276 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



methylene series, the furfurane, -pyrrol, and 

 thiophene derivatives, have been greatly en- 

 larged, while subsequent chapters, devoted 

 to the discussion of the aromatic compounds, 

 are quite exhaustive in their treatment of 

 special and important groups. The trans- 

 lator has had the hearty co-operation of the 

 author in preparing this edition. 



Topics of the Timks. By Rev. Howard 

 MacQueary, Author of The Evolution of 

 Man and Christianity. New York : United 

 States Book Co. Pp. 238 + 51. 

 In this book the Rev. Howard MacQueary 

 shows that he is interested in and capable of 

 discussing other than theological questions, 

 for here he addresses himself to the vital 

 questions of the times, in which a larger 

 public will be interested than even the large 

 one which has read his former book. This 

 work is divided into two parts, the former 

 consisting of Lectures on the Conflict be- 

 tween Labor and Capital ; An Exposition of 

 Nationalism ; Truths and Errors of Henry 

 George's Views ; The Savages of Civiliza- 

 tion ; Popular Ideas of Poverty ; Reduction 

 of Hours of Labor; The Negro in America; 

 The Bible in the Public Schools. The sec- 

 ond part contains ten sermons, many of 

 them on most important and interesting 

 topics : Our Country : its Character and 

 Destiny ; The Sabbath Question ; Criticism 

 of the Bible; Did the Fish swallow Jonah? 

 What's the Use of Praying ? What is the 

 Evidence of Life after Death ? The God-filled 

 JIan ; Unshaken Beliefs ; Should we have 

 Creeds ? The Real Rights of Woman. 



In his preface Mr. MacQueary defends the 

 pulpit for undertaking the discussion of 

 Topics of the Times. There are, he says, 

 two radically different ideas of the Church 

 and the pulpit. Some regard the clergyman 

 as a sort of religious policeman whose duty 

 it is to hold up before sinners pictures of 

 hell to scare them into doing their duty. 

 Others, however, hold that the Church and 

 the pvdpit have to do with the moral aspect 

 of every question, political, social, or scien- 

 tific, and that Religion and Morality are twin 

 sisters. This latter point of view is justified 

 by the example of the prophets of Israel, 

 who denounced the social and political evils 

 of their time. With regard to the papers in 

 the book, the author says that they " are in- 

 tended to be popular discussions of the great 



problems considered," but not to be "ex- 

 haustive or original." He has evidently 

 succeeded in "casting the material in his 

 own mold," as he claims to have done. 



The reader of these papers will find them 

 very interesting, stimulating to thought, and 

 helpful to all to whom the burning questions 

 of the day are serious problems. The author 

 has brought to his task wide reading, an 

 earnest consideration of the subjects treated, 

 and an easy and agreeable style. The views 

 of Henry George receive a pretty thorough 

 treatment, and the paper on the Savages of 

 Civilization is of thrilling interest. 



There has been added to the lectures and 

 sermons a paper on ecclesiastical liberty, 

 which is the able defense of Mr. MacQueary 

 before the ecclesiastical court of the Episco- 

 pal Church of the Northern District of Ohio 

 against the charges of heresy. This paper 

 is of permanent interest, although the case 

 has now at length been definitely settled by 

 Mr. MacQueary's withdrawal from the Epis- 

 copal Church. 



The Right Hanr; Left-Handedness. By 

 Sir Daniel Wilson. London and New 

 York: Macmillan & Co. Pp.215. Price, 

 $1.25. 



This treatise includes data originally ac- 

 cumidated in a series of papers communi- 

 cated to scientific institutions in Canada, in 

 which the author sought to determine the 

 cause of left-handcdness by a review of its 

 history in its archfeological, philological, and 

 physiological aspects. To these, results of 

 later investigation have been added ; and 

 besides the effort to trace left-handedness to 

 its true source, the folly of persistently try- 

 ing to repress an innate faculty of excep- 

 tional attitude, and the advantages to be 

 derived from the systematic cultivation of 

 dexterity in both hands, are insisted upon. 

 In the former chapters of the book — on " the 

 educated hand," '' the willing hand," " palaeo- 

 lithic dexterity,"etc. — the prevalence of right- 

 handedness is shown to have been marked 

 from the earliest and even the prehistoric 

 ages of mankind. Its manifestation in chil- 

 dren appears by the weight of evidence to be 

 often spontaneous. The structure of primi- 

 tive implements, ancient weapons, etc., shows 

 it to have been the rule through the histor- 

 ical period. Philological arguments, refer- 

 ences in ancient literature to right-handed- 



