LITERARY NOTICES. 



375 



main of Biology," and consists of two to- 

 tally distinct portions. The first comprises 

 an excelleut monograph, in the author's 

 happiest manner, on the influence of local- 

 ity upon coloration, and brings together a 

 number of valuable facts upon which future 

 theory may be founded when the time be- 

 comes ripe. But the second part is a criti- 

 cism upon the views generally entertained 

 by the scientific world on the origin and 

 antiquity of man : and the conclusion tow- 

 ard which (though nowhere clearly stated) 

 it implicitly points is the author's favorite 

 dogma that the human intellect has not been 

 evolved by the same natural causes which 

 have developed the human organism. As 

 elsewhere, Mr. Wallace seems disposed to 

 believe in a special and solitary miracle, 

 whereby a new form of consciousness was 

 suddenly and supernaturally foisted upon 

 the human brain. Readers of Mr. Herbert 

 Spencer's "Psychology" will scarcely in- 

 cline to accept this incongruous and ill- 

 digested hypothesis. 



The eighth essay treats of the " Distri- 

 bution of Animals as indicating Geograph- 

 ical Changes." The author here treads 

 again on firmer and more familiar ground, 

 and his conclusions carry considerable 

 weight. 



As a whole, the work, in spite of many 

 crudities and a marked increase of the tele- 

 ological bias, is fully worthy of Mr. Wal- 

 lace's deservedly high reputation. Every 

 page is laden with fruitful and suggestive 

 ideas ; while the same charming and natural 

 style as ever carries on the reader with un- 

 flagging interest from the first page to the 

 last. The book is one which will arouse 

 much controversy upon special questions ; 

 but it cannot fail to extort praise for its 

 width of view, its subtilty, its firm grasp of 

 principles, and its perfect mastery of facts. 

 It should find a place at once in the library 

 of every thinking naturalist and every gen- 

 eral reader who feels an interest in the 

 great and absorbing problem of organic evo- 

 lution. 



a statement of the present condition of the 

 sugar-beet industry in the United States. 

 Further, there is a synopsis of the results 

 obtained in beet-culture in Europe. The 

 information here contained would doubtless 

 be of interest to farmers everywhere, though 

 it is addressed primarily to those of North 

 Carolina, the author being chemist to the 

 Department of Agriculture of that State. 



The Sugar-Beet in North Carolina. By 



A. R. Ledoux. Raleigh: Farmer and 



Mechanic print. Pp. 50. 



We have in this pamphlet an account 



of certain experiments in the cultivation of 



su<mr-beets in North Carolina, together with 



A Critical History of the Doctrine of a 

 Future Life. By William Rounseville 

 Alger. Tenth edition, with Six New 

 Chapters, and a Complete Bibliography 

 of the Subject comprising 4,977 Books re- 

 lating to the Nature, Origin, and Destiny 

 of the Soul. The Titles classified and ar- 

 ranged chronologically, with Notes and 

 Indexes of Authors and Subjects. By 

 Ezra Abbott, Librarian of Harvard Col- 

 lege. New York: W. J. Widdleton. 1878. 

 Pp. 913. Price $3.50. 

 The new and enlarged edition of this 

 erudite and exhaustive work is now especial- 

 ly timely and opportune, as the doctrine of 

 punishment in a future life is undergoing so 

 thorough and searching a scrutiny. Dr. 

 Alger's book is a perfect treasury of histo- 

 ry, analysis, and criticism, in relation to the 

 course of human speculation and of religious 

 belief respecting man's future state. We pub- 

 lished some strictures not long since, on the 

 doctrine of eternal punishment, and aimed 

 to show that the belief in hell is confined to 

 no religion and no period, but in a great 

 variety of forms is an ancient and univer- 

 sal belief. Our assertion has been feebly 

 contradicted by an eminent Catholic author- 

 ity, to whom we refer the encyclopedic work 

 now before us. The added chapters in the 

 tenth edition, it may be stated, greatly am- 

 plify and strengthen the proofs of the posi- 

 tion we assumed proofs that were already 

 as overwhelming and demonstrative as any- 

 thing to be found in the history of human 

 opinion. Dr. Alger has contributed a stand- 

 ard and most valuable work to the litera- 

 ture of this interesting subject, which will 

 be made doubly useful to all scholars and 

 inquiring readers by the comprehensive and 

 careful bibliography which has been append- 

 ed to it, and we are glad to notice that the 

 liberal publisher has issued the book in a 

 handsome form and at a price so extremely 

 low that it may take its place in every pri- 

 vate library. 



