564 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



popular scientific book. His text is every- 

 where readable, and his pages never bristle 

 ■with repellent figures. Mr. Chambers gives 

 a chapter to each of the planets, and one 

 each to the sun, moon, minor planets, and 

 those impressive wanderers, the comets. 

 His mode of treatment gives the reader a 

 personal acquaintance, as it were, with each 

 member of the system by making prominent 

 those characteristics of each which are of 

 chief interest. His chapter on the sun 

 gives egpecial attention to sun-spots ; that on 

 the earth to refraction, twilight, and the 

 twinkling of stars which are phenomena of 

 its atmosphere ; that on Mars to its canals 

 that on Jupiter to its satellites ; that on Sat- 

 urn to its rings ; that on Uranus, as also that 

 on Neptune, to the story of its discovery. 

 On account of the lively popular interest in 

 comets the chapter on these bodies is made 

 second only to that on the sun in fullness. 

 There are twenty-eight illustrations. 



We are disappointed in this book — and 

 glad to be.* From its title we inferred that 

 it was a tissue of dogmatic assertion and 

 ecstatic speculation ; but examination shows 

 it to contain a clearly arranged and vigor- 

 ously presented chain of evidence concerning 

 the physical and mental development of man. 

 This is followed by a firm statement of be- 

 lief in the teachings of the Bible. It con- 

 sists of a series of lectures delivered on the 

 foundation given by S. F. B. Morse to Union 

 Theological Seminary with one additional 

 chapter. The students who heard the lec- 

 tures received a valuable addition to their 

 equipment for their life work, and if the 

 persons who are attracted by its title will 

 read the book they will derive probably 

 unexpected benefit from it. After an ex- 

 amination of the manner in which the prob- 

 lem of man's past has been largely solved, 

 Prof. Tyler starts with the amoeba, and in 

 three chapters traces the course of animal 

 evolution up through the invertebrates 

 and lower vertebrates to man. In the 

 next chapter mental development is simi- 

 larly traced. The general nature of the 

 process by which man has been produced is 

 then discussed. "The animal is at first 



* The Whence and the Whither of Man. By 

 John M. Tyler. Pp. 312, 12mo. New York : 

 Charles Scribuer's Sons. Price, $1.75. 



guided," says Prof. Tyler, "by natural se- 

 lection through the survival of the most 

 suitable reflex actions, then by inherited 

 tendencies, finally by his own conscious in- 

 telligence and will. The first motives are 

 the appetites, but these are succeeded by 

 ever higher motives as the perceptions be- 

 come clearer and more subtile relations in 

 environment are taken into account." Con- 

 formity to environment, as our author de- 

 scribes the process, enables an animal to sur- 

 vive his less fortunate fellows ; but if the 

 animal is to progress it must keep such con- 

 formity secondary to obedience of the laws of 

 its own structure and being. Man as he is 

 to-day is the outcome of such a line of con- 

 duct, and his future upward progress de- 

 pends on his measuring himself by ever 

 higher and higher standards. It may be 

 questioned whether this adaptation of men 

 and animals to their surroundings ever be- 

 comes so largely voluntary as Prof. Tyler 

 seems to represent. In the course of this 

 discussion the author passes out of the field 

 of science into that of religion, and in a 

 chapter specifically devoted to the teach- 

 ings of the Bible he insists on the reality of 

 revelation and the efficacy of prayer, and 

 gives some practical advice to young preach- 

 ers. A chapter not forming one of the 

 lectures concludes the volume. This deals 

 with some of the present aspects of evo- 

 lution, including Nageli's theory of inher- 

 ent initial tendency and giving especial at- 

 tention to Weismann's views. 



The widespread use of electricity and 

 the numerous casualties resulting from ig- 

 norant or careless wiring make Mr. Robb's 

 book* on electrical wiring a very timely 

 one. It has evidently been intended mainly 

 for the use of architects and insurance 

 companies, but the text is so simply and 

 clearly written that the ordinary house- 

 holder will have no trouble in following it. 

 Insulation, which is one of the most impor- 

 tant portions of electric installation, is first 

 considered ; then the proportioning of wires 

 to current, and the various systems of 

 distribution and methods of wiring. The 



* Electric Wiring, for the Use of Architects, 

 Underwriters, and the Ovniers of Buildings. By 

 Russell Robb. Pp. 183-800. New York : Mac- 

 millan & Co. $2.50. 



