LITERARY NOTICES. 



777 



man's conscious relation to the Infinite. 

 The savage who wonders at the unseen but 

 mighty wind that streams from unknown 

 realms of power ha3 already the germ of 

 the feeling which inspires religion. But the 

 conscious relation to the Infinite includes 

 every stage in this consciousness, just as 

 the name of a plant includes the blade as 

 well as the fruit. If the evolution of reli- 

 gion be a normal phase in the development 

 of mankind, there must be at the root of it 

 that grand and measureless Power which is 

 the inevitable complement of the conception 

 of evolution. All evolution implies a divine 

 Power, but religious evolution has to do 

 with the dim apprehension of that Power in 

 consciousness. Mr. Herbert Spencer, to 

 continue the reasoning of the author, has 

 been much blamed, by many religious think- 

 ers, for making the reconciliation between 

 science and religion to lie in the recognition 

 on both sides that " the Power which the 

 universe manifests to us is utterly inscru- 

 table." Yet the very persons who most 

 strenuously object to this suggestion are in 

 the habit of quoting the words of Scripture 

 which declare the unsearchable mystery of 

 the Divine Nature. Those words are used 

 to rebuke the arrogance of philosophy. But, 

 when philosophy learns the lesson, its hu- 

 mility is condemned as wilful blindness. 

 The true philosophy of ignorance, however, 

 retains as an indestructible element of hu- 

 man consciousness an apprehension of 

 something beyond all fragmentary existence, 

 the Absolute Being, at once the only true 

 substance, and the One that constitutes a 

 universe from the phenomenal world. It 

 is inevitable that attempts should be made 

 to give practical expression to this feeling. 

 And in such efforts we find the first germs 

 of religion. 



With the imperfect summary which we 

 have given of the views maintained in this 

 volume, it will be perceived that its position 

 in literature is that of a commentary on 

 new developments of thought, rather than 

 of a complete exposition of any system of 

 philosophy or science. Accepting the con- 

 sequences of modern physical research, it 

 aims to establish their consistency with the 

 principles of a high religious faith, and thus 

 to remove the vague alarms which their 

 prevalence has called forth in certain por- 



tions of the community. The author is 

 evidently a man of an ardent poetical tem- 

 perament, of a reverent and tender spirit, 

 and an aptitude for illustration rather than 

 for demonstration. N. Y. Tribune. 



Chimneys for Furnaces, Fireplaces, and 

 Steam-Boilers. By R. Armstrong, C. 

 E., 12mo, *76 pages. Price, 50 cents. 



This is number one of Van Nostrand's 

 science series, and is a technological mono- 

 graph that will be useful to engineers and 

 builders. The author says : " Furnaces or 

 closed fireplaces, which it is the main de- 

 sign of this essay to treat upon, are essen- 

 tially different in principle and construction 

 to the ordinary open fireplaces of dwelling- 

 houses, as they are exceedingly different in 

 their general scope and object, and in the 

 vast variety of their applications ; " and he 

 then proceeds to expound the general phi- 

 losophy of special chimneys for furnaces 

 and steam-boilers. 



Steam-Boiler Explosions. By Zerah Col- 

 burn. 12mo, 98 pages. New York : 

 D. Van Nostrand. 



This is number two of the same series, 

 and is a most instructive and readable essay. 

 The editor states that, although published 

 ten years ago, later experiences would add 

 but little if any thing to the knowledge it 

 affords. The various observed scientific 

 questions in regard to the causes of steam- 

 boiler explosions, such as over-heating, elec- 

 tricity, the spheroidal state, decomposed 

 steam, etc., are considered, but Mr. Colburn 

 maintains that, whether these are valid 

 causes of explosion or not, they are collec- 

 tively as nothing compared with the one 

 great cause defective boilers. The style 

 in which this essay is written is a model of 

 simplicity and clearness. 



Bulletin of the Buffalo Society of Nat- 

 ural Sciences. Vol. I., Nos. 1 and 2. 

 Buffalo, 18*73. 



The Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences 

 commences this year the publication of their 

 Bulletin, which it is proposed to continue, 

 four numbers to be issued annually. The 

 two numbers before us contain seven papers, 

 six of which are devoted to the describing 

 and cataloguing of American moths, and 

 one gives descriptions of new species of 



