Aug. 1, 1884.] 



♦ KNOWLEDGE ♦ 



97 



3RtbirU>S» 



SOME BOOKS ON OUR TABLE. 



ForM and Matter. By Professor Ludwig BUchner, 

 M.D. (Loudon : Asher it Co. 1884.)—" Every scientific 

 truth," said our great departed geolooist, Sir Charles Lyell, 

 " passes through three stages. In the first it is deciied as 

 absurd. Tlien it is said to be opposed to revealed religion. 

 Finally, everybody knew it before." We arc forcibly re- 

 minded of the verity and applicability of these words on 

 openiug the fourth English (translated from the fifteentli 

 German) edition of the now famous " Kraft und Stoff," 

 whicli, at its first appearance, twenty-nine years ago, met 

 with such a chorus of virulent abuse from orthodox journals 

 of every shade of thought ; but which now would merely 

 be held to push, perhaps rather to an extreme, views held 

 by a large proportion of men of science in all civilised 

 nations. The doctrine of the Conservation of Energy is 

 now so firmly established that no one would seriously 

 take the pains to attempt to controvert or deny it ; 

 and, starting from the premises of the immortality 

 of matter and the equal immortality of force, Dr. 

 Biichner essays to explain the entire phenomena of the 

 visible universe upon strictly material principles, to the 

 exclusion of any extra or supernatural agency whatever. 

 In much that he says he would seem merely to have 

 anticipated the irrefragably established facts of modern 

 scientific research ; while in other parts of his work it may, 

 we think, be fairly said that his argument rests on assump- 

 tions for which adequate proof (in the existing state of our 

 knowledge) is not offered. That every single thought, for 

 example, is accompanied by an actual molecular change — 

 or rearrangement — in the brain is as certain as any fact 

 in physiology. It is, however, taking a very considerable 

 stride to assert with our author that such molecular 

 change or vibration is thought. It may not be un- 

 believable, but it is certainly inconceivable, that con- 

 sciousness, reflection, and desire can be expressed in 

 terms of motion ; and without actual proof of the 

 possibility of such expression. Dr. Biichuer's final 

 conclusions must drop to the ground. It is, of course, 

 open to him or to his disciples to retort that where so 

 much that he originally advanced has been shown to be 

 absolutely true, every accessiou to human knowledge must 

 tend to include a largi?r and larger proportion of what 

 remains in tlie same category. This, however, is an argu- 

 ment whose fallacy may be shown by applying it to the 

 contentions of certain people in connection with astrology, 

 spiritualism, itc, and which need not detain us here. On 

 one point there can be but little doubt or dispute — that a 

 work which has passed through sixteen German, six French, 

 four English, three Italian, and two Hungarian editions, 

 and has been translated into thirteen living languages, 

 must be eminently well worth reading, whether we agree 

 with or dissent from its author's conclusions. 



The Food Reform Magazine (London : National Food 

 Reform Society.) — This is a vegetarian organ, seemingly 

 devoted to the attempted conviction of mankind that their 

 temporal salvation depends wholly upon their never 

 touching a bit of meat. The whole thing is overdone to 

 an extent which must repel every unprejudiced and im- 

 partial inquirer. We note, by the way, on the cover of 

 this magazine an announcement that letters on " Vege- 

 tarianism " have been inserted in (int. al.) Knowledge; 

 but we do not find any mention of the fact that Sir Henry 

 Thompson, who had been publicly quoted by members of 



their society as an advocate of vegetarianism, publicly con- 

 tradicted this false and dishonest impeachment on page 407 

 of our 1st Volume. 



Lessonsin Social Economi). Bv James Rdstz. (London: 

 Educational Supply Association). — Why Mr. Runtz has 

 considered it necessary to dub his work " Social " Economy 

 is by no meaus apparent. It is a treatise in a simple and 

 apprehensible form on what every other writer on the 

 subject, so far, has called ])olitical economy ; and, as an 

 introduction to that science (if it be a science) for the use 

 of teachers in elementary schools, it leaves little to be 

 desired. The tendency of modern elementary education 

 would seem to be towards the loading of the wretched 

 children's minds with a mass of heterogeneous subjects 

 without the smallest thought or care wliether they can be 

 understood or assimilated. For earning the " grant," 

 probably political economy is as useful — or useless — as 

 many other things taught ; and, admitting this, Mr. lluntz's 

 book is a good and trustworthy one for the teacher's use. 



All Epitome of History : Ancient, Media'vaJ, and Modern. 

 By Carl Ploetz. Translated by Wm. H. Tillinghast. 

 (London: Blackie &, Son.) — Herr Ploetz has by no means 

 mis-named his book in calling it an epitome, for he has 

 packed what is practically a history of every nation in the 

 civilised world within the limits of 564 pages. And yet, 

 like all German work, his is done well and thoroughly, and 

 the student who requires a conspectus of the life of any 

 civilised nation at a given epoch will find it in these pages 

 in a simple and convenient shape. While myth has not 

 been excluded, the chronology is of the most orthodox 

 description. The claims of the Chinese, the Ancient 

 Egyptians, ikc, to great antiquity are entirely pooh- pooh 'd, 

 and everything is smoothed down and squared off to fit in 

 with the hypothesis of the supposed origin of mankind on 

 the earth some 0,000 years ago. For the purpose, however, 

 of such a work as that before us this is scarcely material, 

 as it is only when we emerge from the region of legend 

 into that of the contemporary chronicler that history — as 

 such — possesses the slightest value to the student. The 

 translator has not only done his immediate work well too, 

 but has made considerable additions to the text ; in fact the 

 book, taking it altogether, is one of unquestionable value. 

 It is supplied with a first-rate index, which wUl be appre- 

 ciated by all who have occasion to consult it. 



A Digest of English History, 1689—1760. By M. 

 GuTTERiDGE, B.A. (London : Relfe Brothers. 1884.) 

 This little volume is really what it professes to be, and 

 is something more than the mere cram-book into which so 

 many recent epitomes of history have degenerated. This is 

 doubtless due to the fact that Mr. Gutteridge deals only 

 with a limited period in our national annals, and hence he 

 is enabled to expand his narrative to an extent which 

 renders it intelligible. He gives the leading characteristics 

 of each of the great battles fought during the seventy-one 

 years covered by his digest, and deals with other historical 

 details in a way similarly adapted to impress them on the 

 student's mind. He has produced a useful little book. 



Text-hook of Practical Solid or Descriptive Geometry. By 

 David Allan Low. Part I. (London : Longmans, Green, 

 ifc Co. 1884.) — Mr. Low has produced a little book of real 

 value to the student of Architectural or Engineering draw- 

 ing, containing a large number of problems and a corre- 

 sponding number of illustrations. After stating each pro- 

 blem, he gives a general solution of it, and this is followed 

 by its application to one or more examples, as the case may 

 be, whose working is, as we have just hinted, always 

 thoroughly elucidated by a diagram or diagrams. He 



