248 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



gle step that had yet been taken to account 

 for the origin and diversities of living forms. 

 That conception, which Professor Helm- 

 holtz pronounced " an essentially new crea- 

 tive idea," was soon generally recognized 

 by philosophical naturalists as a valid prin- 

 ciple, or natural law, and this gave a new 

 aspect to the whole question. Dr. Hodge's 

 Statement, therefore, is one which an in- 

 structed scientific man would hardly ven- 

 ture to make. 



The Expanse of Heaven. A Series of Es- 

 says on the Wonders of the Firmament. 

 • By R. A, Proctor, B. A. 305 pages. 

 Price $2.00. D. Appleton & Co., New 

 York. 



After a very successful lecturing tour 

 in this country, in which he spoke nearly a 

 hundred times, Mr. Proctor has gone back 

 to England, but he has left us a legacy in 

 the shape of a beautiful little book, " The 

 Expanse of Heaven," which will enable us 

 to go on with the subject, though the living 

 teacher is absent. If Mr. Proctor is not a 

 discoverer in astronomy, and even if he 

 fails to take the highest rank as a lecturer, 

 he is certainly a very able and attractive 

 popular writer upon the subject. That he 

 is thoroughly master of its modern questions 

 there is no doubt, and he certainly possesses 

 in a very marked degree the faculty of pre- 

 senting them in a pleasing and instructive 

 way. " The Expanse of Heaven " is his latest 

 book, and we think is certain to be his most 

 popular one. It deals with the larger views 

 and grander themes of the science in a very 

 easy and readable manner, and with many 

 touches of poetic feeling that are kindled 

 by the sublimities of the subject. A care- 

 ful examination of the volume shows that 

 it covers the ground very fully of his lect- 

 ures in this country, but the statements 

 are far more finished and perfect than any 

 reports of oral discourses could possibly be. 

 We heard his lecture upon the Nebular Hy- 

 pothesis, but neither the delivery nor the 

 printed sketch will bear comparison for a 

 moment with the two papers in this volume 

 entitled "How the Planets grew." Of the 

 thirty topics considered in the book, and 

 selected with reference to their general 

 interest, "The Sun," "The Evening Star," 

 "The Ring-girdled Planet,' '"Visitants from 

 the Star Depths," " The Earth's Journey 



through Showers," "Worlds ruled by Col- 

 ored Suns," " The Depths of Space," and 

 " The Drifting Stars," are perhaps the most 

 attractive, although different readers will 

 have different opinions upon this point. 



The Philosophy of Herbert Spencer : 

 Being an Examination of the First Prin- 

 ciples of his System. By B. P. Browne, 

 A. B. 283 pages. Price, $1.25. New 

 York : Nelson & Phillips. 



This is a swaggering polemic, designed 

 to be in the interests of religion, and written 

 by a man equally and eminently self-con- 

 scious and unscrupulous. It will be re- 

 garded as a masterly reply to Mr. Spencer 

 by those who know nothing of that think- 

 er's doctrines, for, by the aid of misrepre- 

 sentation and setting up men of straw, he 

 achieves a succession of the most brilliant 

 logical victories. In the last Bibliotheca 

 Sacra, Prof Mears, of Hamilton College, 

 gives an article to the adverse criticism of 

 Mr. Spencer ; but of the man he says : " It 

 is a long time since purely English philoso- 

 phy has produced so able, so comprehen- 

 sive, and so daring a thinker as Herbert 

 Spencer." In his works " we have some of 

 the clearest and most forcible statements 

 of opinion upon great and abstract topics 

 to be found in the English language. If 

 the truth must have opponents, it is just 

 such opponents we prefer to see and to 

 meet — frank, outspoken, unreserved." This 

 is the general judgment that is passed upon 

 Mr. Spencer by eminent thinkers who have 

 studied him, whether they agree with his 

 views or not. But Mr. Browne is of a dif- 

 ferent opinion. His pages are filled with 

 expressions of contempt, from which we 

 gather that Mr. Spencer is such a transpar- 

 ent fool, and such an obvious knave, that 

 his critic's task is a very light one ; and we 

 wonder that he condescended to bring his 

 intellect down to such trifling work. Buf- 

 foonery, puerility, absurdity, thimble-rig- 

 ging, jugglery, sleight-of-hand, are samples 

 of the terms used to characterize Mr. Spen- 

 cer's reasoning, while his philosophical 

 method is said to be " a purely hap-hazard 

 system," "a miracle of confusion and ab- 

 surdity," which "takes an insane delight in 

 knocking out its own brains." We observe 

 that the theological press commends this 

 book to its readers as putting an end to 



