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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



resemble insulated wires, or that a dynamo 

 can confer any degree of immortality. The 

 growth of electric knowledge is recent ; for 

 twenty-two hundred years it was dormant. 

 The seventeenth century witnessed investi- 

 gation of electrical phenomena and of the 

 properties of magnets, but for two centuries 

 thereafter no connection was realized be- 

 tween them. It was only after Oersted's 

 discovery, in 1820, that a magnetic needle 

 is deflected by the electric current, that 

 electro-magnetism became a science. Its 

 subsequent progress was correspondingly 

 rapid, and its offspring are the crowning 

 inventions of to-day. Three propositions 

 are especially emphasized by Mr. Kennelly : 

 1. All electricity tends to flow in closed 

 curves or circuits. 2. The conductivity of 

 the surrounding ether. 3. The production 

 of light by electro-magnetic vibration. 



The development of botany and the brill- 

 iant progress of electricity are as uniike as 

 a flower and an electric spark. In his lect- 

 ure upon the Evolution of Botany^ Mr. 

 Wulling shows that the accumulation of 

 botanic knowledge was nearly as gradual 

 as vegetable growth. The primitive needs 

 were food and clothing, and an acquaint- 

 ance with plants supplied these. Herbs 

 were also found to be noxious or healing, 

 and skill in remedies was sought and vener- 

 ated in the early ages. In time so many 

 species were described that various attempts 

 were made to classify them, and at length 

 the natural system of Jussieu prevailed. 

 Investigation of the structure and anatomy 

 of plants followed the introduction of the 

 microscope. The establishment of botanical 

 gardens facilitated the study of foreign 

 flora ; plant morphology and physiology 

 were differentiated as branches of research ; 

 and, finally, geological, paleontological, and 

 pathological botany constituted separate de- 

 partments of this complex science. Mr. 

 Wulling refers to the labors of many 

 American botanists, and applies the for- 

 mula of evolution to an analysis of botani- 

 cal history. 



Each of the foregoing lectures is pre- 

 ceded by a list of collateral readings useful 

 to the student, and followed by a brief dis- 

 cussion of the subject by members of the 

 Ethical Association. 



The Natural ITistort of Man, and the 

 Rise and Progress of Philosophy. By 

 Alexander Kinmont. Philadelphia: J. 

 B. Lippincott Company. Pp. 335. Price, 

 $1. 



This book comprises a series of lectures 

 that were delivered and first published fifty 

 years ago, or before the present methods of 

 investigation were instituted, and before the 

 existing theories of development had begun 

 to prevail. Yet it is not antiquated, and the 

 claim of the editor is supported that " the 

 rapid movement of the world in all depart- 

 ments of thought, the changes of opinion and 

 sentiment in doctrinal theology, and in plii- 

 losophy, have not distanced nor superseded 

 the ideas herein presented." The author re- 

 gards the study of anthropology as chiefly 

 valuable as an introduction to the science of 

 Deity, and tries whether he can not trace 

 in man, " the image and likeness " of God, 

 " some of the more majestic elements of the 

 original." He does not attempt any formal 

 science of human nature, or any theory which 

 might deserve the name of anthropology, 

 "for such theory or perfect science, I im- 

 agine, would be premature still, by many 

 hundreds of centuries." Yet, while he ap- 

 proaches the subject from a wholly different 

 point of view than that from which contem- 

 porary philosophers regard it, and considers 

 a different side of it, his thoughts lead him 

 in the same direction as they take, and his 

 work presents many foreshadowings of the 

 doctrine of evolution. He might be de- 

 scribed as a theological anthropologist. In 

 the lecture on the origin and use of language 

 he says that " the arguments drawn from the 

 sacred scriptures, to establish a system of 

 unifonn sounds and modifications of voice to 

 designate ideas, are of a kin with the systems 

 of astronomy and geology drawn from the 

 same book ; all of which, after being fanati- 

 cally maintained for a time by arguments 

 supported by passion rather than philoso- 

 phy, are compelled by degrees to give place 

 to the sohd truths of observation and expe- 

 rience." Not that anything in science mili- 

 tates against the authority of the scriptures ; 

 " but these books do not purport to deliver 

 to us a system of science, but only to reveal 

 the Author of Creation, and the established 

 series of its epochs." Thus in the accounts 

 of events, as In that of the creation, the state- 

 ments are to be interpreted, not in the literal, 



