EEYIEWS. 
79 
Tariniis chapters of the work are devoted to biographic sketches of philo- 
sophy, from the pre-Socratic period down to the time of Hegel. If they 
were exclusively biographical and analytic, they would have served an ex- 
cellent purpose, but they are pushed beyond mere analysis, and partake so 
much of commentary, that their value to the student who is indisposed to 
accept Herr Schwegler’s opinions is greatly diminished. Still, the whole 
sketch of the progress of thought, from Socrates’ days to the time of Hegel, 
is an interesting and instructive one. It is to be regretted that the editor 
did not attempt to bring down Schwegler’s account, so as to embrace the 
writings of Mill, Spencer, Maudesley and others. Ah outlinear record of 
this kind would have been far more useful than the seventy pages of anno- 
tation which he inflicts upon his readers. 
Organic Philosophy, Vol. II. Outlines of Ontology, by Hugh Doherty, 
M.D. London : Triibner, 1867. — Some two or three year^ since we had the 
misfortune to receive the first volume of Dr, Doherty’s treatise, and in our 
innocence we read it. What the eflect upon our mind has been we dare not 
disclose. Now the second volume is before us, and entails upon us another 
terrible labour. And here is the result we arrive at. The author has con- 
structed an empirical philosophy, which he lays down in a language peculiarly 
his own. Dr. Doherty has not the faculty of reasoning logically from plain 
facts j nor is he able when he reaches the limit of reasonings — a limit in great 
measure the result of absence of fact, and therefore pointing to the necessity 
for more extended observation — to pause and say, thus far only can we go. So 
far from doing so, he soars away on the wings of his over-excited imagina- 
tion, and allows his mental Pegasus to carry him into realms in which he 
loses all reason, and lays down with the most astounding dogmas in a man- 
ner which can only be satisfactory to himself. If we are ever to have a reliable 
system of philosophy, must we not reason to our conclusions step by step ? 
How, then, can Dr. Doherty hope to found a philosophical scheme which 
shall be unimpugnable, when he writes in this strain : ^‘Veneration may be 
compared with faith as solar gravitation and illumination may be compared 
with terrestrial attraction and reflected light. Organic faith is the force of 
stability in spiritual nature as the physical gravitation of the planets 
towards the sun and towards each other is the cause of stability in the 
solar system. As the sun attracts the planets so the Divine Spirit attracts 
all human spirits, whether they are conscious of the influence or not ; and 
to say that prayer is useless because the laws of Nature are immutable is just 
as unnatural as to affirm that parents cannot listen to the supplications of 
their children and afford them succour without infringing natural or spiritual 
laws.” 
The Natural-History Transactions of Northumberland and Durham. — Vol. i. 
part iii. contains some valuable contributions to natural science, and seven 
or eight excellent lithographic page-plates, fully equal to those published in 
the Transactions of any of our Metropolitan Societies. Two of the papers 
are of considerable merit — “On the Excavating Sponges,” by Albany 
Hancock, and on certain “ British Entomostraca,” by Messrs. Norman and 
Brady. 
The New Science of Astronomy, as set forth in Chapter Nil. of the Analysis 
