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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



and put an end to the media? val period 

 the giving precedence to the study of 

 Nature. The truth of the case seems 

 to he that Noire perceived that evolu- 

 tion has come to be the great basis of 

 philosophy, and therefore accepts it and 

 applies it in the study of the interac- 

 tions of psychology and language ; and 

 yet Max Muller tells us that " Noire's 

 philosophy rests on a most comprehen- 

 sive theory of evolution; it is the first 

 attempt at tracing the growth of the 

 whole world, not only of matter but of 

 thought also, from the beginning of 

 things to the present day." This is 

 certainly a remarkable claim, and we 

 arc at once interested in the intellect- 

 ual career of the party in whose be- 

 half it is made. It turns out that 

 Noire's first book, " The World as an 

 Evolution of Spirit," was published in 

 1874, and the last in 1877. As he sub- 

 sequently repudiated that first book, 

 the gestation of his system, involving an 

 analysis of the " Growth of the Whole 

 World," took less than three years. 

 Prof. Muller says this was the "first 

 attempt," etc., although he was per- 

 fectly aware of the fact that Herbert 

 Spencer is the only man that has ever 

 dealt with the subject comprehensive- 

 ly, and also that he published the com- 

 plete prospectus of his system fifteen 

 years before Noire issued his first 

 book. Mr. Spencer, in his last volume, 

 on Sociology, has no doubt seriously 

 damaged Muller's favorite theory of 

 myths; but it would be more creditable 

 to the Oxford professor, either to an- 

 swer him, or acknowledge the defeat, 

 rather then to vent his resentment by 

 such absurd misrepresentations. 



LITERARY NOTICES. 



Treatise on Chemistry. By H. E. Roscoe, 

 F. R. S., and C. Schorlemmer, F. R. S., 

 Professors of Chemistry in Owens Col- 

 lege, Manchester. Vol. I. The Non- 

 Metallic Elements. New York: D. Ap- 

 pleton & Co. Pp. 769. Price, -$4. 

 Chemistry undoubtedly stands among 



the first of the progressive sciences. Its 



field is so large, its applications so numerous 

 and practical, and the number of its devotees 

 in all countries so great, as to secure the 

 steady and rapid advance of the science. 

 As a consequence of this, it leaves its liter- 

 ary monuments behind, much as a railway- 

 train leaves the milestones. An exposition 

 of the subject, no matter how completely it 

 may represent its position at a given time, 

 quickly falls behind and becomes antiquated. 

 The large works of Regnault and William 

 Allen Miller, which were standards a few 

 years ago, are now quite out of date ; valua- 

 ble in many respects for reference, they do 

 not embody the results that have been at- 

 tained since. There was, therefore, need of 

 a new comprehensive treatise on chemistry 

 to take their place in colleges and labora- 

 tories. This want has been supplied by the 

 combined labors of Profs. Roscoe and Schor- 

 lemmer, the first volume of which is now 

 published. The character of the work they 

 have undertaken is thus stated by its au- 

 thors : " It has been the aim of the authors, 

 in writing the present treatise, to place be- 

 fore the reader a fairly complete and yet a 

 clear and succinct statement of the facts of 

 modern chemistry, while at the same time 

 entering so far into a discussion of chemical 

 theory as the size of the work and the pres- 

 ent transition state of the science permit. 

 Special attention has been paid to the accu- 

 rate description of the more important pro- 

 cesses in technical chemistry, and to the 

 careful representation of the most approved 

 forms of apparatus employed." 



The work opens with an excellent his- 

 torical sketch of the science on the basis of 

 Kopp's history, and this feature is continued 

 in dealing with the most important elements 

 and compounds throughout the book. A 

 marked feature of the work, and one that 

 will be appreciated in the class-room, is the 

 prominent attention that has been given to 

 the representation of apparatus adapted for 

 lecture -room experiment. The numerous 

 new illustrations required for this purpose 

 have all been taken from photographs of 

 apparatus actually in use. The names of the 

 authors are a guarantee of the accuracy and 

 thoroughness of their work, while the pro- 

 portions in which the various divisions are 

 presented are adapted to the use of students 

 who desire to obtain a thorough general 

 knowledge of the science. The work is 



