LITERARY NOTICES. 



247 



ture to think, represents but a small 

 portion of the pertinent facts. Much 

 has undoubtedly been gained by past 

 conflict; astronomers are no longer im- 

 prisoned, and physiologists no longer 

 roasted. But have ignorance and in- 

 tolerance been banished from the world ? 

 or, remaining in it, have they lost their 

 aggressiveness or their influence over 

 men's minds ? Have they, in fact, done 

 more than change weapons ? "We grant 

 that the antagonism to science has great- 

 ly diminished within recent years; but, 

 to say that science has now to encoun- 

 ter no external adverse influences which 

 affect its prosperity, is to talk at ran- 

 dom. The world is still dominated by 

 illiberality and prejudice; and when 

 science puts forth ideas that do not 

 square with prevailing belief, as, from 

 its progressive nature, it has always 

 been doing, and must continue to do, 

 it is met with anger and denunciation, 

 which it requires no little moral courage 

 to withstand. It cannot reasonably be 

 claimed that such a state of things is 

 without influence upon scientific inter- 

 ests. It represses the honest and healthy 

 expression of opinion ; it checks young 

 men from entering the scientific field ; 

 it resists scientific education ; and it 

 hinders men of science from obtaining 

 the necessary means for prosecuting 

 their inquiries. 



Even our correspondent puts Science 

 upon its good behavior before a cen- 

 sorious world. He affirms that she 

 may incur damage, and is exposed to 

 danger from her enemies, but these 

 evils, it is alleged, can only come from 

 "contamination" and "debauchery" 

 by her own partisans. And what is 

 meant by this language, but the pro- 

 mulgation of doctrines that her ene- 

 mies regard as odious? Stop a hun- 

 dred men in the street, and ask them 

 what they consider to be the great con- 

 tamination and debauchery of science 

 at the present time, and ninety-nine of 

 them will reply, " Darwinism" the 

 first item in our correspondent's new 



"Nicene Creed." This is the verdict 

 of public opinion. But we open the 

 new volume of Helmholtz, who is prob- 

 ably the most eminent and authorita- 

 tive scientist in Europe, and, in his lect- 

 ure on the "Aims and Progress of 

 Physical Science," we read that "Dar- 

 win's theory contains an essentially 

 new creative thought." This is the 

 verdict of science. Is the great Ger- 

 man one who brings discredit upon his 

 class by thinking instead of knowing ? 

 and is the party which characterizes 

 the creative conceptions of Nature as 

 degradations, to be accepted as the 

 arbiter of the proper limits of science ? 

 We remain of opinion that scientific 

 men are the best judges of the legiti- 

 macy of their own inquiries, and that 

 they will honor themselves most by the 

 bold and fearless prosecution of these 

 inquiries, let them lead wherever they 

 may. 



TO THE PUBLIC. 



A book entitled "Youman's Dic- 

 tionary of Every -Day "Wants " is being 

 extensively circulated by canvassers, 

 and I am much annoyed at finding that 

 it is purchased under the impression 

 that it is by the Editor of The Popular 

 Science Monthly, and the author of 

 the "Hand -Book of Household Sci- 

 ence," " Chemistry," etc. I am neither 

 the author of it, nor have I had any 

 thing to do with its preparation; and, 

 in so far as my name has been used to 

 sell it, it is a fraud. It will be an act 

 of justice to the public, as well as to 

 myself, if the press will kindly repro- 

 duce this card. E. L. Youmans. 



LITERARY NOTICES. 



Lessons in Elementary Anatomy. By Rt. 

 George Mivart, F. R. S., etc. Macmillan 

 & Co., London and New York, 1873. 



This is a companion volume to Huxley's 

 " Lessons in Physiology " and Oliver's 

 " Lessons in Botany," and is devoted mainly 

 to a description of the human body, with 



