Jiily II, 1872] 



NATURE 



199 



Marian Islanders being unacquainted with fire, and look- 

 ing on it as a living monster ; this story was first told by 

 an untrustworthy writer a century or two later.* Finally, 

 after reading the last two sentences referred to several 

 times, we cannot resist the inference from them that Dr. 

 Uiichner, putting down as separate data two fragments of 

 one story, did so through not being aware that the Marian 

 Islands and the Ladrone Islands are the same. 



Mr. Winwood Reade's "Martyrdom of Man" is more 

 careful as to evidence, though less shapely in arrangement, 

 than Dr. Biichner's work. It begins with ancient Oriental 

 history, then passes to primxval religion as leading up to 

 Christianity and Mohammadinism, next proceeds to dis- 

 cuss negro slavery and its abolition, and lastly plunges 

 into a dissertation on things in general, especially the 

 origin of life, the evolution of orders of plants and ani- 

 mals, the development of the intellectual and moral 

 faculties, and the rise and decline of religion. Mr. Reade's 

 first principle affords him a theory which at any rate 

 places these various topics along lines of continuity. 

 '• Mind is a property of matter. Matter is inhabited by 

 mind. There can be no mind without matter ; there can 

 be no matter without mind. When the matter is simple 

 in its composition, its mental tendencies are also simple ; 

 the atoms merely tend to approach one another and 

 to cohere ; and as matter under the influence of varied 

 forces (evolved by the cooling of the world) becomes more 

 varied in its composition, its mental tendencies become 

 more and more numerous, more and more complex, more 

 and more elevated, till at last they are developed into the 

 desires and propensities of the animal, into the aspirations 

 and emotions of the man. But the various tendencies 

 which inhabit the human mind, and which devote it to 

 ambition, to religion, or to love, are not in reality more 

 wonderful than the tendency which impels two ships to 

 approach each other in a calm. For what can be more 

 wonderful than that which can never be explained ? The 

 difference between the mind of the ship and the mind 

 of man is the difference between the acorn and the 

 oak." Following this all-comprehensive doctrine, Mr. 

 Reade vv'orks out in well-turned paragraphs the evolution 

 of animal and human faculties, the development of science 

 and art, the rise and change of social and moral laws. 

 He especially dwells upon the imperfections and mistakes 

 of early ages, which, while afflicting the world with tem- 

 porary evil, yet prepare it to attain in later times to better 

 things. This is what he means by the title of his book, 

 of which the historical and scientific parts seem in- 

 tended to give weight to a polemical point, that of 

 urging all enlightened men to take part in the great 

 work of demolishing one of those institutions which, 

 once the highest attainable, has now become injurious. 

 '' Christianity must be destroyed." " I give to universal 

 history," the author writes in his conclusion, " a strange but 

 true title — ' The Martyrdom of Man.' In each generation 

 the human race has been tortured that their children 

 might profit by their woes. Our own prosperity is founded 

 on the agonies of the past. Is it therefore unjust that we 

 also should suffer for the benefit of those who are to come ? 

 Famine, pestilence, and war, are no longer essential for 

 the advancement of the human race. But a season of 

 mental anguish is at hand, and through this we must 

 * See Tylor, " Early History of Mankind," p. 234. 



pass in order that our posterity may rise. The soul 

 must be sacrificed ; the hope in immortality must die. 

 A sweet and charming illusion must be taken from the 

 human race, as youth and beauty vanish never to 

 return." 



Mr. Reade's plan of not making particular acknow- 

 ledgment to the writers whose facts and ideas he in- 

 corporates, is likely to mislead his readers, some among 

 whom may fancy him a great original thinker, while 

 others will certainly set him down as a mere compiler. 

 It is not our business to discuss either his fanatical 

 anti-Christianity, or his promised " Religion of Reason 

 and of Love ;" but so far as concerns Anthropology, 

 his book shows the results of considerable reading and 

 observation, conveyed with a certain power of word- 

 painting and epigram. Now that he has delivered him- 

 self on the great question of modern thought, and has 

 probably ascertained that no individual martyrdom 

 awaits him apart from the rest of his species, we should 

 recommend him to turn his experience and ability as 

 an ethnologist to doing more solid work in some special 

 department of his science. 



OUR BOOK SHELF 



The Scientific and Profilable Culture of Fruit Trees. 

 From the French of i\i. Du Breuil ; adapted for English 

 cultivators by W. Wardle. Second edition, carefully 

 revised by George Glenny. (London : Lockwood and 

 Co., 1872.) 



Three practical men have been concerned in the writing 

 and editing of this little book, which is on all grounds 

 well worthy of a place on the bookshelves of every gar- 

 dener and grower of fruit-trees. It professes to direct the 

 gardener in all the operations necessary, from the insertion 

 of the graft to the completion of the tree, and the proper 

 management through all its stages ; and the instructions 

 in all the various kinds of grafting are full and compre- 

 hensive. The first portion treats of the different modes 

 of grafting, pruning, and training, and instructs in the 

 mysteries of grafting by approach or inarching, branch 

 grafting, cleft grafting, crown grafting, side branch graft- 

 ing, and budding, or shield grafting. The main part of 

 the book is then devoted to directions as to the mode of 

 cultivation of the pear, apple, peach, plum, cherry, and 

 apricot, and their best varieties. The portions of the work 

 which were specially adapted for French cultivators have 

 been modified or enlarged by the editor, and the language 

 is throughout plain and simple. It is embellished also by 

 nearly 200 illustrative woodcuts. 



Reports of the Mining Surveyors and Registrars ( Vic- 

 toria) for the quarters ending June 30, September 30, 

 and December 31, 1871. (Melbourne, printed by 

 authority.) 

 These reports show that the mining operations in Vic- 

 toria continue to be assiduously prosecuted, the total yield 

 of gold during the three quarters being estimated at 

 1,055, S08 oz. 4 dwt. 4 gr., of which 524,990 oz. 7 dwt. 2 1 gr. 

 were got from alluvia, and 530,817 oz. 8 dwt. 7 gr. from 

 qu artz reefs. The cjuantity of gold, the produce of the 

 colony, exported during same quarters, amounted to 

 916,1 14 oz. 6 dwt. During the quarter ending June 30, the 

 greatest yield of gold occurred, and the largest quantity 

 was exported. But the yield and export of each of the 

 three c|uarters approach pretty nearly to the same figures, 

 indicating that the working of the mines has got into a 

 settled state, and that the produce for some time to come 

 may te expected to be proportionate to the capital em- 



