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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



ory " of their composition, and the use their 

 writers made of the Old Testament, the 

 author considers the very important ques- 

 tion, What is the historical value of the 

 Gospels if the modern critical view of them 

 be accepted ? Are the foundations of Chris- 

 tianity sapped when these documents are 

 shown to be ordinary human productions, 

 with more or less error in them ? The tyro 

 in biblical criticism can alone take this su- 

 perficial view of the case. Prof. Huxley 

 well says, " The rule of common sense is, 

 prima facie, to trust a witness in all matters 

 in which neither his self-interest, his pas- 

 sions, his prejudices, nor that love of the 

 marvelous, which is inherent to a greater or 

 less degree in all mankind, are concerned." 

 Any thoughtful student of the Gospels can 

 apply this rule in separating the chaff from 

 the grain in these writings, and Dr. Cone 

 does it admirably. According to him, the 

 logia by Matthew, which probably constitute 

 the substance of the Sermon on the Mount 

 (Matt, v-vii) and other such aphoristic say- 

 ings of Jesus, the parables, and the greater 

 part of Mark, form the substrata of the Gos- 

 pel history, and may be fully accepted. " In 

 the midst of all the chaotic elements which 

 the flood of oral tradition rolled along," 

 he says, " is clearly discernible a historical 

 grouping of salient facts the appearance 

 of the Baptist, the Galilean ministry of 

 Jesus, the healings, the teachings, the trav- 

 els with the disciples, the gathering multi 

 tudes, the conflicts, Caesarea Philippi, the 

 fateful journey to Jerusalem, Gethsemane, 

 the trial and tragedy, the consternation of 

 the little flock, and the mysterious birth of 

 a great hope." 



Criticism, therefore, "establishes the 

 kernel of the history of Jesus in an inex- 

 pugnable position. It does not exclude 

 God from history, but finds it no wonder 

 that, since he has designs to work out in 

 man, exceptional manifestations of his re- 

 vealing spirit should betimes appear." 



We consider this book one of the very 

 best contributions which rational thought 

 has made to biblical criticism. The style is 

 clear and fluent, the arguments are cogent, 

 the conclusions conservative, the spirit rev- 

 erential, and the whole result reassuring. 

 The radical critics may learn from it sober- 

 ness, and the timid conservatives may find 



in it assurance and confidence. The book 

 should have a wide reading among all those 

 who are interested in the religious palin- 

 genesis now taking place in our midst. 



Bulletin of the United States Fish Com- 

 mission. Vol. VIII, for 1888. Marshall 

 McDonald, Commissioner. Washington : 

 United States Commission of Fish and 

 Fisheries. Pp. 494, quarto. 

 Twelve special papers form the contents 

 of this volume, some of them having popular 

 and commercial interest, while the rest can 

 be made use of only by zoologists. The 

 first paper reports the Explorations of the 

 Fishing Grounds of Alaska, Washington 

 Territory, and Oregon during 1888, by the 

 United States Fish Commission steamer Al- 

 batross, and is compiled from the accounts 

 of Lieutenant - Commander Z. L. Tanner, 

 commanding the Albatross ; Mr. C. H. Town- 

 send, naturalist ; and Mr. A. B. Alexander, 

 fishery expert, of the expedition. The re- 

 sults of hydrographic work, dredg'mgs, and 

 trials for fish at a great many places are 

 given. Codfish were found often in abun- 

 dance, and halibut, flounders, black cod, and 

 rock-fish were also taken, besides some use- 

 less as food. The paper contains also in- 

 formation in regard to facilities for taking 

 and marketing fish on the Pacific coast. 

 Three full-page illustrations show the meth- 

 od of drying salmon practiced by the Alaska 

 Indians ; two more show the kind of sod 

 houses occupied by the natives ; there is a 

 distant view of three captured sealing-ves- 

 sels and a near view of one of them, and 

 others, besides three folded charts. This 

 paper is followed by an account of Explora- 

 tions of the Alleghany Region and Western 

 Indiana, by Prof. David Starr Jordan, which 

 we have noticed separately. Some practical 

 Suggestions for improving Fishing Vessels, 

 illustrated with plans, are contributed by J. 

 W. Collins. There is an account of The 

 Sturgeons and Sturgeon Industries of the 

 Eastern Coast of the United States, includ- 

 ing the making of caviare, by John A. Ry- 

 der, accompanied by twenty - three plates. 

 Over a hundred pages are occupied by A 

 Review of the Serranidse, by David Starr 

 Jordan and Carl II. Eigenman. The family 

 of Serranidae includes the various species of 

 salt-water perch and bass, and other impor- 

 tant food-fishes. Ten species are represented 



