496 



LITERATURE, BRITISH, IN 1881. 



makes its appearance at the close of the year. 

 It extends from A to the end of E, and promises 

 to be a very useful addition to works on this sub- 

 ject. Professor Dowden has made a more than 

 ordinarily valuable contribution to the intelli- 

 gent appreciation of the great dramatist, in his 

 " Shakspere, u Critical Study of his Mind and 

 Art" It is a volume, though not large, of 

 sterling merit. 



As usual, Science attracts thought and atten- 

 tion to a large extent. Although no specially 

 great work has been accomplished, yet there 

 i> no diminution of zeal and perseverance in 

 devotion to its interests and advancement. 

 I >r. James Geikio's " Prehistoric Europe, a 

 Geological Sketch " (Stanford), is a carefully 

 prepared work on the geological and other 

 changes which Europe has undergone since 

 the period treated of by the author in his 

 " Great Ice Age." A " Text-Book of System- 

 atic Mineralogy," by Hilary Banerman (Long- 

 mans), is an admirable little volume on this 

 subject, forming a practical guide to students. 



In the u International Scientific Series " 

 James Sully gives an interesting volume en- 

 titled "Illusions" (Paul, Trench & Co.). Its 

 value to a scientific treatment of psychology 

 is very considerable. H. Helmholtz's " Popu- 

 lar Lectures on Scientific Subjects " (Long- 

 mans), translated by Dr. Atkinson, contains 

 some curious and useful matter. The Ameri- 

 can reprint (D. Appleton & Co.) has an intro- 

 duction by Professor Tyndall. Joseph Parry's 

 a Water, its Composition, Collection, and Dis- 

 tribution " ("Warne & Co.), is, what it professes 

 to be, " a practical hand-book for domestic and 

 general uses." The author has brought to- 

 gether excellent data for considering and acting 

 rightly upon this important topic. One of 

 the most important works of the year is Henry 

 Watts's " Dictionary of Chemistry and the Al- 

 lied Branches of other Sciences " (Longmans). 

 It originated in Dr. Ure's " Dictionary of Chem- 

 istry and Mineralogy," and is the outcome of 

 nearly twenty years of labor to bring it to com- 

 pletion. In these five volumes and three sup- 

 plements (equal, in fact, to nine volumes) there 

 is furnished a complete history of the science 

 down to the latest point of time. From the 

 same publishers we have Dr. Ure's " Diction- 

 ary of Arts, Manufactures, and Mines," edited 

 by Robert Hunt, a standard work on the im- 

 portant topics to which it is devoted (D. Ap- 

 pleton & Co., New York, keep this work 

 in sets, 4 vols., illustrated with 2,550 wood- 

 engravingp, price $40). Dr. J. Rosenthal's 

 " General Physiology of Muscles and Nerves " ; 

 Adam Wurtz's " The Atomic Theory," trans- 

 lated from the French ; and the new revised 

 edition of Dr. Felix von Niemeyer's "Text- 

 Book of Practical Medicine," translated from 

 the German, are deserving of mention in this 

 connection, as part of the scientific outcome 

 of 1881. Louis Geiger, in his "Development 

 of the Human Race " (Trubner & Co.), shows 

 how to connect physiology and anthropology, 



although the work as a whole can not be pro- 

 nounced to be of any great weight. The sec- 

 ond volume of Dr. F. M. Balfour's " Treatise 

 on Comparative Embryology" (Macmillan & 

 Co.) concludes a very laborious and learned 

 work. The writer is a thorough Darwinian, 

 and endeavors to bring all his facts into rela- 

 tion with the hypothesis of evolution and the 

 survival of the fittest in the struggle for exist- 

 ence. Of lighter material, though not without 

 real interest and value, is Elisee Reclus's " The 

 History of a Mountain " (Sampson, Low & 

 Co.), translated from the French. To this may 

 be added J. A. Harvie-Brown's " History of 

 the Squirrel in Great Britain" (Edinburgh, 

 McFarlane), an interesting and useful work, 

 relating mainly to the squirrel in Scotland. 

 Charles Darwin's latest contribution to science, 

 "Formation of Vegetable Mould through the 

 Action of Worms," is noticed on a previous 

 page, among reprints (D. Appleton & Co.). 



Passing from science to Poetry, the latter is 

 of small account in British literature in 1881. 

 A. C. Swinburne's " Studies in Song " (Chatto 

 & Wind us) appeared early in the year. At its 

 close, he published " Mary Stuart, a Tragedy." 

 This poet, being a legitimate successor of Shel- 

 ley, has a reputation of a lofty kind with a 

 certain large body of readers. The present 

 poem completes the trilogy (with " Cbastelard " 

 and " Bothwell ") which the author began 

 many years ago. It is dedicated to Victor 

 Hugo, whom Swinburne calls his " beloved and 

 revered master." D. G. Rossetti sends forth a 

 volume entitled " Ballads and Sonnets " (Ellis 

 & White) which is quite worthy of his well- 

 deserved reputation. Miss C. G. Rossetti pre- 

 sents us with "A Pageant and other Poems " 

 (Macmillan & Co.), which is a charming illus- 

 tration of beautiful allegory and excellent skill 

 in that difficult kind of poetry, the sonnet. 

 Tennyson's "Ballads and other Poems," to- 

 gether with occasional short pieces in literary 

 journals, are all that he has done for poetry in 

 1881. Browning and Morris have produced 

 nothing of note this year. An interesting and 

 wfill-executed volume is "English Odes," se- 

 lected by E. W. Gosse (C. Kegan Paul & Co.). 

 The selection includes, of course, magnificent 

 odes from Spenser, Milton, Dryden, Coleridge, 

 Wordsworth, Keats, etc. T. H. Ward's "The 

 English Poets," with critical introductions, etc. 

 (Macmillan & Co.), are noted on a previous 

 page, in connection with American literature. 

 They are admirably edited. 



Works on Art, in its larger sense, are suffi- 

 ciently numerous to show the general interest 

 existing in this department of literary culture 

 and enjoyment. A useful handy book, by M. 

 B. Huish, is entitled " The Year's Art " (Mac- 

 millan & Co.) ; it contains a large amount ot' 

 important and valuable matter for all con- 

 cerned in English art and artists. The series, 

 " Great Artists " (Sampson, Low & Co.), con- 

 tains, in the last four volumes published, biog- 

 raphies, with illustrations, of Fra Angelico, Ve- 



