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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



true only in the sense that novels, poems, 

 allegories, and parables are true. Job is a 

 magnificent poem and a profound piece of 

 philosophy, written by some unknown sage 

 at an unknown date. Daniel is one of the 

 several apocalypses which appeared about 

 b. c. 150, called forth by the sufferings of 

 the Jews under their Greek oppressors. The 

 author thinks that David did not write many 

 if any of the Psalms, and they were attrib- 

 uted to him simply because he was Israel's 

 greatest king, a lover of music, and the pa- 

 tron of poets and prophets. " The real 

 power of the Old Testament is in its poetry," 

 but we must " resolutely reject " many of 

 the sentiments of the Psalms, such as their 

 imprecation of divine wrath upon the ene- 

 mies of Israel. Mr. Adams gives a fine 

 sketch of the Persian, Greek, and Roman in- 

 fluence upon the Jewish nation and religion. 

 It is commonly believed that Judaism degen- 

 erated between the exile and the birth of 

 Jesus, but our author rightly says, during 

 that period " the principal preparation was 

 made for the introduction of Christianity." 

 The Holy Scriptures were translated into 

 Greek ; synagogues were built in Alexandria 

 and wherever the Jews were dispersed and 

 settled. Their ideas of the world were 

 broadened and their religious views were 

 liberalized. Devout and learned scribes 

 traveled from place, to place teaching the 

 people. The Pharisees, Sadducees, and Es- 

 senes propagated various phases of religious 

 belief and practice. The book of Ecclesi- 

 astes, written about 200 b. c, and therefore 

 not by Solomon, shows us the effect Greek 

 philosophy had on Jewish thought. It pro- 

 duced pessimism. " When the fullness of the 

 times was come," God sent forth the great 

 teacher of Nazareth to fulfill the law and the 

 prophets. Mr. Adams accepts the critical and 

 rational view of the Gospels, concluding that 

 they were compilations by unknown authors 

 from oral tradition and perhaps written 

 sources, + ween a. d. 70 and 150. 



All " miracles" are rejected, except those 

 that may be explained as extraordinary natural 

 events. The bodily resurrection of Jesus and 

 his birth of a virgin, in particular, are denied, 

 and Mr. Adams thinks that a better statement 

 of the Incarnation is a necessity. Commenting 

 upon the doctrine of the Logos in the Johan- 

 nine Gospel, he says : " The Word which has 



always been with God and is God becomes 

 the rocks of the world, the water of the 

 oceans, the stars of the sky, and in due pro- 

 cess becomes flesh and dwells among us, full 

 of grace and truth. Nothing is made without 

 the Word. Jesus," he adds, " certainly did 

 not build the worlds, but that manifesting 

 Spirit, which became flesh in him, has always 

 been uttering God." 



On the whole, this book accomplishes its 

 purpose very satisfactorily. The writer covers 

 a large field, and it is remarkable that he has 

 made no more mistakes than he has. His 

 thought is clear and suggestive ; his style easy 

 and flowing ; his spirit earnest and reverent ; 

 his conclusions judicious and undogmatic. 

 Those who are not familiar with the subject 

 treated will find the book very instructive ; 

 and those who are well versed in such mat- 

 ters will find it a good summary of scholarly 

 opinions on the most important religious 

 problem of the day. If Mr. Adams had ap- 

 pended a list of such authorities as those 

 mentioned in the preface, he would have 

 added to the value of his book, for one of 

 the chief functions of such books is to make 

 their readers read further and more thor- 

 oughly. 



The Chemical Basis op the Animal Body. 

 An Appendix to Foster's Text-book of 

 Physiology (sixth edition). By A. Sher- 

 idan Lea, D. Sc, F. R. S., University 

 Lecturer in Physiology in the University 

 of Cambridge, etc. New York and Lon- 

 don : Macmillan & Co., 1893. Pp. 288. 

 Price, $1.75. 



Heretofore the chemical basis of the ani- 

 mal body has been presented in a brief 

 appendix incorporated with the final book of 

 Prof. Foster's Text-book of Physiology. But 

 the advances of science, as well as the de- 

 mands for more thorough knowledge, have 

 expanded the fifty pages that sufficed, in the 

 former editions of that text-book, to describe 

 this subject, into the present volume. Dr. A. 

 Sheridan Lea was the author of that appen- 

 dix, as he is of this volume that constitutes 

 a treatise on the chemical substances occur- 

 ring in the animal organism. 



In the first portion of the volume we find 

 the section on proteids enlarged by the addi- 

 tion of the discoveries that have been made 

 regarding those substances ; methods of 

 preparation are clearly and succinctly de- 



