June 28, 1889.] 



SCIENCE 



507 



Paul also maintains, with many other scholars, that the power of 

 original creation in language is by no means lost, but is as active 

 to-day as ever ; and he gives many examples of words of recent 

 origin which he holds to be underived from any others. All origi- 

 nal creations, both earlier and later, he believes to be imitative, so 

 that on this point he is directly at issue with many other philolo- 

 gists. These are the fundamental causes of the development of 

 language ; but to these must be added analogy, which has a 

 powerful influence by multiplying forms and usages that have 

 arisen in some other way. 



Having thus traced the outline of his subject. Professor Paul 

 pursues it into all its ramifications through a series of chapters, 

 which we have not space to analyze here, but which are sure to in- 

 terest every student of philology. In these days, when there is so 

 much superficial writing, it is pleasant to meet with a book at once 

 so thoughtful and so scholarly as this by Professor Paul ; and, 

 though there are things in it that are sure to provoke criticism, it 

 will be of great value to all students of the history of language. 

 Seraphita. By HONORE DE Balzac. Tr. by Katharine P. 

 Wormeley. Boston, Roberts. 12°. $1.50. 



This work is another of its author's studies in occultism. The 

 leading character in the story, called sometimes Seraphita and 

 sometimes Seraphitus, is intended as an example of the " twin 

 soul" which we are told every one must have in order to attain to 

 supreme felicity. Hence she is represented as acting in some cases 

 like a woman, and in others as a man, though the reader may 

 think that she doesn't act much like either. To make the bisexual 

 •quality still more prominent, this " strange being " is represented 

 in her feminine character as inspiring love in a young man, and in 

 his masculine character as awakening the same sentiment in a 

 young woman. She talks grandiloquent nonsense about heaven, 

 hell, prayer, and other themes of that sort, and at last is " trans- 

 lated " to the spiritual world ; and so the story comes to an end. 

 As for the story itself, it has very few incidents, and no interest at 

 all except what attaches to its occult " philosophy," if any one can 

 take an interest in that. For our part, we find it repulsive, like 

 €very thing else of the same sort ; being neither philosophy nor 

 religion, but a mere mass of fiction put forward as , truth. Besides 

 the principal story, the book contains two shorter ones of a similar 

 •character, which call for no special remark. There is also a long 

 and wordy introduction by G. F. Parsons, which neither adds to 

 nor elucidates the text, and has, so far as we can see, no reason to 

 be. 



La Socieie Francaise an, Dix-septieme Steele. Ed., with notes, by 

 Thomas F. Crane. London and New York, Putnam. 24^. 

 81.50. 



This book, which is intended primarily for students of French, 

 consists of a large number of extracts giving an account of the new 

 social life that arose in France in the early part of the seventeenth 

 century. Everj' one knows that society and conversation have long 

 been more important elements in French life than in that of other 

 nations, and have had greater influence on French literature than 



on any other. Students of literature and of social life are therefore 

 alike interested in tracing the origin and growth of that society for 

 which France has long been noted, and Professor Crane here offers 

 them help in so doing. He has restricted himself to a portion only 

 of seventeenth-century society, neglecting that of the court entirely, 

 while even some elements of literary society are passed over. The 

 extracts given treat successively of the Hotel de Ranibouillet and 

 the persons who frequented it, of Mademoiselle de Scudery and 

 her rather pedantic companions, of the affected set who were nick- 

 named the Precieuses, and of the rules of politeness that prevailed 

 in that age. As far as they go, they give a pretty clear view of the 

 society of which they treat, of its follies and foibles, as well as its 

 excellences ; and they also show to some extent the growth of 

 literature and the development of literary style. Some passages 

 are almost repulsive from the self-admiration and mutual admira- 

 tion they exhibit ; but these were necessary to give a faithful pic- 

 ture of the times. Professor Crane's introduction gives useful in- 

 formation respecting the leading persons and topics dealt with, and 

 other points of a more special character are treated in the notes. 

 The book is convenient in form, and well printed. 



AMONG THE PUBLISHERS. 



The July Ailaniic opens with an article by Miss Preston, giv- 

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 clyffe." The number closes with a knowing article on " Trotting 

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