40 



KNOWLEDGE. 



[February 1, 1900. 



the judgment of a plain man of the people as in the eloquence 

 of a pessimistic philosopher." But interesting quotations 

 could be multiplied indefinitely. When it is said that some of 

 the headinjjs of separate chapters are " Duty and Conscience," 

 " Virtue and Happiness," " Relation of Morality to lleligion," 

 " Suicide," and " Justice,'' it becomes abundantly evident that 

 the volume is brimful of information interesting to every 

 thoughtful man and woman, and as, added to this, the translator 

 has succeeded throughout in writing clear and pleasing English, 

 it is quite certain that the book will be widely read. 



Imjiresaions of America. By T. C. Porter, M.A. (oxox.). 

 Illustrated. (C." Arthur Pearson, Ltd.) 10s. Cd. Mr. Porter 

 tells in simple, chatty language, the story of a hurried visit to 

 America. He travelled from New York to Niagara, thence to 

 the Yellowstone Park, San Francisco, Yosemite, Utah and the 

 Colorado Springs. The author is not strong in painting word- 

 pictures, indeed, his pen sometimes halts rather painfully, but 

 yet the narrative as a whole is quietly pleasing. At the same 

 time a great de.al of information about the show-places of 

 America can be learnt from the book, and Mr. Porter's 

 experiences cannot fail to be useful to anyone who intends 

 taking a holiday of a similar kind. The reader's attention is 

 directed almost entirely to scenic effects, examples of earth 

 sculpture, and kindred topics. The ways of men in these western 

 places are scarcely touched upon at all. The most noteworthy 

 characteristic of the volume is undoubtedly the fine collection 

 of stereoscopic plates which accompanies the text, and a 

 stereoscope is supplied with the book for the proper examination 

 of the plates. 'Though Mr. Porter's clear explanation in the 

 introduction will enable many readers to obtain the stereo.scopic 

 effect without any instrument, the person who objects to a 

 little preliminary trouble will be glad of this novel addition to 

 the volume. 



TIte Unwersal Illusion of Free Will nnd Criminal Res2}")isi- 

 hililij. By A. Hamon. (University Press, Limited.) 3s. 6d. 

 Criminal anthropology, in the hands of Professor Lombroso's 

 followers, is advancing rapidly. Sociology and psychology 

 constitute very plastic materials out of which these students 

 i can mould ethereal forms not altogether agreeable to the 

 ' average citizen of the world. Sample ; " The criminal is 

 normal, and the honest man an anomaly. I defy the refutation 

 of this assertion if, by criminal, is meant the author of an 

 injury to the community or to an individual." For an acquain- 

 tance with the multitude of facts ])ut forward to uphold such 

 assertions as this the book itself must be consulted. We are, 

 according to the author's teaching, practically automatons. 

 ' Marriages, crimes, suicides, emigration, births, mortality, and so 

 j on, are the resultants of many forces— social, physical, and 

 cosmic. Free will, the helm by means of which some of us 

 imagine we steer the human ship, is denied. 



The Romance of Wild Floivers. By Edward Step. (Warne.) 

 Illustrated. 6s. No pleasanter companion could very well be 

 imagined than Mr. Step in his communings with Nature. 

 Roses and apples, buttercups and columbines, violets and 

 pansies, harebells and heather, all these give jileasurf as the 

 eye glances down the pages, and the pictures almost emit the 

 sweet odours which the jJates recall to the memory. It is a 

 book to put flower lovers merely on speaking terms, as it were, 

 with Nature, and is not intended for the scientific botanist. 



All IntrnducUoii tn the Stitdi/ of Zoolofjij. By B. Lindsay. 

 (Sonnenschein.) Illustrated. 6s. Students of biological science 

 are too frequently retarded at the outset through lack of infor- 

 mation concerning the means necessary for amplifying their 

 knowledge outside the very limited .scope of a first book on 

 either of the two branches of the science — zoology and botany. 

 ]\[r. Lindsay has anticipated these difficulties by chapters on 

 the use of books, biological stations which have been estab- 

 lished on the British coast for the study of marine biology, 

 lists of persons who can supply sjiecimens and tools to work 

 out the practical details, and so on. All this, added to the 

 usual text, raises Mr. Lindsay's book to a high level among 

 introductory works of this kind. 



The Beliqtiar!/ mid Illustrated Archwologisi. Vol. V. 1899. 

 (Bamroso.) 123. net. We are pleased to observe that this 

 quarterly continues to sustain the reputation it has so long 

 enjoyed as a first-rate magazine of antiquities. The editor, 



Mr. J. Romilly Allen, merits the thanks of all interested in 

 the survivals of ancient usages and appliances. The rich store 

 of information here gathered together from many and widely 

 separated sources for our quiet enjoyment at home without the 

 trouble and inconvenience of travel are a real boon. The 

 contents vary from a glass linen smoother to a cathedral, and 

 from a tiller of the soil to a Roman Emperor. 



Mutter, Ether, and Motion. By Prof. A. E. Dolbear. , 

 (S.P.C.K.) It would bo stimulating to find a new book on ( 

 Matter, Ether, and Motion which contained a few new ideas — 1 

 lead us a little way out of the beaten track into fresh fields of 

 thought. Alas 1 it is still in the parched desert and the twilight 

 that we follow Prof. Dolbear. Matter, for example, is defined 

 as " whatever possesses the property of gravitative attraction.'' 

 Now, the author adopts this definition in place of " whatever 

 occupies space," but while he may gain a little as I'egards 

 accuracy, the bewildered student is transferred as it were from 

 solid earth to a base of operations situated somewhere near the 

 centre of the universe. The migration is in the direction of 

 that abstract mood in which Emerson may have been when a 

 miUenarian told him the world was coming to an end next day 

 — " I can get along very well without it," said the philosopher. 



Liviiii/ Pictures. By Henry V. Hopwood. (Gutenberg 

 Press, Ltd.) Illustrated. 2s. 6d. net. Here we have a complete 

 compilation of the many facts which have led up to the pro- 

 duction of so-called Mving pictures. From the fundamental 

 persistence of vision, through colour tops, wheel phenomena 

 and the [jhoto revolver, to the various forms of camera now 

 used and the treatment and production of films — all are 

 gathered here in handy shape, and very useful digests of patents 

 and an annotated bibliography give to the book features of 

 permanent value. There are nearly three hundred illustrations, 

 and a very complete index. 



.-•-. 



BOOKS RECEIVED, 



Practical Exercises in Mlemeatary Meteorology. By Robert 

 De Courcv Ward. (Arnold.) Illustrated. 



Umoin's Chap Book, 1899-1900. (Uuwin.) Illustrated. Is. 



Letter-, Word-, and Mind-BHiidness. By James Hinchelwood. 

 (Lewis.) 3s. 



Annual Seport of the Soard of Regents (Smithsonian Institution) 

 for the year ending ZOth June, 1897. 



Life and Happiness. By Auguste. Marrott. (Kegan Paul.) 

 2s. Gd. net. 



British Dragonflies. Bv W. J. Lucas. (L. Upcott Gill.) Plates. 

 31s. fid. 



Discoveries and Inventions of the Nineteenth Century. By Robt. 

 Routledge. (Routledge. ) Illustrated. 7s. 6d. 



Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa. By David 

 Livingstone. (Ward, Lock & Co.) Illustrated. 2s. 



Journal of the Society of Comparative Legislation, December, 

 1899. (Murray.) 5s. net. 



The Making of Europe. By Nemo. (Nelson.) 39. 6d. 



Ejsy Oiiide to the Constellations. By Rev. James trail. (Gall & 

 Ingli.s.) Is. 



Common Objects of the Microscope. By Rev. J. G. Wood. 

 (Routledge.) Is. 



What a Toung Boy ought to Know. By Silvanus Stall. (The 

 Vir Publishing Co.) 



The Semitic Series — Babylonians and Assyrians. By Rev. A. H. 

 Sayce. (Nimmo.) 5s. net. 



A Manual of Zoology. By the late T. JefEery Parker and Wm. A. 

 Haswell. (Macmillau.) Illustrated. lOs. 6d. 



Experiments on Animah. By Stephen Paget, with an Introduction 

 by Lord Lister. (Unwin.) 68. 

 ' Useful Arts and Handicrafts — Pyrography, Bent Iron Work, 

 Wood Engraving, and Gouge Work. (Dawbarn & Ward.) 6d. each. 



The Studio. An Illustrated Magazine of Fine and Applied Art. 

 January, 1900. Is. 



The ' Agricultural Awakening. By Sir James Blyth, Bart. 

 ( Reprint from the Times.) 



A Selection of Photographs of Stars, Star-clusters, and Nebulce. 

 Second Volume. By Isaac Roberts, D.ac, r.B.s. (Witherby.) 

 yOs., post free. 



Laboratory Note Book for Chemical Students. By Vivian B. 

 Lewes and J. S. S. Brame. (Ai'chibald Constable k Co.) 4s. 



The Grammar of Science. By Karl Pearson. Second edition. 

 (A. & C. Black.) 7s. Cd. 



Primeval Scenes. By the Bev. H. N. Hutchinson. (Lamley & Co.) 



