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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



any doubt, perfectly consistent with the 

 strictest and most orthodox Christian the- 

 ology, " yet his present book is a battle 

 with the Evolutionists, and the consequences 

 of the theory, and in the interest of Catholic 

 orthodoxy. And the champion proves to 

 be not a whit too good for the cause he 

 represents. In the survivals from savagery 

 the same spirit only changes its instruments 

 the tomahawk is replaced by the pen. 

 Those who delight in vicious polemics will 

 find Mr. Mivart's volume an unusual treat. 



A New Encyclopedia of Chemistry, Theo- 

 retical, Practical, and Analytical, 

 as applied to the arts and manufact- 

 URES. By Writers of Eminence. Il- 

 lustrated with numerous Steel-Cuts and 

 Engravings. Complete in 40 Parts. 50 

 cents each. Philadelphia : Lippincott & 

 Co. 



We have received five numbers of this 

 work, which promises to be valuable and 

 exhaustive. It is constructed upon the ba- 

 sis of the elaborate work, " Chemistry as 

 applied to the Arts and Manufactures," by 

 the late Dr. Muspratt, which was published 

 twenty years ago. But twenty years anti- 

 quates a chemical book, especially when it 

 deals with the application of science to the 

 arts. Numerous and important improve- 

 ments in chemical manufacture have been 

 made within the last quarter of a century, 

 which make new statements indispensable 

 to those who are concerned with practical 

 processes. The thoroughness of treatment 

 adopted in this work is illustrated by the 

 fact that nearly the whole of the first part 

 is devoted to acetic acid and its salts. Al- 

 cohol occupies the second part ; and alum, 

 ammonia, aniline dyes, antimony, and ar- 

 senic, are treated with a corresponding full- 

 ness. In their prospectus the publishers 

 remark : " Convinced that the infinite vari- 

 ety of subjects now embraced in such a 

 work could be adequately treated by no one 

 writer, however learned or painstaking, the 

 assistance of the leading chemists of the 

 present day has been secured, as well as of 

 writers who are practically acquainted with 

 all the details of our great manufactures." 

 But no names are given, either of editor or 

 collaborators. Something would, no doubt, 

 be gained by knowing to whom the execu- 

 tion of so large an enterprise has been in- 

 trusted, but we admire the pluck that puts 



the work forth and a subscription-book at 

 that without the parade of names, and lets 

 it go squarely upon its merits. It deserves 

 to succeed. 



Angola and the River Congo. By J. J. 

 Monteiro. With Maps and Illustra- 

 tions. Pp. 354. New York : Macmil- 

 lan & Co. Price, 2.50. 



We have not seen lately a more thor- 

 oughly interesting and instructive book of 

 travels than this. The author spent several 

 years in the country he describes, and his 

 travels extended from the Congo River on 

 the north, down the coast through about 10 

 of latitude. Most of his time was spent 

 among the trading-towns at the mouths of 

 rivers and along the coast, but be had fre- 

 quent opportunities of studying the simple- 

 minded savages of the interior. He found 

 the natives kindly disposed if well treated. 

 He was accompanied by his wife in his 

 journeys, to whom the book is dedicated in 

 a few touching and appropriate words. His 

 travels seem to have been connected with a 

 discovery made by himself in 1858, that the 

 bark of the baobab-tree is of value in the 

 making of paper. Many parts of the regions 

 visited were covered by forests of this tree. 



Among the natives fetichism prevails 

 everywhere. Anything, as a tree, or ani- 

 mal, or an old rag, may be a fetich. No 

 body dies a natural death, but is fetiched. 



These people are not degraded, but rep- 

 resent a low stage of culture. They are 

 undeveloped not distinguished so much by 

 the presence of positively bad as by the 

 absence of good qualities. They are strange- 

 ly wanting in the feelings : 



" The negro knows not love, affection, or 

 jealousy. I have never seen a negro mani- 

 fest the least tenderness to a negress. They 

 have no words or expressions in their lan- 

 guage indicative of affection or love. Their 

 passion is purely of an animal description, 

 without affection. Mothers rarely play with 

 or fondle their babies ; as for kissing them, 

 such a thing is not known ; yet I have never 

 seen a woman grossly neglect her child." 



The book abounds with information con- 

 cerning the climate, productions, physical 

 geography, and general natural history of 

 the region, and is a treasure equally to the 

 general reader and to the student of this 

 part of the vast African wilderness. 



