54 



MEMOIR OF ALFRED SMEE. 



[Chap. VI. 



interspersed with numerous woodcuts.* Although the work itself 

 is based on such an abstruse subject as mental philosophy is 

 generally considered to be, yet it is so interwoven with anec- 

 dotes, most of which had come under his own observation, on 

 natural history and other subjects, that not only does the book 

 afford a forcible illustration to ' Electro-Biology ' and ' The Mind 

 of Man,' but it is also admirably suited to be placed in the hands 

 of the young ; for by interesting the reader in the investigation 

 of Nature, he is led on to discipline the mind, and thereby able 

 to seek a knowledge of the laws of God, obey the divine vnll, and 

 act rightly to his fellows. I know of no better book for a prize 

 at school than is ' Instinct and Keason.' Unfortunately at the 

 present moment the work is out of print ; but I hope that a new 

 edition may appear, as it would afford a lucid illustration to that 

 work which has been based on 'Electro-Biology,' namely, 'The 

 Mind of Man.'t 



In ' Instinct and Eeason ' is a description of one of Mr. Smee's 

 clever little contrivances, which he called the Hot and Cold 



Fig. S. Hot and Cold Detector. 



Detector ; " a trifle " which he conceived in order to inform him 

 of the temperature of a small hot-house behind his house, f 



* The illustrations for ' Instinct and Reason,' such as the various bird-nests 

 and birds, wasp-nests, fossils, minerals, the South Sea Islanders' various im- 

 plements, &c., were arranged in a long case which formed one complete side of 

 our drawing-room at Finsbury Circus. 



t ' The Mind of Man' was published in 1875, and was written as another 

 edition of ' Electro-Biology.' 



t See ' Instinct and Reason,' p. 97. 



