260 
NATURE 
[Fuly 31, 1873 
the eating. And the new-comers grew and throve as 
never has any immigrant race before or since.” The ten- 
dency in animals, as we ascend in the scale of life, to 
assist one way or another in the further maintenance of 
their offspring, either by development of a nutritive yolk 
or by feeding them after they are hatched, is certain. 
“ The explanation of this is very simple. As the popula- 
tion of the earth ever increases and competition grows 
sharper, it is those who have this assistance in their 
younger days that are enabled to succeed in the world, 
and to arrive at maturity. And these possess the inherit- 
ing tendency to do the same, or very likely a little more, 
for the new generation than their parents had done for 
them. ‘If I could only give John a thousand dollars 
when he is twenty-one, I shall be satisfied,’ says the sire ; 
‘my father was only able to give me a hundred and a 
freedom suit.’” 
The Reptilian Period is followed by “the Age of 
Brutes,” wherein the maxim “might is right” was the 
ruling power. This is followed by “the Anthropological 
Age,” that of the present time ; a time of advance accord- 
ing to evolution, and not of decadence, for all we know 
tends to show that “ the course of history is one of pro- 
gress, and that consequently man is an elevated and not 
a fallen being ; that he is a perfected creature and not a 
degraded divinity ; that his course is Excelsior, onward 
and upward, and not downward.” And if we consider 
the age of Man, in contradistinction to that of brute and 
reptile, to have been that in which man first appeared on 
earth, what may the present be considered—but the age 
of Woman. “ Historically considered, her case is very 
strong. Ifthe position of woman continues to become 
exalted in the future at anything like the rate it has 
advanced in the past—granted that she began as the 
slave of a brute—that future will show not an equality, 
but woman the ruler, the subordinate man ; and these 
are advantages in her favour which none but the naturalist 
dreams of.” 
“ A complete equilibrium—when for every desire there 
shall be a gratification,” is the author’s deduction as to 
the future, things being as they are ; but “it would seem 
that life on earth is doomed to die a violent, and not a 
natural death. Man proposes, but the attraction of gravi- 
tation disposes,” and so “ we must be resigned, remem- 
bering that after all we are but a mere speck in the 
great celestial economy, which will lose nothing by our 
death.” 
The above short account of this eccentric and amusing 
work, which excels more by the quaint way in which well- 
known facts are put, than by anything original in itself, 
will be best supplemented by a perusal of the original. 
OUR BOOK SHELF 
The Elements of Chemistry. Theoretical and Practical. 
By William Allen Miller, M.D. D.C.L. LL.D., late 
Professor of Chemistry in King’s College, London. 
Revised by Herbert M‘Leod, F.C.S., Professor of Ex- 
perimental Science, Indian Civil Engineering College, 
Coopers Hill. Part I. Chemical Physics. Fifth 
» Edition, with additions. (Lendon : Longmans, 1872.) 
ALTHOUGH Parts II. and III. of this well-known 
manual have needed frequent alteration and revision — 
as the science advanced, Part I. has, until quite Te- | 
cently, experienced but little change from its well-known 
form. The recent great advances which have been made 
in what is now so well known, or at least so often heard 
of, as solar chemistry, have necessitated considerable 
additions to the edition of 1867, the last that left the 
hands of the lamented author. 
The name of Mr. M‘Leod is a guarantee that the 
work thas fallen into good hands® At page 196, a 
most complete and well-condensed statement of the 
present aspect of the subject will be found. The early 
Indian observations of Captain Herschel and others 
are referred to, and an account of the discovery of 
the method of observing the chromosphere without an 
eclipse is given, and also a sketch of the nature of the 
phenomena thus observed. A very good statement of 
the present state of our knowledge with regard to the 
thickening of the F line, and of Frankland and Lockyer’s 
researches on that subject, is also given, and reference 
is made to their remarkable observation of the different 
lengths of the metallic lines above the pole, an obser- 
vation which has since lead to such important results 
in connection not only with solar and stellar, but with 
terrestrial spectroscopy. The additions conclude with a 
very clear and succinct account of our knowledge of the 
movements of the gaseous masses on the surface of the 
sun, and the means of measuring their rapidity and 
direction. The nature of the spectroscopic phenomena 
of sun-spots is also described, but somewhat briefly. The 
added portion is illustrated with twelve woodcuts. 
Mr. M‘Leod’s hand is again visible in the chapter re- 
lating to atomicity, where he has added in notes several 
important points in modern chemical theory, which had 
not been sufficiently explained in the original work of 
Dr. Miller ; and we also notice in the body of the book a 
short explanation of the graphic and symbolical formule 
now so much used in explaining chemical facts to the 
student. We most cordially welcome this new and 
improved edition of an old friend, and congratulate the 
present editor on the share he has had in producing it. 
R. J. F. 
The A BC of Chemistry. By Mrs. R. B. Taylor. 
Edited by W. Mattieu Williams, F.RA.S., F.C.S. 
(London: Simpkin, Marshall, and Co., 1873.) 
THIS little bovk is intended apparently for the use of 
very young children. The attempt to explain the nature 
of the elements by analogy with the letters of the alphabet 
is somewhat obscure, though it would perhaps be difficult 
to find a different method. The book is divided into 
lessons, and each lesson followed by questions which are, 
on the whole, well selected. The same cannot, however, 
be said of the experiments at the end of the book, which 
all smack strongly of the “ conjuring trick.” We cannot 
coincide with the editor in recommending the book to 
artisans and business men, who, we think, might attempt 
something a little more advanced, even as a first book, 
For those, however, who wish to teach children chemistry, 
it will no doubt be useful. 
Third Annuai Report of the Wellington College Natural 
History Society, December 1870 to December 1872. 
(Weilington College : George Bishop, 1873). 
IT is disappointing that the first words of this report, as 
in the case of the Rugby Society which we noticed re- 
cently, should be a confession of partial failure : “ Natural 
History,” the Preface begins by telling us, “does not 
flourish at Wellington College . . . The chief reason un- 
doubtedly is, that during the past two years the older 
Fellows—and in particular the Sixth Form—have ignored 
the existence of the Society altogether.” Judging from 
what is said at p. 36, the apathy of the older members of 
the school is owing to some antagonism which exists be- 
tween the Natural History Society and the Debating 
Society attached to the school. But, with Mr. Penny, we 
