liiiviEv/c. 73 
perature plienomeua would enable us to construct; but peiliaps it is more 
easily comprehended by the student than any more lengtliy definition in- 
volving a reference to the vibrations of matter. The chemical part of the 
book is not at all what it ought to have been. Mr. Guthrie must surely 
be aware that neither in the University of London, nor in any of our metro- 
politan lecture theatres, is either his nomenclature or his notation likely to 
be received with favour. If Mr, Guthrie would be counselled by us, he 
would immediately set about the revision of this book ; and if he does, he 
will no doubt produce a clear, accurate, and useful handbook for candidates 
for the London University matriculations. 
AETIFICIAL SELECTION AMONG MEN.* 
rjlHAT the Anthropological Society of London should not exclusively con- 
-L fine its inquiries to man as he has been, but should give a little attention 
to the human race as it might be, is the view herein expressed by Mr. Bray. 
Whatever may be the force of this opinion, it does not follow from its 
reasonableness that it must necessarily fall exclusively to the E. S.A.L.s 
for its solution. Indeed, we see no reason why the problem should not be 
discussed generally in many other natural science bodies. But we fear that 
in the present condition of our social system there is an impassable barrier to 
researches such as that Mr, Bray suggests, so far at least as their practical 
application is concerned. And it is only by practical experiment that such 
questions as that of the improvement of the human race by artificial selec- 
tion can be satisfactorily decided. It is for this reason that Mr. Bray’s pro- 
posal strikes us as being extravagantly Utopian, It is from this circumstance 
also that we refuse to discuss it in our pages. We do not, however, on that 
account reject Mr. Bray’s idea as one unworthy of consideration in the 
abstract. So far from this, indeed, we think that those who are versed in the 
doctrines of modern philosophy ; those who have already seen the absurdity 
of those unreal entities called Pneuma and Phusis and Psuke will read the 
author’s remarks with a conviction that there is something in his theory. 
And even if they do not go so far, they cannot but derive pleasure from 
reading his forcible English, and profit from pondering on his very suggestive 
remarks on the physics of metaphysics, if we may use such an Llibernianism. 
The one blemish which the author shows, is his somewhat irrational advocacy 
of Gall’s Phrenology. This surprises us considerably, for Mr. Bray has paid 
no small degree of attention to some of our finest works on Physiology and 
Psychology, and we can only regard it as one of those prejudices which are 
often parasitic on even abler brains than his. 
* The Science of Man : a Birds eye View of the wide and fertile Field 
of Anthropology.” By Charles Bray. London : Longmans, 1868. 
