n6 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Myths and Marvels of Astronomy. By 

 Richard A. Proctor. New York: G. 

 P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 363. Price, $4. 



This volume contains an excellent selec- 

 tion of some of the most readable of Mr. Proc- 

 tor's popular essays. While not systematic 

 studies in strict science, they contain a 

 great deal of scientific information, and are, 

 moreover, enriched by an erudition of side 

 considerations which come from extensive 

 reading, and the assiduous collection of 

 the historic curiosities of the various sub- 

 jects treated. The subjects of the present 

 volume are 1. "Astronomy;" 2. "The 

 Religion of the Great Pyramid;" 3. "The 

 Mystery of the Pyramids ; " 4. " Sweden- 

 borg v s Vision of other Worlds ; " 5. "Oth- 

 er Worlds and other Universes ; " 6. " Suns 

 in Flames ; " 1. " The Rings of Saturn ; " 

 8. "Comets as Portents;" 9. "The Lu- 

 nar Hoax;" 10. "On some Astronomical 

 Paradoxes;" 11. " On some Astronomical 

 Myths;" 12. "The Origin of the Constel- 

 lation Figures." 



The Creed of Christendom ; Its Founda- 

 tions CONTRASTED WITH ITS SUPERSTRUCT- 

 URE. By William Rathbone Greg. 

 With a New Introduction. In Two Vol- 

 umes. Boston: J. R. Osgood & Co. 

 Pp. 549. Price, $1. 



This work has been before the public 

 some thirty years, and is now announced as 

 in the fifth edition. It has been extensively 

 read, and ranks among the leading books 

 of modern criticism upon the history and 

 character of the Christian Scriptures. The 

 new introduction, made to the third edition, 

 is dated 18*73, and contains 94 pages. It is 

 interesting, as a comprehensive review of 

 the contributions of Colcnso, Renan, the au- 

 thor of " Ecce Homo," and Matthew Arnold, 

 to the same general subject, and all made 

 after the original publication of Mr. Greg's 

 book. The main idea of the work is that 

 Christianity has undergone the most pro- 

 found changes since its first promulgation ; 

 and this idea is very impressively reiterated 

 in the closing passages to the author's last 

 introduction, of which the following is a 

 part: 



" I have but one word more to say and that 

 is an expression of unfeigned Amazement so 

 strong as almost to throw into the shade every 

 other sentiment, and increasing with every year 

 of reflection, and every renewed perusal of the 



genuine words and life of Jesus that, out of 

 anything so simple, so beautiful, so just, so lov- 

 ing, and so grand, could have grown up or been 

 extracted anything so marvelously unlike its 

 original as the current creeds of Christendom ; 

 that so turbid a torrent could have flowed from 

 so pure a fountain, and yet persist in claiming 

 that fountain as its source ; that any combina- 

 tion of human passion, perversity, and miscon- 

 ception could have reared such a superstructure 

 upon such foundations. Out of the teaching of 

 perhaps the most sternly anti-sacerdotal prophet 

 who ever inaugurated a new religion, has been 

 built up (among the Catholics and their imita- 

 tors here) about the most pretentious and op- 

 pressive priesthood that ever weighed down 

 the enterprise and the energy of the human 

 mind. Out of the life and words of a Master, 

 whose every act and accent breathed love and 

 mercy and confiding hope to the whole race of 

 man, has been distilled (among Calvinists and 

 their cognates) a creed of general damnation 

 and of black despair. Christ set at naught ' ob- 

 servances,' and trampled upon those prescribed 

 with a rudeness that bordered on contempt- 

 Christian worship, in its most prevailing form, 

 has been made to consist in rites and ceremonies, 

 in sacraments and feasts, and fasts and periodic 

 prayers. Christ preached personal righteous- 

 ness, with its roots going deep into the inner 

 nature, as the one thing needful his accredited 

 messengers and professed followers say: No! 

 purity and virtue are filthy rags ; salvation is to 

 be purchased only through vicarious merits and 

 'imputed' holiness," etc. 



The Aneroid Barometer : Its Construc- 

 tion and Use. New York : D. Van 

 Nostrand. Pp. 106. Price, 50 cents. 



It is generally understood that the an- 

 eroid barometer is a little instrument, the 

 size of a watch, which depends for its action 

 upon the changes in form of a thin metallic 

 box, partially exhausted of air. As the 

 pressure of the atmosphere varies, the thin 

 walls of the vacuum-chamber move, and the 

 motion is taken up by a suitable mechanism 

 and indicated by a hand on a dial-plate. 

 Captain Fawcett, who has had much ex- 

 perience with the instrument, says the value 

 of the aneroid, as a handy and portable 

 instrument for rapidly obtaining relative 

 heights in surveys, has been underrated. 

 The point chiefly valuable in an aneroid 

 is its portability, as in the pocket it takes 

 up no more room than a watch. Its calcu- 

 lations can be done quickly, and its indica- 

 tions may be generally relied upon within 

 ten or twenty feet. In traveling and mak- 

 ing geographical observations, especially in 

 hilly or mountainous regions, it is extremely 



