37 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



be made that can be proved or disproved by 

 experiment. In regard to the phenomena, or 

 the alleged facts, the whole question hinges, 

 of course, upon the character of evidence ; 

 but here we must say that the author of 

 "Isis Unveiled " shows not the slightest dis- 

 crimination. There is displayed a great fa- 

 miliarity with magic lore, and a deal of in- 

 dustry in getting together a vast medley of 

 materials. Bible-stories, legends from all 

 lands, from all times, ancient and modern 

 accounts of witchcraft, newspaper reports 

 of table-turning, mind-reading, levitation, 

 the psychological vagaries of a novelist, like 

 Bulwer, and the results of scientific research, 

 are all raked together promiscuously and 

 accorded equal weight. There is no at- 

 tempt toward a systematic arrangement of 

 these multitudinous materials, nor are they 

 held together by anything deserving the 

 name of reasoning or argument. We are 

 reminded by the book of nothing so much 

 as the rush of debris which passes through a 

 sewer after a summer shower. Everything is 

 washed along garbage, remnants of things 

 once valuable, with now and then something 

 that might be of real worth if sifted out 

 and the whole borne on by a turbid 

 watery medium which takes its quality from 

 the dirt it carries. 



We should say that the work evinces 

 great reading in certain directions, much 

 ill-digested learning, a curious credulity in 

 these times, and a strong tendency to mys- 

 ticism. It is sure to find readers, as it deals 

 with questions which interest all, and in a 

 manner that will be satisfactory to many. 

 Unhappily, education has not been carried 

 far enough to teach the people to distinguish 

 between the valuable and the worthless 

 among things printed, and we have no doubt 

 there are many who have gone through col- 

 lege and acquired nothing that will protect 

 them from accepting "Isis Unveiled" as 

 pretty fair gospel for these days. We may 

 add that, aside from the uses for which the 

 author designs them, there is a large amount 

 of curious information, facts, and opinions, 

 in her volumes which will be interesting to 

 many, and are elsewhere inaccessible to or- 

 dinary readers. 



Bulletins of toe U. S. Entomological Com- 

 mission. Nos. land 2. Washington, 187*7. 

 These pamphlets are issued under the 



auspices of the U. S. Geological Survey, and 

 are designed to contain such special infor- 

 mation of interest or importance in connec- 

 tion with the objects of the commission as 

 may from time to time seem useful. The 

 first bulletin was published in April, and 

 gave instruction as to the destroying of 

 the young insects, which should be done 

 throughout the West during April, May, and 

 June. Number 2 is filled with the natural 

 history of the locust. It is a good com- 

 pendium of the habits of the pest, and is 

 illustrated by woodcuts and a map. Prof. 

 C. V. Riley is presumably the writer of 

 both numbers. 



Outlines of Modern Chemistry, Organic, 

 based in Part upon Riches' Manuel de 

 Chimie. By C. Gilbert Wheeler, Pro- 

 fessor of Chemistry in the University 

 of Chicago. A. S. Barnes & Co., New 

 York. Pp. 231. Price, $1.75. 



This is a practical work, and has been 

 prepared with especial reference to the re- 

 quirements of medical students. The au- 

 thor remarks that it would have been easier 

 to compile a larger book, from the bewilder- 

 ing wealth of results afforded by the labors 

 in this branch of science, but he has pre- 

 ferred to prepare a concise and perspicuous 

 outline of the subject, designed to follow 

 some previous work on inorganic chemis- 

 try. The book is very neat in form ; paren- 

 thetical references are given to authorities 

 and original papers ; pains are taken to 

 give due prominence to the researches of 

 American chemists ; and the volume is sup- 

 plemented by a careful and copious index. 



Through Rome on : A Memoir of Chris- 

 tian and Extra-Christian Experience. 

 By Nathaniel Ramsay Waters. New 

 York : Charles P. Somerby. Pp. 452. 

 Price, $1.75. 



By Rome, the author here means the 

 Roman Catholic form of Christianity. He 

 early migrated out of Protestantism, and, 

 having settled for a while in Catholicism, 

 moved out into the region of religious doubt 

 and denial, where he claims that he first 

 found true peace. The book is a sort of 

 theological autobiography, in which he vis- 

 ibly and forcibly delineates his mental ex- 

 periences as a Protestant, a Catholic, and a 

 skeptic. It is earnest in spirit, keenly con- 

 troversial, and contains many views which 



