149 



That hypothesis wears an aspect of plausibility so long as the species 

 on either side can only be shown to produce the intermediate forms, 

 or these latter to reproduce the two typical species, along with their 

 own image; — strange as it would be, to find a she mule producing 

 mules, horses and asses. 



Hewett C. Watson. 

 Thames Ditton, May 15, 1848. 



Notice of ' The Principles of Nature, her Divine Revelations, and 

 a Voice to Mankind. By and through Andrew Jackson Davis, 

 the Poughkeepsie Seer and Clairvoyant. London : John Chap- 

 man, 142, Strand. Stereotype Edition. 1847.' 



The unparallelled success of the ' Vestiges' has called into exist- 

 ence, amidst an ocean of similar trash, a translation of Oken's ' Physio- 

 philosophy,' and the ' Divine Revelations' of the Poughkeepsie Seer. 

 The three works have a very similar tendency : that of substituting 

 some philosophical hypothesis for the religion which the Old and 

 New Testaments teach and reveal. All three authors assume a faculty 

 of judging independently of facts. The Vestigian trusts mainly to the 

 inventive genius of Lamarck ; Oken " has a kind of inspiration ;" 

 Davis reveals his physiophilosophical ideas " under the influence of 

 mesmerism." The first and last appear to me imposters : they must 

 pardon me in saying that I doubt their own faith in what they write : 

 Oken is in earnest, but, alas ! it is the earnestness of a lunatic. 

 Happy were it for our science if these mischievous writers would turn 

 their attention elsewhere ! — gladly indeed would I escape the thankless 

 task of assailing others! — but after having for fifteen years publicly 

 advocated the study of Natural History, it seems incumbent on me to 

 use my feeble efforts in defending it against those who would avail 

 themselves of the science as a means of promulgating irreligious 

 opinions. Why Botany should be brought into antagonism with 

 Scripture, and why leaves and flowers and fruits should invalidate the 

 Christian religion, are problems I cannot solve ; but the 'Poughkeepsie 

 Seer' promulgates this doctrine, and readers and admirers seem to 

 have been so abundant, that it was found necessary to stereotype the 

 work, in order that a supply may be continually kept up commensu- 

 rate with the demand. 



I have ever treated with contempt the ill-judged attempts to 

 Vol. hi. y 



