674 
Analyses of Books. 
[November, 
On Miracles and Modern Spiritualism. Three Essays. By 
Alfred Russel Wallace. Second Edition. London : 
Triibner and Co. 
The phenomena commonly known as spiritualistic occupy a most 
exceptional position. If a man of Science, of well-proved merit, 
dissatisfied with the vulgar explanations of “ jugglery and im- 
posture,” ventures to examine the question as he would any other 
unsolved problem, he is forthwith assailed with the most scan- 
dalous misrepresentations. If a reviewer in dealing with a 
Spiritualist work expounds its tenets fairly and candidly, he too 
has sinned against those self-constituted authorities who pre- 
sume to didlate what we are to investigate and what we are to 
overlook. As perfectly disinterested spectators we cannot but 
suspeCt that this evident wish to suppress is the outcome of a 
fear lest some, at least, of the teachings of Spiritualism should be 
true. Every man of Science in the present century is — or at 
least professes himself — ready to submit his most cherished the- 
ories to revision. Is then Monism — the dodtrine that there exists 
in this universe naught save matter and motion — so dear to some 
of us that any testimony which might possibly tell against it 
must be dismissed unheard ? We fear this is in some quarters 
the prevailing sentiment. 
The work before us is one which may demand the serious and 
respectful attention of the scientific world. Its author is no 
weak-minded, ignorant fanatic. As the independent co-originator 
with Darwin of the doCtrine of Natural Selection, as the author 
of “ The Malay Archipelago ” and the “ Geographical Distribu- 
tion of Animals,” he has earned a world-wide reputation. He is 
everywhere recognised as a careful and accurate observer of 
faCts, and no less as a happy generaliser. His suggestiveness, 
his power of explaining difficulties, are well known in the scien- 
tific world. His early training, as he himself points out in his 
Preface, was of such a nature that he became a “ thorough and 
confirmed materialist.” Further, it cannot be assumed that Mr. 
Wallace, by coming forward as a believer in Spiritualism had 
anything to gain. On the contrary, by the part that he has taken 
he has in some quarters decidedly damaged his reputation. He 
himself gives us the reason for the striking, though gradual, 
change in his opinions : — “ The faCts beat me.” His curiosity 
was excited ; his desire for knowledge and love of truth led. him 
on. He strove vainly to account for the phenomena on the 
known principles of modern Science, and at last by slow degrees 
he felt compelled to accept the spiritual explanation. Surely 
after such avowals, coming from such a man, Spiritualism de- 
mands a more heedful examination than has been accorded to it 
by unscrupulous egotists and obscure “ exposers,” craving for 
notoriety if even under an alias. 
