LITERARY NOTICES. 



"5 



within law, and the communion in all things. 

 In Part I. the author traces out the law of 

 unity in plants, in the limbs of vertebrate 

 animals, in the appendant organs of inverte- 

 brate animals, in the skull and vertebral 

 column, in the relations of plants and ani- 

 mals, and of organic and inorganic forms. 

 In Part II. he advances to dynamical and 

 mental phenomena, and traces the unity of 

 physical forces, of vital and physical mo- 

 tion, and of the phenomena of instinct, mem- 

 ory, imagination, volition, and intelligence, 

 and closes with an exemplification of it in 

 the personal, social, and religious life of 

 man. In his preface, the author states that 

 it has been his object to place himself in op- 

 position to the materialistic spirit of the age. 



History of Opinions on the Scripture 

 Doctrine of Retribution. By Edward 

 Beecher, D. D. New York: D. Apple- 

 ton & Co. Pp. 334: Price, 81.25. 

 This is a book, of great theological eru- 

 dition, on the question of the punishment of 

 human beings after death. The unsettled 

 state of opinion on this subject induced Dr. 

 Beecher to take it up and do something to 

 bring about a better agreement among those 

 who believe in future punishment, but diner 

 as to its duration ; and, to those who regard 

 such an inquiry as important, the volume will 

 prove interesting. Dr. Beecher says : " The 

 main interest centres on the question, ' What 

 is the doom of the wicked ? ' This has fixed 

 the attention of the world upon the import 

 of a single word, aionios." It seems strange 

 that the question of the eternal doom of im- 

 mortal beings should be left so uncertain for 

 mankind as to hang upon the interpretation 

 of a Greek word, so that we must look to 

 the philologists to ascertain what is to be 

 our fate through eternity. 



Vital Magnetism: Its Power over Dis- 

 ease. By Frederick T. Parson. New 

 York : Adams, Victor & Co. Pp. 230. 

 Price, $1.25. 



Bv vital magnetism the author of this 

 book, of course, means animal magnetism, 

 and this term has been applied to a class 

 of obscure and irregular effects exhibited 

 by, or induced in, the nervous system, and 

 also to an art of treating certain diseases. 

 The author of the work claims that this 

 country is very much behind Europe in the 



cultivation of this branch of the healing art, 

 and his work is offered to supply a want to 

 the medical profession arising from this 

 backwardness of the subject, and to furnish 

 evidence of the extent of its European de- 

 velopment. The book has been compiled 

 with excellent judgment, and gives account 

 of a large number of cases, chiefly Euro- 

 pean, which are full of medical interest. 

 It is due to the author to say that (though 

 a Magnetic Physician) he is more modest 

 than the standard ethics of the profession 

 requires, for he neither parades his own 

 cases, nor does he announce the street and 

 number, or even the city, where he is to be 

 found. 



What there is in animal magnetism, or 

 vital magnetism, that deserves attention as 

 a method of treating disease, we cannot 

 pretend to say ; but those interested will 

 find this book very suitable, as a presenta- 

 tion of its claims, and the evidences of its 

 utility. There is, probably, something in 

 it, and there may be much in it that the 

 medical profession will yet have to recog- 

 nize ; but we advise the cultivators of the 

 method to get rid of the term magnetism 

 as quickly as possible, for it is both fanci- 

 ful and misleading. The fact is, the thing 

 referred to is not magnetism. It is claimed 

 that there are certain effects produced by 

 movements upon the human body, in cer- 

 tain directions, which effects are reversible 

 by reversing the movements. This very 

 naturally suggests analogies to magnets, 

 which are charged and discharged in simi- 

 lar ways, but it no more proves the body to 

 be a magnet than his method of grinding 

 food proves man to be a grist-mill. The 

 danger of such analogies is, that they are 

 always apt to be carried too far. The au- 

 thor quotes approvingly the words of Dr. 

 Ashburner as follows : " Man is a magnet. 

 He has, like all other magnets, poles and 

 equators. But, being a magnetic machine 

 of very complex structure, his magnetic ap- 

 paratus is divided into many parts. The 

 brain is the chief magnet, and the trunk 

 and extremities are separate magnets, hav- 

 ing intimate relations with the chief source 

 of magnetism. We infer from these facts, 

 what is the truth, that the normal currents 

 take a normal course from the brain to the 

 caudal extremities." 



