LITERARY NOTICES. 



399 



ences, in some instances, that may be drawn 

 from them in explaiuing the practices -jf the 

 most successful breeders. It is believed that a 

 systematic statement of what is already known 

 in the practice of the art is of greater importance, 

 at the present lime, than any new truths, as it 

 must furnish the only consistent foundation for 

 future profjress and improvement. The numer- 

 ous cases that have been collected to illus- 

 trate the various topics under discussion have 

 been compiled, as far as possible, from original 

 sources, and presented in their original form- 

 preferences, in nearly all cases, being given to 

 the works from which they are quoted. This 

 feature of the work will be of interest to the 

 student who wishes to study the subject in great- 

 er detail, as it will, to some extent, serve as an 

 index to authorities that may be profitably con- 

 sulted. In the limits of a popular work it is of 

 course impossible to treat each topic exhaus- 

 tively, and the attempt has been made to present 

 only such an outline of the principles of the art 

 as would be required in a text-book for students, 

 or a work of reference for farmers." 



Outlines of Ontological Science ; or, A 

 Philosophy op Knowledge and of Be- 

 ing. Ry Henry N. Day, author of 

 "Psychology," " Logic," " Ethics," etc. 

 New York : G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 

 441. Price, $1.75, 



The present work is an attempt to grap- 

 ple with the profoundest problems of phi- 

 losophy by determining the nature and lim- 

 its of genuine knowledge, and to determine 

 the relations and interdependences of its sev- 

 eral parts. The author claims for his book 

 nothing of novelty in its design, but alleges, 

 as a reason for undertaking it, that " the 

 recent rapid developments of science, both 

 mental and physical, with their widely-diver- 

 sified results, seem to invite a fresh endeavor 

 in this direction, as they furnish new facili- 

 ties and helps for prosecuting it." As might 

 be expected from the point of view here 

 taken, modern scientific and philosophical 

 ideas are brought under review and esti- 

 mated, the result being, as we gather from 

 the writer, that fundamental questions of 

 speculative inquiry have not been much dis- 

 turbed by modern research. In his last 

 chapter on " Cosmogony " the author takes 

 up the doctrine of evolution, which he says is 

 philosophically " mere hypothesis," " irrec- 

 oncilable with facts claimed to be ascer- 

 tained by science," " repugnant to reason," 

 and " as a theory of causal agency in the 

 cosmos is a failure." 



Life in Other Worlds : including a Brief 

 Statement of the Origin and Progress of 

 Life in our World. By Adam Miller, 

 M. D. With an Appendix of Three Ser- 

 mons by Rev. H. W. Thomas, D. D. 

 Chicago": Fox, Cole & Co. Pp. 282, 

 Price, 11,50, 



A BOOK of multifarious speculations, theo- 

 logical, historical, moral, astronomical, and 

 physical. The author says that it was orig- 

 inally written with no intention of publica- 

 tion, but he got so much comfort out of the 

 contemplations it embodies that he was im- 

 pelled to print it. He remarks, " With a 

 hope that some one who will read these 

 pages will find encouragement for a union in 

 the great future with friends that have gone 

 before, as well as for an acquaintance with the 

 millions of happy spirits who have passed 

 through the vale of sorrow to their final 

 home, I submit this work to a generous pub- 

 lic." Our attention has been especially called 

 to the author's three chapters on " Solar 

 Light and Heat," in which he differs from 

 the ideas that men of science are in the 

 habit of taking. The cause of solar heat he 

 holds to be the refraction of light, and says : 

 " The atmosphere that surrounds our earth 

 is in the form of a concavo-convex lens. 

 The aqueous vapor in the upper regions of 

 the atmosphere is intensely cold, yet, acting 

 on the rays of light like a cold-water lens, 

 produces heat ; and here is the secret of solar 

 temperature on the earth, and the change in 

 temperature is caused by the varying angles 

 at which the solar rays strike the atmos- 

 phere. I repeat, it cannot be denied that 

 refraction of the rays of light will produce 

 heat. The heat at the focus of a 32-inch 

 lens exceeds almost every kind and intensity 

 of heat known to terrestrial chemistry. 

 Again, it cannot be denied that the earth's 

 atmosphere is a refracting medium, and that 

 as such it is capable of producing heat from 

 rays of light." 



The book is printed on tinted paper, and 

 contains a portrait of the author. 



Filtration of Potable Water. By Prof, 

 William Ripley Nichols. From Mas- 

 sachusetts Health Reports, 1878. Pp, 

 90, 



The author of this valuable report con- 

 siders the subject of filtration under the three 

 heads of " Artificial Filtration on the Large 



