78 Literary Notices. 



1866" (many of which seem well worth attention), " New Ferns," and 

 "New Flowers," add to our information on these subjects ; and the 

 whole winds up with an interesting- chapter on " Odds and Ends." 

 Mr. Shirley Hibberd is unrivalled in labours of this kind. 



An Essay on Dew, and several Appeaeances connected with 

 it. By William Charles Wells. Edited, with Annotations, by 

 L. P. Casella, F.R.A.S., and an Appendix by R. Strachan, F.M.S. 

 (Longmans.) — Dr. Wells's Essay on Dew has acquired a fresh 

 interest, not only from recent discoveries, but also from the reference 

 made to it in a popular work of Professor Tyndall, and as the 

 original editions have been long out of print and copies very scarce, 

 M. Casella deserves the thanks of scientific students for having 

 reprinted it in a handsome form, and with valuable additions. Dr. 

 Wells's statement of his experiments, and his exposition of the 

 views to which they led are remarkably interesting, and few scien- 

 tific works will better repay perusal. 



Animal Magnetism and Magnetic Lucid Somnambulism. With 

 Observations and Illustrative Instances of Analogous Phenomena 

 occurring spontaneously, and an Appendix of Corroborative and 

 Correlative Observations and Facts. By Edwin Lee, M.D., Etc. 

 (Longmans.) — This work is an epitome of stories and evidence per- 

 taining to the so-called subject of "animal magnetism" and som- 

 nambulism. It is not what we should call a scientific work, as it 

 does not exhibit the application of any powers of analysis, or of 

 those prudent philosophic doubts with which phenomena should be 

 scrutinized, and their interpretation attempted. That mesmerism 

 and its associated subjects are really worth profound study we feel 

 assured, but as a rule, these matters are neglected by good experi- 

 mentalists and acute thinkers ; and we have on the one hand a vast 

 quantity of marvellous assertions resulting from credulity, and on 

 the other a more comprehensive denial than an extended collocation 

 of facts would warrant. As matters intimately connected with 

 nervous physiology, we should gladly see the fact's of mesmerism and 

 spirit-rapping separated from the fancies, delusions, and frauds 

 which constitute no small portion of the records with which the 

 public have become familiar. We fear Dr. Lee will not effectually 

 assist in such a movement as he seems to us prone to premature 

 belief. - « 



The Elements ; an Investigation of the Forces which determine 

 the Position and Movements of the Ocean and Atmosphere. By 

 William Leighton Jordan. Vol. I. and II. (Longmans.)— The author 

 believes in what he calls " astral gravitation, " which he conceives 

 to counteract the attraction of the sun and moon upon the waters 

 of the globe and upon its atmosphere. To this "astral attraction" 

 he ascribes the tides in parts of the earth opposite to the sun and 

 moon. We do not understand the writer's line of argument. He 

 talks of the action of gravitation as tending to convert the universe 

 into a motionless mass, but a " force of evanescence" is brought 

 into play, and saves it from such a result, and we are further told 

 that " evanescence implies a motion of evanishing particles," and 

 that contraction is a necessary consequence of it. 



