278 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



say that he merely accepts it. He main- 

 tains that it is not irreligious, that it is not 

 hostile to Christianity ; but, on the contrary, 

 is the highest and noblest view of the uni- 

 verse, that it exalts the Divine character, and 

 is, in fact, a great revelation, which among 

 its many grand effects must exert an elevat- 

 ing and ennobling influence upon religious 

 thought. We print a portion of the bish- 

 ci^'s argument, which bears upon this ques- 

 tion, in the present number of the " Month- 

 ly." 



Cottages ; or. Hints on Economical Build- 

 ing. Compiled and edited by A. W. 

 Brunner, Architect. New York : Will- 

 iam T. Comstock. Pp. 54, with Twenty- 

 three Plates. 



The plans given in this book are intend- 

 ed to respond to a change which the author 

 conceives to have come within the past few 

 years over our conception of what a country 

 home should be. " Simplicity, elegance, and 

 refinement of design are demanded, and out- 

 ward display, overloading with cheap orna- 

 mentation, is no longer in favor. . . . Now 

 that English gables and dormers have spread 

 80 widely ; now that we realize the beauty 

 of onv own colonial architecture, and that 

 the Queen Anne craze is subsiding so that 

 only its best features remain, the less am- 

 bitious dwellings must not be left to the 

 mercy of those builders whose ideas of 

 beauty are limited to scroll-saw brackets 

 and French roofs." The designs are pre- 

 sented to show what can be done with mod- 

 est means, and have been contributed by 

 different New York architects. They are 

 accompanied by a descriptive letterpress 

 giving practical suggestions for cottage 

 building, and are supplemented by a chap- 

 ter on heating, ventilation, drainage, etc., 

 by William Paul Gerhard. 



Commentaries on Law. By Francis Whar- 

 ton, LL. D. Philadelphia : Kay & Broth- 

 er. Pp. 856. 



Dr. Wharton, member of the Institute of 

 International Law, is known as the author of 

 several works on jurisprudence which have 

 attained a high repute in the legal profes- 

 sion. The present treatise is a kind of in- 

 troduction to the general subject of law and 

 its authority, and embraces chapters on " The 

 Nature, the Source, and the History of Law ; 



on International Law, Public and Private ; 

 and on Constitutional and Statutory Law." 

 It might be as well, while we are revising 

 our courses of school and college instruc- 

 tion, to make some provision for teaching 

 the people what law really is, and upon 

 what it rests ; for there seems to be noth- 

 ing on which their minds are more at sea, 

 and on which American citizens are more 

 in need of sound instruction. Those who 

 believe that it is anything that Legislatures 

 may enact and interested parties try to 

 evade — and there are apparently many such 

 — will find new light shed upon the subject 

 by the perusal of Dr. Wharton's book. Here 

 the principle is asserted, and illustrated in 

 discussion and citations, that " law as a rule 

 of action is the product of the nation by 

 which it is adopted," the nation not acting 

 intermittingly and at particular times, but 

 developing its statutes in the regular course 

 of its life. " The laws which are really 

 operative, and of which all efficient and en- 

 during statutes are merely declaratory, are 

 emanations rather than efforts ; are the prod- 

 ucts and not the molders of custom ; are 

 the instinctive and unconscious outgrowth 

 of the nation, and not the creatures cither of 

 a priori political speculation or of arbitrary 

 sovereign decree " ; and that not only must 

 law both precede and define sovereignty, but 

 " no law imposed by a sovereign can be per- 

 manently operative, unless it is declaratory 

 of existing conditions." 



Diseases of the Throat and Nose. By Mo- 

 RELL Mackenzie, M. D. Vol. II. Phila- 

 delphia: P. Blakiston, Son & Co. Pp. 

 650. Price, $4. 



Aside from the scientific value of its 

 discussions and the adequacy of treatment, 

 there is one feature of this book that de- 

 serves unalloyed commendation. " It is now 

 twelve years," says the author, " since this 

 work was commenced, and during that pe- 

 riod there is scarcely a page that has not 

 been written and rewritten several times." 

 The treatise is intended to include affections 

 of the pharynx, larynx, trachea, oesophagus, 

 nose, and naso-pharynx. The present vol- 

 ume embraces diseases of the oesophagus, 

 nose, and naso-pharynx, with an index of 

 authors and formulas for topical remedies. 

 Each kind of affection is taken up separate- 

 ly, and subjected to a full treatment in all 



