LITERARY NOTICES. 



851 



fully for its essential conformity with the 

 true order of nature. 



It is hard to say whether Mr. Collins has 

 rendered a greater service to those who are 

 already familiar with Mr. Spencer's writings 

 or to those who will first obtain some knowl- 

 edge of them through his book. Certainly 

 the former will thank him warmly for hav- 

 ing placed within their reach a compend 

 which will enable them at any moment to 

 study to the greatest advantage the connec- 

 tion of the different parts of Mr. Spencer's 

 system, and to refer at once to any portion 

 which requires for its full comprehension that 

 more complete elucidation which Mr. Spen- 

 cer's own works supply. In the preface he 

 has written for the present work Mr. Spencer 

 says that he was somewhat surprised to find 

 that it had been possible " to put so much 

 into so small a space without sacrifice of in- 

 telligibility." We are not surprised at his 

 surprise. The result must be attributed to 

 Mr. Collins's skill ; but it also testifies to the 

 essential lucidity of the text on which Mr. 

 Collins was working. With the utmost skill 

 he could not have made pages intelligible 

 that were involved in obscurity and self-con- 

 tradiction. No one who is really interested in 

 Mr. Spencer's writings will care to be with- 

 out the present manual. Giving, as it does, 

 the gist of every paragraph in the original 

 volumes, it will in many cases render the 

 consultation of those volumes unnecessary. 

 What Mr. Spencer thinks is here, we might 

 almost say, fully set forth. His own books 

 give us in addition confirmatory reasonings 

 and illustrations. Any one, therefore, who, 

 without knowing anything of Spencer, be- 

 comes interested in Mr. Collins's epitome 

 will probably seek the fountain-head whence 

 so much of striking thought and compact 

 argument has been derived. 



Naturally, certain parts of the present 

 epitome are more effective than others. 

 The section on the Unknowable in Mr. Spen- 

 cer's "First Principles" does not admit of 

 much condensation, and here the epitome is 

 too abstract for anything like general read- 

 ing, though possessing in common with all 

 the rest a high degree of usefulness for seri- 

 ous students of Spencer. The same remark 

 applies to large portions of the " Psychol- 

 ogy ;" but in the biological and sociological 

 portions Mr. Collins has given us a version 



of Spencer that is at once pithy, vigorous, 

 and thoroughly interesting. We could quote 

 scores of paragraphs that tell their tale with 

 admirable condensation and point, and that 

 make good reading for any day in the year. 

 The effect, therefore, of the present work, we 

 may hope, will be to popularize to some ex- 

 tent a system of thought which, abstract as 

 it may seem, has been elaborated by its dis- 

 tinguished author in the most practical spirit 

 possible and which can not become more 

 widely known without conferring propor- 

 tionate benefit upon society. 



Special Physiology, including Nutrition, 

 Innervation, and Reproduction. By 

 John Gray M'Kendrick, M. D., LL. D., 

 F. R. S., Professor of the Institutes of 

 Medicine in the University of Glasgow, 

 Fellow of the Royal College of Physi- 

 cians of Edinburgh. London and New 

 York: Macmillan &Co. 1889. 8vo. Pp. 

 803. Price, $6. 



Dr. M'Kendrick states in his preface 

 that it has been his "endeavor throughout 

 this volume to lay before the reader the main 

 facts of physiological science, and as far as 

 possible to state these facts in terms of meas- 

 urement. The time has gone past for vague 

 generalities in the description of physiologi- 

 cal phenomena, and physiology is year by 

 year drawing nearer to her true position 

 as a science, dealing as strictly with the 

 phenomena and basis of organic life as phys- 

 ics deals with those of dead matter." 



The book is divided into sections, subdi- 

 vided into chapters. The sections deal, in 

 order, with nutrition ; food ; digestion ; ab- 

 sorption ; the blood and its circulation ; res- 

 piration ; assimilation or nutrition ; glyco- 

 genosis ; excretion ; the income and expend- 

 iture of the body ; animal heat ; the nervous 

 system ; the senses ; the voice ; animal loco- 

 motion ; and reproduction. There are four 

 hundred and eighty-five illustrations. 



Dr. M'Kendrick's well-known scholar- 

 ship is a guarantee that this book is a valu- 

 able one. But that such is the fact would 

 be quite apparent from inspection, even 

 were his name not placed on the title-page. 

 It gives the latest results of physiological 

 study with accuracy and exactness. Wheth- 

 er or not his expectations, quoted from the 

 preface, are ever to be realized, he certainly 

 has aided to advance the science of physiol- 



