LITERATURE AND LITERARY PROGRESS IN 1870. 



441 



fu!. In "The Nation; the Foundation of Civil 

 n r ,|,-r nnrl Political Life in tli.> Knifed States," 

 Mulford, tho ainliilion :m<l tho success 

 more nearly equal, though achievement 

 still falls below the aim. It is in many re- 

 spects ono of the most valuable works on the 

 philosophy of politics that has been produced 

 in tho United States. It shows the fruit of 

 i-iive study and profound thought. It 

 keenly criticises some political maxims that 

 !>een assumed as if self-evident, and lays 

 down principles of groat importance. Hut the 

 stvle is wanting in vivacity, and sometimes in 

 clearness, and ono is compelled to conclude 

 after reading it, and after all the admiration 

 he has expended on it while reading, that tho 

 theme has not been fully thought out into defi- 

 nite statement ' and certain conclusions. An 

 " Outline of Sir William Hamilton's Philoso- 

 phy," by tho Rev. J. Clark Murray, with an 

 introduction by President McCosh who 

 vouches for the accuracy of the " outline " 

 is offered as a "text-book for students." If 

 by this is meant a text-book for schools, we 

 must doubt the wisdom of that purpose. But 

 for those who desire to know what Hamilton's 

 system is, and have not time to extract it from 

 the lectures, discussions, notes, etc., among 

 which its several parts were left scattered by 

 the author, it is a convenient help. 



SCIEXCE. Including popular expositions, and 

 applications to economy and health, this in- 

 cludes a fruitful variety, in which, however, 

 works on pure science bear a comparatively 

 small proportion to the whole. The Smith- 

 sonian Institution gave to the world the six- 

 teenth volume of its "Contributions to Knowl- 

 edge," containing "Results of Meteorological 

 Observations" at Brunswick, Maine, and at 

 Marietta, Ohio, for fifty-two and thirty-three 

 years respectively ; the " Orbit and Phenomena 

 of a Meteoric Fire-Ball," by Prof. J. H. Coffin ; 

 " The Gray Substance of the Medulla Oblon- 

 gata," by John Dean ; " On the Gliddon Mum- 

 my Case in the Museum of the Smithsonian 

 Institution," by Charles Pickering; "On the 

 Transatlantic Longitudes," by Benjamin Ap- 

 thorp Gould ; and on " The Indians of Cape 

 Flattery, at the entrance of the Straits of Fuca, 

 Washington Territory," by James G. Swan. 

 " The Annual of Scientific Discovery," now 

 become in some sort an " institution," brings 

 together a large and various mass of topics, of 

 both scientific and practical interest, is well 

 edited, and makes a very good exposition of 

 the results of investigation and experiment to 

 date. In " Scientific Results of a Journey in 

 Brazil," by Louis Agassiz and his travelling 

 companions, " Geology and Physical Geogra- 

 phy of Brazil," by Prof. C. F." Ilnrtt, of tho 

 Cornell University, are gathered some of the 

 rich returns from an expedition furnished and 

 manned for its work as few have been of late 

 years. " The Naturalist's Guide in Collecting 

 an.l Preserving Objects of Natural History," 

 with a complete Catalogue of the Birds of East- 



ern Massachusetts, by 0. J. Maynard, is a con- 

 trilmtion to the know ledge of Nature at home. 

 "Sketches of Creation," by Alexander Win- 

 chell, LL. D., ia a popular view of the geologi- 

 cal history of tho earth, more especially of the 

 Western Continent, not ill adapted to its end, 

 but wanting in simplicity of stylo. "Talks 

 about People's Stomachs," by Dio Lewis, A. M., 

 M. 1)., is as lively and interesting in style as a 

 sensation story, but the author deftly mingles 

 profit with delight. Some of his counsels are 

 likely to be taken cum grano tali*. Dr. W. W. 

 Hall is tho author of several works bringing 

 the doctrines of physiology, popularly stated, 

 to bear on questions of diet and regimen. 

 Without very high scientific pretension, they 

 are marked by good sense and moderation. Of 

 these, one of the most popular was " Health 

 by Good Living ; " another was entitled 

 "Sleep ; or, the Hygiene of tho Night; " and 

 a third, " Coughs and Colds ; or, the Preven- 

 tion, Cause, and Cure of Various Affections of 

 the Throat." His prolificness of books is duo 

 in part to the fact that he is tho editor of 

 a Journal of Health. " How Crops Feed," 

 by Prof. S. W. Johnson, is a companion vol- 

 ume to " How Crops Grow," by the same au- 

 thor, and equally worthy of notice as a popu- 

 lar exposition of applied science. Mention 

 should also be made of " The American Ephe- 

 meris and Nautical Almanac," issued from the 

 Bureau of Navigation at Washington; "A 

 Guide to the Knowledge of Life, Vegetable 

 and Animal A Manual of Physiology," by R. 

 J. Mann, Jr. ; and an American edition, revised 

 and especially adapted to the United States, of 

 "Elements of Astronomy," by J. Norman 

 Lockyer. But the appetite of the public for 

 physical science is not to be measured by the 

 number of books that are issued to satisfy the 

 craving. A purely literary periodical is scarcely 

 to be found. During the hard stress of civil 

 war, a "neutral " paper or magazine was little 

 better than traitorous. What was weighing 

 on every soul demanded opportunity of utter- 

 ance through all the organs of literary expres- 

 sion. That pressure removed, things refused 

 to relapse into the old course. The demand 

 has continued to be made that the periodical 

 press shall publish on matters of which the 

 people insist upon thinking, and, just now, 

 science divides with politics tho realm once 

 sacred to " the amenities of literature." 



TRAVEL. Records of travel in the interest 

 of science, rank with treatises. "The Andes, 

 and the Amazon, or Across the Continent of 

 South America," by Prof. J. Orton, is both 

 scientific and descriptive, and the samo may 

 be said of other publications. But as tho in- 

 creasing facilities for locomotion draw every 

 year more and more people from home, while 

 the enlarging demand for literary pabulum 

 tempts a larger percentage of the travellers to 

 take the public into their confidence, books of 

 tourists' notes are likely to multiply. Some 

 publications of tho last year, in this kind, are 



