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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



roundings, communing with Nature, and then 

 drawing from the hidden stores of his mind 

 what he has absorbed from her, independ- 

 ent in thought and thoroughly American, 

 and pithy and vigorous in expression, he 

 found an audience as soon as he took the 

 platform from which he was best fitted to 

 speak ; and that audience has been growing 

 ever since. In the "Egotistical Chapter," 

 which forms one of the " studies," he relates 

 how, like many other authors who have after- 

 ward achieved success, he groped in unlucky 

 experiments before he found his proper 

 place. He began by reading books of es- 

 says and trying to catch their style; and 

 wrote essayish papers on subjects whose in- 

 terest was so universal that it was spread 

 out very thin, to have them sent back by the 

 journals to which he offered them ; and final- 

 ly took to outdoor themes " to break the 

 spell of Emerson's influence, and get upon 

 ground of his own." His style, which is of 

 the most forcible, and in which strong 

 thoughts are condensed into few words of 

 most direct meaning, is the result of much 

 study and discipline, in which, he says, "I 

 have taught myself always to get down to 

 the quick of my mind at once, and not fum- 

 ble about amid the husks at the surface. " 

 Of late years he has been giving more at- 

 tention to literary topics and subjects of 

 scientific discussion, although in these also 

 the nature-side appears most prominent to 

 his view. The present volume is largely 

 made up of articles of this character. In 

 them he displays the same independence 

 that characterized his earlier work — a de- 

 termination to say what he thinks, without 

 giving himself worry concerning what oth- 

 ers may have said or thought. In two of 

 the longer essays — " Matthew Arnold's Criti- 

 cism " and " Arnold's View of Emerson and 

 Carlyle " — the literary side is alone conspic- 

 uous ; in two others, " Henry D. Thoreau " 

 and " Gilbert White's Book," we have the 

 student of nature appreciating and criticis- 

 ing his two most illustrious co-workers in 

 the same line. " Science and Literature " is 

 an attempt to measure the value of science 

 in culture, in which the author indicates 

 that " the final value of physical science is 

 its capability to foster in us noble ideals, 

 and to lead us to new and larger views of 

 moral and spiritual truths. The extent to 



which it is able to do this measures its 

 value to the spirit — measures its value to 

 the educator. That the great sciences can 

 do this, that they are capable of becoming 

 instruments of pure culture, instruments to 

 refine and spiritualize the whole moral na- 

 ture, is no doubt true ; but that they can 

 ever usurp the place of the humanities or 

 general literature in this respect is one of 

 those mistaken notions which seem to be 

 gaining ground so fast in our time." In 

 " Science and the Poets " Emerson is held 

 up as the poet whose work has been most 

 influenced by science. " A Malformed Gi- 

 ant " is a brave criticism of Victor Hugo's 

 excesses of style and manner. Of the eight 

 "Brief Essays," "The Biologist's Tree of 

 Life " touches a scientific subject, and " An 

 Open Door" relates to the question of a 

 superintending Providence. 



Riverside Library for Young People. No. 

 8. Birds through an Opera-Glass. By 

 Florence A. Merriam. Pp. 223. Up 

 and Down the Brooks. By Mart E. 

 Bamford. Pp. 222. Boston: Houghton, 

 Mifflin & Co. Price, 75 cents each. 



The "BJverside Library" series is de- 

 signed especially for boys and girls who are 

 laying the foundation of private libraries, 

 and is intended to consist not of ephemeral 

 publications, but of " books that will last." 

 It will comprise principally books of history, 

 biography, mechanics, travel, natural his- 

 tory, adventure, and kindred themes, with 

 fiction not excluded, presenting the various 

 subjects in an attractive manner, but not in 

 the " Childese dialect." The author of 

 "Birds through an Opera-Glass," recogniz- 

 ing the perplexities of young observers, has 

 tried to supply their wants, the chief of 

 which in studying birds is the means of dis- 

 tinguishing and identifying them without 

 having to become ornithologists or to grapple 

 with the technical terms in the text-books. 

 The opera-glass supplies a means of looking 

 at the creatures as if from a shorter distance 

 than it is possible to approach them, and 

 will or should supply the points by which 

 they are to be recognized. To these points 

 are added such facts as lie within reach of 

 the young observer's opportunities respect- 

 ing the song, nesting, and general behavior 

 of the bird. The robin supplies the stand- 

 ard by which all the other birds are com- 



