered to continue in this state of existence for 

 ever, nor is this state of existence considered in 

 any way desirable. With regard to the major- 

 ity of human souls, it is held that, according to 

 their holy or unholy deeds and desires in this 

 life, they go either to higher and better worlds, 

 ending with Brahma loka by the archirddi mar- 

 ga, or to the nether worlds by the yama mdrga. 

 The former are considered to be temporary ele- 

 vations to better existences, the latter to worse 

 existences than in this world in human shape. 



But the state of existence known as Plshacha 

 yorii is regarded in the Hindoo system of philoso- 

 phy and religion as the most horrible and pitiful 

 that the human soul can enter. The reason of it 

 is th.it it is the state that comes over the human 

 soul as the result of the biser desires having 

 preponderance at the time of separation from 

 the corporeal body ; it is the state in which the 

 capacities for the enjoyment of sensual pleasurer 

 are in a developed state, but the soul lacks the 

 means of physical enjoyment, viz., a corporeal 

 body ; it is the state in which the soul can never 

 make progress and develop into brtter existence. 

 It is considered that in this state the soul, being 

 deprived of the means of enjoyment through its 

 own physical body, is perpetually tormented by 

 hunger, appetite, and other bodily desires, and 

 can. have only vicarious enjoyment by entering 

 into the living physical bodies of others, or by 

 absorbing the subtilest essences of libations and 

 oblations offered for their own sake. Not all 

 Pishachas can enter the living human body of 

 another, and none can enter the body of a holy 

 man that is, an ascetic or adept in occultism. 



Annual Report of Harvard College Ob- 

 servatory. 



The Director of the Astronomical Obser- 

 vatory of Harvard College announces in his 

 annual report for 1879 that a subscription 

 of five thousand dollars a year for carrying 

 on the work of the observatory for five years 

 has been completed. The astronomical work 

 of the year at the observatory includes pho- 

 tometric measurements of Japetus, Saturn's 

 outer satellite, photometric observations of 

 the eclipses of Jupiter's satellites, the pho- 

 tometric observation of faint stars as aids 

 to the formation of standards of magnitude, 

 measurements of the planetary nebula, and 

 the completion of the observation of the 

 zone of eight thousand stars between 50 

 and 55 north, which has been going on for 

 eight years. A work of some magnitude 

 has been undertaken in the determination 



of the light of all the stars visible to the 

 naked eye in the latitude of Cambridge. 

 The report is printed at the University 

 Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts. 



History of the English Language. By 

 T. R. LouNsnuRY, Professor of English 

 in the Sheffield Scientific School of Yale 

 College. New York : Henry Holt & Co. 

 16mo, pp. 371. Price, $1. 



The languages allied to the English are 

 sketched in an introductory chapter. The 

 main subject is treated under the two heads 

 of " General History" and the " History of 

 Inflections." The former part is of more 

 general literary interest. In it we notice 

 a carefully weighed estimate of the effect 

 which the introduction of the mass of French 

 words in the fourteenth century has had on 

 the character and capacity of the language. 

 The second part has been prepared more 

 particularly for special students. 



The Mound-Builders : Being an Account of 

 a Remarkable People that once inhab- 

 ited the Valleys of the Ohio and Missis- 

 sippi, together with an Investigation into 

 the Archaeology of Butler County, Ohio. 

 By J. P. McLean. Illustrated with over 

 One Hundred Figures. Cincinnati : Rob- 

 ert Clarke & Co. 1879. 12mo, pp. 233. 

 Price, $1.50. 



As to the general subject, this work at- 

 tempts to present all the essential facts that 

 have been gathered, without burdening the 

 reader with elaborate speculations. The 

 chapter on Butler County, Ohio, gives the 

 fruits of the original researches and surveys 

 of the author, which he made as thorough 

 and exact as possible, in a county which 

 was once an important seat of the mound- 

 builders. Most of the engravings were made 

 especially for the work, and to them is add- 

 ed a sectional archaeological map of Butler 

 County. 



Insect Lives, or, Born in Prison. By Julia 

 P. Ballard. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke 

 & Co. Small 4to, pp. 97. Illustrated. 

 Price, $1. 



This little work is intended to present 

 the facts of the life-history of moths and 

 butterflies in such a manner as to interest 

 children, and lead them to study and observe 

 for themselves. The author has relied upon 

 and described her own observations. 



