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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



with the physiological explanations of hallu- 

 cination, the influence of the mind upon the 

 bodily functions, and allied phenomena, and 

 he accepts some and rejects others accord- 

 ing as they happen to run with or counter to 

 his speculations. Other results of scientific 

 research he treats in the same arbitrary 

 fashion. 



The second volume to appear in the four- 

 volume history of English literature, which 

 is being published by Macmillan & Co., is A 

 History of Eighteenth Century Literature 

 (1660-1780), by Edmund Gosse, M. A. 

 ($1.15). The first great writer of this period 

 is Dryden, and the other prominent names 

 which come in the scope of the present vol- 

 ume are Pope, Swift, Steele, Addison, Defoe, 

 Richardson, Fielding, Smollett, Johnson, 

 Hume, Goldsmith, and Gibbon, the period 

 ending with Fanny Burney, Junius, and 

 Burke. In regard to the critical opinions 

 expressed in the work the author says : " In 

 every case I have attempted to set forward 

 my own view of the literary character of 

 each figure, founded on personal study. 

 Hence, in a few cases, it may be discovered 

 that the verdicts in this volume differ in 

 some degree from those commonly held. A 

 few names which are habitually found chron- 

 icled are here omitted, and still fewer which 

 are new to a general sketch are included. 

 ... In the final chapter I have stated my 

 theory with regard to the mode in which the 

 philosophical, theological, and political writ- 

 ing of the period should be examined. But 

 I may explain here that it has been my ob- 

 ject, while giving a rough sketch of the 

 tenets of each didactic specialist, to leave 

 the discussion of those tenets to critics of 

 the specialist's own profession, and to treat 

 his publications mainly from the point of 

 view of style." The work is provided with 

 an index, and a brief bibliography designed 

 to refer the student to the most accessible 

 text of the chief writers mentioned. 



Schiller's Jungfrau von Orleans, edited 

 by Benjamin W. Wells (Heath, 65 cents), has 

 been adapted for the class-room by a copi- 

 ous accompaniment of notes and other in- 

 formation. The text is prefaced by an in- 

 troduction of fifteen pages dealing with the 

 composition of the drama, editions and 

 manuscripts, meter and rhyme, and the di- 



vergence of the play from history, and in- 

 cludes some biographical notes on the his- 

 torical characters in the drama. The text 

 has a clear, attractive look, although the 

 stage directions and foot-notes are in rather 

 small type for German print, which is try- 

 ing enough to the eyes even when large. 

 Thirty-eight pages of notes — grammatical 

 and historical — are appended. 



Prof. B. Perrin's edition of Homer's Odys- 

 sey, Books I-IV (Ginn & Co.'s " College Series 

 of Greek Authors," $1.50), is based on the 

 edition of Karl Friedrich Ameis and C. 

 Hentze, with adaptation to what the editor 

 believes to be the requirements of American 

 college classes. Considerable material has 

 been furnished for the higher criticism of 

 the poem, in which the first four books are 

 of special significance. At the same time, 

 enough assistance of an elementary sort has 

 been provided to enable a good teacher to 

 use the volume in introducing students to 

 the study of Homer. Certain interpretations 

 characteristic of the Ameis-Hentze edition 

 have been retained in the current notes, 

 while the editor expresses in the appendix 

 his preference for other views. On the 

 other hand, he has incorporated in the notes 

 views at variance with those of the German 

 edition. Variations in the manuscript, read- 

 ings of other editors, and other data appro- 

 priate to a text-book of the kind, are given 

 in the appendix. 



John Chardxes (John B. Lippincott Com- 

 pany, $1.25) is a tale of the civil war in North 

 America, by Peter Boylston, an author whose 

 identity is left indefinite in a prefatory note 

 by his " literary executor." The plot affords 

 room for considerable variety of situation 

 and incident, and the management is lively. 

 The history of the title character is invested 

 with a degree of mystery which adds to the 

 interest and complexity of the story ; and a 

 negro woman from the slave-markets of the 

 South, having decided individuality of char- 

 acter, is introduced with some skill. 



The Beginner's Reading-Book, by Eben 

 H. Davis (Lippincott, 42 cents), starts with 

 short sentences, in both script and Roman 

 type; new words are not arranged in col- 

 umns on the page, nor does the alphabet ap- 

 pear by itself in the book. The " Teacher's 

 edition " contains a chapter on how to teach 

 reading, in which the teacher is advised to 



