EE VIEWS. 
303 
and others equally bad. We shall not say which we think the worst. But 
altogether, we think Messrs. Cassell have not done well in their selection of 
authors, and consequently the result is not of the best description. 
FRAGMENTS OF SCIENCE.* 
P ERHAPS of all scientific men in England, Professor Tyndall is the most 
eloquent, whether in speaking or writing. This is a fact which we 
think very few who have read any of his works, or who have heard him 
speak, will for a moment doubt. There may not be in his speech that care- 
ful accuracy which is so eminently characteristic of Professor Huxley, but 
assuredly there is eloquence. There is a fine and noble eloquence about the 
man which those who are familiar with his public speaking cannot but 
admire intensely. But there is in the reprinted papers before us as much of 
that eloquence as there is in the Professor’s speech, so that we cannot but 
regard them, from this aspect alone, as taking no ordinary rank in English 
literature. And apart from any qualities of style they may possess, they 
have merits of the highest order as scientific memoirs. Of the contents of 
the volume it is difficult to say which chapter or essay is best, more read- 
able, or more intensely interesting. A peculiarity of the work is, that it 
contains some valuable essays on miracles and on spirit-rapping, in both of 
which the author shows clearly and effectively how little is in the popular 
idea, and how necessary it is to look calmly and philosophically at every 
phenomenon. We wish we had space to give the author’s words, the more 
especially on certain of the subjects he has taken up, but we have not. We 
will therefore close our very brief notice of a most valuable work by 
quoting its contents : — The Constitution of Nature ; Thoughts on Prayer 
and Natural Law ; Miracles and Special Providences ; Matter and Force ; 
Address to Students ; Scope and Limit of Scientific Materialism ; Scientific 
Use of the Imagination ; on Radiation ; Radiant Heat in relation to the 
Colour and Chemical Constitution of Bodies ; Chemical Rays and Structure 
and Light of the Sky ; Dust and Disease (with additions to the original 
lecture) ; Life and Letters of Faraday ; an Elementary Lecture on Mag- 
netism ; and lastly, a few shorter articles. 
Iron and Heat , by James Armour, C.E. London: Lockwood, 1871. — 
Essentially a work for the engineer. This little volume appears to be well 
got up. It is amply illustrated, and contains a great deal of information 
regarding the subject on which it treats. The chapters on smelting, though 
not so far advanced as they might be, are nevertheless correct, and go very 
far into the subject. 
* 11 Fragments of Science for Unscientific People ; a Series of Detached 
Essays, Lectures, and Reviews.” By John Tyndall, LL.D., F.R.S. London : 
Longmans, 1871. 
