LITERARY NOTICES. 



567 



much, apparently, for the use of language 

 as a fine art, although he had a great ap- 

 preciation of arrangement and composition ; 

 and much of his best work was spoken 

 before it was actually written. lie had and 

 exercised an aptitude for acquiring lan- 

 guages, and this probably turned, as Mr. 

 Pollock suggests, on the fact that "a new 

 language is a riddle before it is conquered, 

 a power in the hand afterward ; to Clifford 

 every riddle was a challenge, and every 

 chance of new power a divine opportunity 

 to be seized." He prosecuted his studies in 

 college with a view to what he wanted to 

 learn rather than to passing the examina- 

 tions, and therefore came out second 

 wrangler, when by following the other 

 course he might have been far in advance 

 as first. This pursuit of knowledge for its 

 own sake wa3 the leading characteristic of 

 his work throughout his life. " The dis- 

 covery of truth was for him an end in it- 

 self, and the proclamation of it, or of what- 

 ever seemed to lead to it, a duty of primary 

 and paramount obligation. This had some- 

 thing to do with the fascination of his 

 teaching: he never seemed to be imposing 

 dogmas on his hearers, but to be leading 

 them into the enjoyment of a common pos- 

 session. His affections went out to those 

 whose lines of thought were in sympathy 

 with his, without caring whether they 

 agreed in results or not. Everything he 

 said and did was straightforward ; " and 

 this, being joined to subtilty and wide 

 range of vision, became in speculation and 

 discussion a very formidable power. If 

 there was anything for which he had no 

 toleration, it was insincerity in thought, 

 word, or deed. He expressed his own 

 opinions plainly and strongly because he 

 held it the duty of every man so to do; 

 he could not discuss great subjects in a 

 half-hearted fashion under a system of 

 mutual conventions. As for considerations 

 of policy or expediency that seemed to in- 

 terfere in any way with the downright 

 speaking of truth for truth's sake, he was 

 simply incapable of entertaining them." 

 Hence, and by reason of his charming so- 

 cial qualities, while it was possible to take 

 offense at certain passages in his writings, 

 it was "impossible not to like the man." 

 Such was the man whose peculiar modes of 



thought are reflected in the essays in this 

 volume. The papers, which are preceded 

 by a few selections from Clifford's letters, 

 are sixteen in number. The subjects are : 

 "Some of the Conditions of Mental De- 

 velopment " ; " Theories of the Physical 

 Forces " ; " The Aims and Instruments of 

 Scientific Thought " ; "Atoms " ; " The First 

 and the Last Catastrophe " ; " The Unseen 

 Universe " ; " The Philosophy of the Pure 

 Sciences " ; " Body and Mind " ; " The Na- 

 ture of Things-in-Themselves " ; "The Sci- 

 entific Basis of Morals " ; " Plight and 

 Wrong: the Scientific Ground of their 

 Distinction"; "The Ethics of Belief"; 

 "The Ethics of Religion " ; "The Influence 

 upon Morality of a Decline in Religious 

 Belief " ; " Cosmic Emotion " ; and " Vir- 

 chow on the Teaching of Science." The 

 essays on "Types of Compound State- 

 ment," and " Instruments used in Measure- 

 ment," which appeared in the first edition 

 of the book, are omitted from the present 

 one, having found a more fitting place in 

 the volume of " Mathematical Papers," 

 which was published in 1882. 



Theory of Magnetic Measurements, with 

 an Appendix on the Methoh of Least 

 Squares. By Francis E. Nipher, A. M. 

 New York: D. VanNostrand. 1886. Pp. 

 94. 



This hand-book was prepared to supple- 

 ment the instructions of the Coast and Geo- 

 detic Survey; it furnishes information re- 

 garding the practical details of a magnetic 

 survey. The discussion on the method of 

 least squares is, as the writer states in the 

 preface, an extension of an article in Weis- 

 bach's " Mechanics." 



PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED. 



McGee, W. J. On the Meridional Deflection of 

 Ice-Streams, pp. 7. The Relations of Geology and 

 Agriculture, pp. 8. 



Philosophical Society of Washington. Discus- 

 sion of "What is a Glacier?'' pp. 3. Discussion of 

 the Charleston Earthquake, pp. 8. 



Eccles, Robert G., M. D. Drugs and Digestion. 

 Pp. 26. 



Wheeler, H. A., and Lnedeking, C. Iodine in 

 Blowpiping. Pp.' 7, with Plates. 



May, Thomas J., M. D., Philadelphia. Some of 

 the Causes of Pulmonary Consumption viewed 

 from a Darwinian Standpoint. Pp. 16. 



Sanborn. John Wentwortb. The Roots and 

 Stems of Words in the Latin Langunsre explained 

 and illustrated with Examples. Albion, N. Y. 

 Pp. 14. 



