1877. | Recent Literature. 301 
sequently entertains views which enable him to acknowledge the pope, — 
and perhaps Lamarck as well, as his master. 
Mr. Mivart believes that man forms a kingdom-by himself, and that 
“he differs absolutely, and therefore differs in origin also ;” least of all 
does he — and he thus agrées with Mr. Wallace — believe that he orig- 
inated “from speechless, irrational, non-moral brutes.” Our author’s 
opinions on the nature of instinct strike us as very old-fashioned and 
irrational. He thinks there is “no need whatever to credit brutes with 
intellect: first, because all the phenomena they do exhibit can be ac- 
counted for without it, while they do not exhibit phenomena character- 
istic of a rational nature.” 
The chapter on mimicry is an excellent criticism on this phase of 
Darwinism, which with sexual selection is one of the weak buttresses of 
the theory of natural selection. In considering the last-named theory of 
Mr. Darwin, Professor Mivart brings forward the objections made to it 
in his former work, Genesis of Species. He shows that Mr. Darwin 
has modified his own view of his own theory, until he is led to regard it 
as “the most important, but not the exclusive means of modification.” 
Mr. Mivart’s own views coincide with those of Professor Parsons, of 
Cambridge, Mass., and Professor Owen, of London. We are not so sure 
that the theory of natural selection will not in the future hold a subordi- 
nate place and form but a single phase of a many-sided theory, of which 
the corner-stone has possibly not yet been discovered. Meanwhile we 
must say that such hearty, trenchant criticism as that of Mr. Mivart is a 
healthy sign in a country like England, where personal authority exer- 
cises such sway over the minds even of agnostics. It should be remem- 
bered, however, that Mr. Darwin, if he has not proposed a theory which 
will be universally satisfactory as a working hypothesis, has sown the 
seeds from which will arise a plenteous harvest of new facts and sugges- 
tions which may lead to the discovery of a true and comprehensive the- 
ory of evolution. His methods are legitimate and truly scientific. We 
miss in the Lessons from Nature any proper appreciation of Mr. Dar- 
win’s labors, and regret that in this, as well as in criticisms by other au- 
thors, a truer appreciation is not shown for Mr. Darwin’s methods and 
his personal genius. 
Professor Mivart is one of the foremost anatomists in England. His 
literary and philosophical ability, as well as polemical skill, shine in 
these Lessons; and we confess that when a good Catholic heartily 
indorses a theory of evolution, though quite opposed to a mechanical 
theory, as pure Darwinism perhaps is, we feel quite satisfied that the 
world is progressing. 
Dorsear’s Art or Prosectine.! — So frequently is the magic lan- 
The Art of Projecting. A Manual of Experimentation in | Physics, Chemistry, 
and Natural History with the Porte Lumière and Magie Lantern. By Pror. A. E. 
LBEAR. Illustrated. Boston: Lee and Shepard. ; 1877. snd pp. 158. $1.50. 
