LITERATURE, AMERICAN, IN 1881. 



487 



religious and theological record of the year is 

 the publication of the Revised Version of the 

 New Testament. This had been long and anx- 

 iously waited for, and, when it did appear, the 

 excitement was intense. The printing-press 

 could hardly furnish copies fast enough to 

 supply the demand ; edition after edition was 

 called for ; the New Testament became for the 

 time the best-read book in the language ; and 

 the amount of examination which the New 

 Version roused into activity was indeed mar- 

 velous. From every quarter, too, criticism has 

 been freely bestowed, and the result, in few 

 words, is that the New Version (for it is really 

 new, though professedly only "revised ") takes 

 its place as a work of substantial merit and 

 value. It may not it probably will not be 

 adopted, in toto, by any large portion of the 

 English-speaking Christian world ; but it will 

 be acknowledged by all as a monument of the 

 painstaking care and faithful diligence of the 

 large body of scholars and divines, American 

 as well as English, who prosecuted it to its 

 final completion. The year 1881 is also no- 

 table, in this department, as having witnessed 

 the publication* of Drs. Westcott and Hort's 

 u New Testament in the Original Greek," a 

 work of the highest value to theology. The 

 American edition is edited by Dr. Schaff, with 

 an Introduction (New York, Harper & Broth- 

 ers). 



Philosophy, both mental and moral, presents 

 almost a blank in 1881. Dr. Mark Hopkins's 

 work, " The Law of Love, and Love as a Law, 

 or Christian Ethics," has been issued in a new 

 and revised edition (New York, Scribner's 

 Sons) ; in it the theory of morals is restated 

 for use, and there is given also " The Outline 

 Study of Man." Dr. L. P. Hickok's "Empir- 

 ical Psychology " (Boston, Ginn, Heath & Co.) 

 appears in a new and revised edition, with the 

 co-operation of President Seelye, of Amherst. 

 Mr. W. W. Kingsley's " Views on Vexed Ques- 

 tions" (Philadelphia, Lippincott & Co.) are 

 well worth looking into, though not very pro- 

 found ; and Miss Frances Power Cobbe discusses 

 " The Duties of Women " (Boston, G. H. Ellis) 

 with her usual pith and point. Among re- 

 prints is A. C. Eraser's " Berkeley " (Philadel- 

 phia, Lippincott), and of more than ordinary 

 merit; also, Mr. J. Sully's "Illusions: a Psy- 

 chological Study " (International Scientific Se- 

 ries, D. Appleton & Co.) ; F. A. Lange's " His- 

 tory of Materialism and History of its Present 

 Importance," authorized edition, in three vol- 

 umes (English and Foreign Philosophical Li- 

 brary, Boston, Houghton, Mifflin & Co.) ; the 

 translation of G. A. Jacob's " Manual of Hindu 

 Pantheism, the Vedantasara " (the same library 

 and publishers) ; and J. Legge's " The Chinese 

 Classics, Part I, Confucius, Part II, Mencius" 

 (new edition, Boston, Houghton, Mifflin & Co.). 



In Physical and Natural Science there is a 

 goodly number of publications, though not ma- 

 ny by native authors. Professor 0. A. Young's 

 " The Sun " (International Scientific Series, D. 



Appleton & Co.) is an able and exhaustive trea- 

 tise. In the same series Professor J. Le Conte 

 gives a lucid exposition of the principles of mon- 

 ocular and binocular vision, in his volume on 

 " Sight." Dr. B. Peirce discusses very ably, 

 " Ideality in the Physical Sciences " (Boston, 

 Little, Brown & Co.). James Orton, in a new 

 and augmented edition, treats of " Underground 

 Treasures " (Philadelphia, H. 0. Baird & Co.), 

 tells how and where to find them, giving thus a 

 key for the ready determination of all the useful 

 minerals within the United States. S. H. Scud- 

 der's " Butterflies " (N<ew York, Holt) is a very 

 attractive volume on this subject ; it describes 

 the structure of butterflies, their changes and 

 life histories, with special reference to Ameri- 

 can forms. As of similar character and value 

 are " The Honey- Ants of the Garden of the 

 Gods, and the Occident Ants of the American 

 Plains," by H. C. McCook (Philadelphia, J. B. 

 Lippincott & Co.). J. P. Lesley, in a new and 

 enlarged edition, presents very forcibly " Man's 

 Origin and Destiny, sketched from the Platform 

 of the Physical Sciences" (Boston, G. H. Ellis). 

 In this department American literature owes 

 very much to the works of English and Conti- 

 nental writers republished in the United States. 

 Miss A. B. Buckley's " Life and her Children, 

 Glimpses of Animal Life " (New York, D. Ap- 

 pleton & Co.), is an admirable popular manual ; 

 as is also " A World of Wonders " (same pub- 

 lishers), a book for young readers, profusely 

 illustrated. Professor R. A. Proctor's " Poetry 

 of Astronomy " (Philadelphia, Lippincott & 

 Co.) is curiously interesting and suggestive; 

 and A. R. Wallace's " Island Life, or the Phe- 

 .nomena and Causes of Insular Faunas and Flo- 

 ras " (New York, Harper & Brothers), is certain- 

 ly not less so. In the International Scientific 

 Series there may be noted, as more than ordi- 

 narily valuable, Professor H. Morselli's " Sui- 

 cide, an Essay in Comparative Moral Statis- 

 tics " ; A. Wurtz's " The Atomic Theory " (from 

 the French) ; and Professor J. W. Judd's " Vol- 

 canoes, what they are and what they teach." 

 Charles Darwin makes another valuable con- 

 tribution to science in his " Formation of Veg- 

 etable Mould through the Action of Worms, 

 with Observations on their Habits " (New York, 

 D. Appleton & Co.). Professor James Geikie, 

 in his " Prehistoric Europe " (Philadelphia, Lip- 

 pincott & Co.), gives a profoundly interesting 

 sketch of the geological condition of Europe 

 in early days ; and St. George Mivart presents 

 an elaborate and careful study of back-boned 

 animals, especially mammals, in his volume on 

 " The Cat " (New York, Scribner's Sons). E. 

 B. Tylor's " Anthropology " is one of the best 

 books of the year, and is an admirable intro- 

 duction to the study of man and civilization 

 (New York, D. Appleton & Co.). 



Among works in the Useful Arts, Technical 

 works, etc., a few only of the most valuable of 

 the year are here named: Thomas Tredgold's 

 " Elementary Principles of Carpentry " (New 

 York, Spon); W. H. Uhland's "Corliss En- 



