REVIEWS OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
55 
subject than which we cannot conceive one more lofty or more important to our 
welfare both here and hereafter. Some authors write as if they were addressing a 
nation of atheists, and are ever endeavoring, by arguments the most tedious and 
common-place, to convince their benighted readers that there actually exists an 
Almighty Power. Away with this cant and hypocrisy—for no other terms 
would so aptly express our meaning—let us have no more of this blind mis¬ 
guided Veneration, which at certain times and in certain minds seems to over¬ 
cloud even the emanations of men talented and otherwise amiable. We would 
not be understood to charge this mania upon the Rev. Dr. Duncan— but may 
hint that he verges upon the overbearing and exclusive spirit common, in these 
matters, to clergy in general, and to divines of the Church of England in parti¬ 
cular. We feel no inclination to discuss, either here or elsewhere, the motives 
which actuate the policy of the established or of any other church, but we shall 
ever be ready to pass the most unqualified censure on the pseudo-religion of 
which we have been speaking—especially where introduced into works of sci¬ 
ence, which it is more calculated to retard than any thing we know. 
Having taken this opportunity of expressing our opinion on an important 
point, we shall conclude by promising the reader considerable amusement and 
instruction from the series of which the volume before us is the conclusion. 
Considerations on the Vital Principle ; with a Description of Mr. Crosse’s 
Experiments. By John Murray, F.S.A., F.L.S., &c. London : Effingham 
Wilson, Royal Exchange. 1837. pp. 22. 8vo. 
The universal apathy of the periodical press in its notices of Mr. Crosse’s 
marvellous experiments, and the general inertness of scientific men on so curious 
a subject, has often surprised us. The comparative silence of the former may be 
accounted for on the score of inability scientifically to investigate the matter; 
and the latter class are notoriously slow and unwilling to examine new theories, 
however important their results might be if true. In order to support these pre¬ 
mises, it will only be necessary to mention the names of Galileo, Jenner, 
Harvey, Gall, and a host of others, and to allude to the severe and disgrace¬ 
fully unjust ordeal which the homoeopathic system of Medicine is now undergoing. 
It was, therefore, with feelings of considerable pleasure—alloyed, we must con¬ 
fess, with some suspicions —that we hailed the appearance of the pamphlet whose 
title appears at the head of this article. Had it contained “ more reasons and 
less railing ”—fewer charges of atheism, &c.—we should have been better pleased. 
As regards Mr. Crosse’s experiments we think it probable, from all we have 
heard or read on the subject, that the following conclusion at which Mr. Mur¬ 
ray has arrived is correct, namely, that the ova of the Acarus derived from 
