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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



subjects in the various schemes of study, 

 both in relation to the order of the unfold- 

 ing faculties and with reference to the logi- 

 cal dependence of the subjects theuiselves. 

 The art of teaching, its various methods, 

 and the principles that should guide them, 

 involving a discussion of the philosophy of 

 object-lessons, are prominently dealt with. 

 Moral education receives passing attention, 

 and Professor Bain suggests various changes 

 which the present system must sooner or 

 later undergo, in a chapter on the higher 

 studies in the curriculum of the future. 

 The author says : " The general strain of 

 the work is a war not so much against er- 

 ror as against confusion. The methods of 

 education have already made much prog- 

 ress, and it were vain to look forward to 

 some single discovery that could change 

 our whole system. Yet I believe that im- 

 provements remain to be effected. I take 

 every opportunity of urging that the divi- 

 sion of labor in the shape of disjoining in- 

 congruous exercises is a chief requisite in 

 any attempt to remodel the teaching art." 



We recommend this book emphatically 

 to all teachers, parents, superintendents, 

 and school trustees, who have any serious 

 interest in the improvement of education, 

 and can prize efficient and intelligent help 

 in carrying on their work. 



Demonologt and Devil-Lore. By Daniel 

 MoNCURE Conway, M. A. With numer- 

 ous Illustrations. New York : Henry 

 Holt k Co. 1879. 2 vols. Pp. 444 

 and 484. Price, $7. 



Mr. Conway's studies in demonology 

 were begun many years ago, and in 1859 

 he published in the series known as " Tracts 

 for To-day" (Cincinnati) an essay entitled 

 " Natural History of the Devil." The very 

 title of that tract was evidence that its au- 

 thor had in his hand the one clew which 

 could conduct him surely through the mazes 

 of the weird and fantastic demon-world. 

 Monstrous and unearthly as the forms of 

 that strange world may appear, they were 

 every one the product of the normal opera- 

 tions of man's mind, as modified by its 

 internal and external conditions, and they 

 can be explained and understood only by 

 tracing them to that source — in other words, 

 by developing their natural history. But 



twenty years ago the idea that demons and 

 devils have a natural history was not so 

 obvious a one as it is to-day ; and our au- 

 thor, in giving that title to his essay, ap- 

 proved himself to be a bold and original 

 thinker. Nevertheless, as he confesses in 

 the preface to the work before us, he had 

 then no adequate conception of the vast- 

 ness of the domain which he attempted to 

 survey. But reading and observation in 

 foreign countries have since given him at 

 once larger and clearer views of that phan- 

 tasmal world of which, as a denizen of the 

 North American Continent, he had only 

 heard a rumor, so to speak. True, being a 

 native of Virginia, and bred on a planta- 

 tion, Mr. Conway enjoyed the advantage of 

 observing the phases of demonism in the 

 negro mind ; but, for all that, it was only 

 after he had visited in Europe the haunts of 

 the ancient chimeras, goblins, and demons, 

 and made himself familiar with the tradi- 

 tions current among the lower orders of 

 the population, that he could realize the all- 

 pervading force of this superstition. 



In the present work Mr. Conway sets 

 forth the results of his protracted research- 

 es. The amount of material he has accu- 

 mulated is enormous, and yet he has by no 

 means exhausted the subject. He aptly 

 likens his effort to " Thor's attempt to drink 

 up a small spring, and his failure because it 

 was fed by the ocean." It would be labor 

 in vain for any one man to attempt a full 

 account of the world of demons and devils 

 — a world as diversified and as vast as the 

 physical world around us — and our author 

 has wisely restricted himself to giving illus- 

 trations of its leading typical forms. Like 

 another Linne he groups in genera and spe- 

 cies, so to speak, these creatures of phanta- 

 sy, and thus out of direst confusion evolves 

 order and system. Hence his work is valu- 

 able, both as a repertory of out-of the-way 

 information and as an essay in psychologi- 

 cal analysis. 



It is impossible to give within the limits 

 of a notice like this even an outline of the 

 author's argument, and therefore we will 

 simply call attention to a few of the note- 

 worthy points developed in the work. And 

 first we find a distinction drawn between 

 "demon" and "devil." Demons are be- 

 ings whose harmfulness is not gratuitous, 



