528 ^ KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 



able to ridicule the Bible and religion by selecting passages separated from con- 

 text and general plan and holding them up as expository of God's purposes and 

 disposition. 



This conception of religion, despite all his teachings and studies, is incon- 

 ceivably narrow and shallow, never rising to the comprehensiveness necessary 

 to take in anything more than details which are mistaken for principles and 

 failing to grasp the full range and scope of the Bible or to obtain a full grasp of 

 the principles involved. He is almost equally deficient in his understanding of 

 the theories of evolution, which he says gave him "a reasonable conception of 

 the universe and seemed to put solid ground " under his feet. The whole work 

 is a marked instance of what misguided study and misdirected energy, together 

 with restless and unsatisfied nervous temperament, will lead one to in any branch 

 of study. 



It is a book which would do serious harm in a school library if read by the 

 children, but which may be perused with impunity by any mature person of well 

 balanced mind. 



Primary History of the United States: By Edward S. Ellis. i2mo., pp. 

 224. Van Antwerp, Bragg & C0.5 Cincinnati, 1884. For sale by M. H. 

 Dickinson. 



This little work belongs to the eclectic educational series published by the 

 above named firm, and is a credit to them in point of paper, printing and illus- 

 trations. Nothing is more noticeable even to middle-aged persons than the great 

 improvement made within their memories, in school books, both in matter and 

 appearance. 



The author has of course attempted to do no more than to chronicle in sim- 

 ple language only the most important events, explain the causes of national move- 

 ments, and point out the wonderful progress of the United States in everything 

 that makes up a nation. The review questions appended to each chapter are 

 valuable aids to the pupil in indicating memorable points and fixing them in his 

 mind. Such school books deserve a place in all good schools. 



Report of an ARCHiEOLOOiCAL Tour in Mexico in 188 i: By A. F. Ban- 

 delier. 8vo., pp. 326. Illustrated. Cupples, Upham & Co., Boston, 1884. 



This is the second volume of archaeological papers published by the Archseo- 

 logical Inbtitute of America, whose president is Charles Eliot Norton and whose 

 secretary is E, H. Greenleaf. The author calls his work an archaeological recon- 

 noisance into Mexico, and divides it into four chapters, viz: From Tampico to 

 the City of Mexico; Notes about the City of Mexico; Studies about Cholula and 

 its vicinity; An Excursion to Mitla. 



There are twenty-six plates, most of them heliotypes, with hundreds of figures 



