LITERARY NOTICES. 



849 



foresaw the eruption, and his wife lin- 

 gered and was caught in a shower of salt- 

 peter and sulphur. A parallel to the sun 

 standing still in Joshua may be found in 

 the red sunsets of 1883 and 1831, and other 

 phenomena recorded in history. If the lit- 

 eral accuracy of the accounts is not es- 

 tablished by this kind of reasoning, nei- 

 ther science nor piety need lash itself to 

 fury over the explanations of literature. 

 They are questions of literature. They are 

 not questions of faith. It is science itself 

 which forbids us to pronounce too confi- 

 dently against even the literal truthfulness 

 of the Bible. Many things which might be 

 given up to legend without impairing the 

 moral value of the Holy Scriptures, because 

 God can be illustrated by a legend or a myth as 

 well as by a fact, science and research seem 

 to be basing upon a true historical founda- 

 tion. " The rationalist must be wary with 

 his myths, for the Egyptian explorers are at 

 his heels." The natural possibility of the 

 passage of the Red Sea is illustrated by 

 citing the bar at Mount Desert, over which 

 a retreating army might pass at low tide 

 over to Bar Island, while the returning 

 high tide should keep the pursuing army on 

 Mount Desert ; only it was the wind that 

 played the part of the ebb tide at the Red 

 Sea. In like spirit with these explanations 

 the leader of the Washington Bible-class 

 discoursed of the story of the Garden of 

 Eden, of the Mystery of Melchisedek, of 

 the Call of Abraham, of the Institutes of 

 Moses, the Origin of Sacrifice, the attitude 

 of Christ and the Apostles toward the Mo- 

 saic Institutes, Inspiration, the Atonement, 

 Miracles, and various other knotty questions 

 of doctrine. 



Anales de la Oficina Meteorologica Ar- 

 gentina (Annals of the Argentine Me- 

 teorological Office). Under the Direction 

 of Walter G. Davis. Vol. VIII, 1886. 

 Buenos Ayres. Pp. 596. 



The general course of the office corre- 

 sponded with that of previous years. Nu- 

 merous valuable observations were received 

 from points well distributed throughout the 

 republic, the results of which have been 

 found useful in advancing the knowledge of 

 climatological laws, for both practical and 

 scientific purposes. New instruments have 

 been added to the apparatus, or old ones 

 vol. xxxviii. 59 



replaced. Observations have been begun 

 or renewed at six new stations, and reports 

 were registered from twenty-three stations 

 or separate observers. The system of ob- 

 servations at the central office has been 

 greatly improved. The temperature of the 

 soil has been taken at different depths down 

 to twelve feet. The monthly means are 

 given in the beginning of the report from 

 twelve stations, of temperature, atmospheric 

 pressure, humidity, pressure of atmospheric 

 vapor, rainfall ; and hourly means from 

 the naval school and Cordoba, as well as 

 temperature of the soil, wind direction and 

 velocity, ozone, solar heat, and rainfall at 

 Cordoba. The principal meteorological phe- 

 nomenon of the year was the great snow- 

 fall and frost of the 19th, 20th, and 21st of 

 September, which caused much injury to 

 agriculture and cattle through the whole of 

 the republic. Its history and course are 

 traced from its origin in the Cordilleras, on 

 the 16th, to the Atlantic. The director 

 hopes that, with the advancing settlement 

 of the country and the extension of means 

 of communication and telegraphs, improve- 

 ment may be gained in the knowledge of the 

 laws of the meteorology of the country and 

 the means of predicting changes of weather 

 commensurate with that which has been 

 realized in local observations. The volume 

 is mainly occupied with the record of the 

 detailed observations made at Villa Formosa 

 (capital of the Northern Gran Chaco, two 

 observers), the colony of Chubut, and the 

 city of San Juan. 



The Theory of Music. By Louis C. Elson. 

 Boston : New England Conservatory of 

 Music. Pp. 208. 



This book is designed to furnish an out- 

 line for instruction in the fundamental prin- 

 ciples of music. There is danger that the 

 musician may become a specialist ignorant 

 of the basis and framework of his art. The 

 author has prepared this text-book as a help 

 toward broader study. The general sub- 

 jects treated are : Acoustics ; The Orches- 

 tra ; Rhythm and Notation ; Musical Em- 

 bellishments ; Instrumental and Vocal Form. 



The character of a vibration is first con- 

 sidered. The French define this as motion 

 to one side only, but in England and Amer- 

 ica it includes the oscillation from side to 



