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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



may be called the art of naming. The accu- 

 mulated materials of the senses are, through 

 a certain chemistry of the nerves and brain, 

 photographed as images on the mind, and 

 these enable us, through the means of signs, 

 to dissect and put into logical sequence the 

 whole order of Nature. What we have in 

 our minds, says M. Taine, when we conceive 

 general qualities and characters of things, 

 are signs and signs only. Signs or words, 

 therefore, branch out of sensations, and, to 

 be of real value in the organization of knowl- 

 edge, these must originate from healthy and 

 well-regulated senses and sound cerebral 

 functions. The immutability of the external 

 order of things in Nature is the only sure cor- 

 rective of all the aberrations and errors to 

 which the internal condition of man, as a 

 reflecting medium, is subject. 



Books III. and IT., concluding the first 

 part, treat of sensations and of the physical 

 conditions of mental events. In the discus- 

 sion of these topics M. Taine is fortified 

 by the leading writers of France, England, 

 and Germany, to whose important authority 

 he adds much original thought, and unties 

 many a perplexing knot by his well-directed 

 and practised ingenuity. In the second 

 part of his work, M. Taine treats, in the first 

 book, of the general mechanism of knowl- 

 edge ; in the second, of the knowledge of 

 bodies ; in the third, of the knowledge of 

 mind ; and in the fourth book, of the knowl- 

 edge of general things. 



Men and Apes ; an Exposition of Structural 

 Resemblances and Differences, bearing 

 upon Questions of Affinity and Origin. 

 By St. George Mivart. New York: 

 D. Appleton & Co., 18*74. Price, $1.50. 



Mr. St. George Mivart, best known as 

 an opponent of Darwinism, strictly so called 

 (but not of evolution), has in this work ex- 

 amined into the relations of man and the 

 apes as well as other primates. In a first 

 chapter, he gives a summary of the "exter- 

 nal forms, habits, geographical distribution, 

 and classification," of the primates ; in a sec- 

 ond, the " external skeleton (skin and hair) 

 and internal skeleton (the bones) " are ex- 

 amined; and the last or third chapter is 

 devoted to the consideration of the " ner- 

 vous system, visceral anatomy, summary of 

 characters, and questions of affinity and 

 origin." He admits, with all competent 



naturalists, that man is most nearly allied 

 to the apes, that is, the group composed 

 of the gorilla, chimpanzee, orang-outang, 

 and gibbons : the difference, then, between 

 Mr. Mivart and others is as to the special 

 form of apes that man is most allied to. In 

 order to solve this question, he successively 

 recapitulates the characters common to man 

 and the several forms referred to, as well 

 as the main points of difference. His re- 

 sults are rather negative than positive : he 

 entirely rejects the claim made on behalf 

 of the gorilla to nearest kinship, but does 

 not positively claim such rank for any of 

 the other forms, although evidently disposed 

 to regard the affinity at least as great be- 

 tween the gibbons and man as with any of 

 the other forms ; he is more reserved, how- 

 ever, in this respect than on a former occa- 

 sion. Adopting the general theory of evo- 

 lution, he applies it, so far as the body is 

 concerned, to man, but he claims that in his 

 case a specific creation has been manifested 

 by the endowment of that body with a soul. 



A Dictionary of Medical Science, with 

 the Accentuation and Etymology op 

 the Terms, and the French and Other 

 Synonyms. By Robley Dunglison, M. 

 D., LL. D. Enlarged and thoroughly 

 revised edition, by Richard J. Dungli- 

 son, M. D. Philadelphia : Henry C. Lea, 

 1874. 



For forty years this work has been an 

 accepted authority in the hands of the pro- 

 fession, both here and in England. It was 

 originally made in obedience to the demand 

 created by the rapid advance of medical 

 science, and how well it fulfilled its intended 

 purpose is attested by its long and steady 

 popularity. The present edition — the 

 preparation of which was begun by the 

 author, but, owing to his death, was fin- 

 ished by his son — is much enlarged, includ- 

 ing more than six thousand subjects and 

 terms not embraced in the last, and making 

 altogether over a hundred pages of new 

 matter. The book is something more than 

 a dictionary. Besides the derivation, pro- 

 nunciation, synonymy, and technical defini- 

 tions of medical terms, it gives, under the 

 appropriate heads, a large amount of valu- 

 able practical information which, from its 

 conciseness and ready accessibility, cannot 

 fail to be of great service to the physician. 

 The typographical arrangement has also 



