which the record is found in fossils. It is a branch of geology, the pages of the record being the stone strata or the coal formations of the crust of the globe. The two large volumes of Professor Nicholson's Manual of Palæontology for the Use of Students' (1879) go more fully into all the facts, and are more richly illustrated; but the smaller volume covers the ground sufficiently for ordinary reading.

Imagest, The, by Ptolemy of Alex

as

It

andria, about 150 A. D. This great astronomical and mathematical work established the "Ptolemaic System » astronomical science for 1400 years, until the Copernican overthrew it, and gave to celestial calculations the permanent basis of trigonometrical mathematics. Hipparchus, nearly three hundred years before, had made those advances in astronomy and mathematics of which Ptolemy's work is the only existing report. was mainly as a systematic expounder, correcting and improving earlier work, that Ptolemy became so great a representative figure in the literature of science. The system which bears his name was implicitly held by earlier philosophers, but his statement became the authority to which it was referred. His work, entitled "The Great Composition,' was called by the Arabs magisté, "greatest," and with al, "the," the name Almagest' came into use. The Geography of Ptolemy, in which he was more original than in his other great work, was the geographical authority in science even longer than the 'Almagest' was in astronomy. The materials of the work were derived in great part from Marinus of Tyre, who lived shortly before him, but the skill with which Ptolemy used them gave his work its high authoritative character. A series of twenty-six maps, and a general map of the world, illustrated the Geography.'

But the causes operating with sudden violence in the earthquake are at work in other ways, causing tremors or pulsations, either too small in extent or too slow and protracted to come under ordinary observation. And on an immense scale what are called oscillations-gradual and very extended movements are always taking place. The causes and methods of these are explained in Professor Milne's very readable volume. In 1892 he assisted in bringing out twenty-nine large reproductions of photographs showing the effect of the great earthquake of 1891 in Japan, on the face of the country and on the life of the people. These, with the letterpress story, furnish a singularly interesting earthquake exhibit.

Mechanism of the Heavens, The, by

Pierre Simon Laplace. The first two volumes of this remarkable work were published in 1799, the third appeared in 1803, the fourth in 1805, and the fifth in 1825. The author has set forth in one homogeneous work the leading results which had been separately achieved by his predecessors, at the same time proving their harmony and interdependence. The entire work is divided into sixteen books, treating of: The General Laws of Equilibrium and Motion; The Law of Universal Gravity; The Form of the Heavenly Bodies; The Oscillation of the Sea, and of the Atmosphere; The Movement of the Heavenly Bodies on their Axes; The Theory of Planetary Movements; The Theory of the Moon; The Satellites of Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus; Comets; The Form and Rotation of the Earth; Attraction and Repulsion of the Spheres; The Laws of Equilibrium and Movements of Fluids; The Oscillation of Fluids that cover the Planets; The Movement of Planets and Comets; and The Movement of Satellites. The work is very diffuse, and it is said that the author found himself at times obliged to devote an hour's labor to recovering the lost links in the chain of reasoning covered by the recurring formula, "It is easy to see." (The Exposition of the System of the World,' by the same author, is a more popular dissertation on the same subject, disembarrassed of the analytical paraphernalia of the greater work. It has been truly said that Laplace was not properly an astronomer, but rather belonged to that class of savants who, neglecting direct

observation of phenomena, depend upon the observations of others, and discover by force of calculation and meditation those great laws of which the patient researches of observers have shown the elements, without suspecting the principle.

Translated by Mrs. Mary Somerville in England, and by Nathaniel Bowditch in America.

Creation, Natural History of, by

Ernst Heinrich Haeckel, 1868. A brilliantly written exposition of evolution theories in their most extreme form, of which Mr. Darwin said, "If this work had appeared before my essay had been written, I should probably never have completed it." The acceptance of the work is shown by eight editions of the German original within ten years, and translation into twelve languages. Haeckel's 'Evolution of Man,' the English translation of his 'Anthropogenie) (1874), is another widely popular exposition of his extreme tendencies in science. The immense labor which Haeckel performed n his monumental five-volume contribution to the Challenger Reports, and his lucid and brilliant Generale Morphologie,' have placed him in the highest rank of living naturalists. He is especially unsurpassed among naturalists in his mastery of artistic execution.

Evo

volution-Philosophy, Outline of, by M. E. Cazelles; translated from the French by O. B. Frothingham. (1874.) This thin volume of one hundred pages contains the clearest and most attractive brief statement of the philosophy of Herbert Spencer which has been given to the reading public. Beginning with the question, "How far can the universe be explained?"-the insoluble "whence,» "why," "whither," of mankind—the author explains the ground work and starting-point of Mr. Spencer's system of thought; confessing that "By strict necessity, explanation brings us face to face with the inexplicable: we have to admit a datum which cannot be ex

plained; but showing that we can distinguish necessary data from unnecessary. The history of objects must be taken up at its origin; and philosophy must be not only the theory of all these histories, a systematizing of the axioms of all the sciences, but a theory of the modifications of things. Spencer's Doctrine of Progress is next explained with great clearness; the deduction being irrefutable

that "Progress is not an accident, nor a thing within human control, but a beneficent necessity." The Law of Evolution is next unfolded; and two chapters are given to Positivism and Comte's fundamental doctrines. Spencer's theory of the Order of the Sciences is next considered; and the final paper is upon Evolution and Government. In this careful and interesting exposition it is explained how government as such, a system of restraint, has passed from the arbitrary into the reasonable, and must find its domain more and more limited as the reign of moral ideas is extended; that religion is legitimate and science indispensable, and that as humanity advances, not only perpetual peace will be established between these two, but it will be understood by mankind that "law is at once inexorable and beneficent; that by conformity to it people march toward a higher degree of perfection, and reach a higher degree of happiness. For this reason Spencer urges the observance of law; for this reason he is indignant at its misapprehension. It is in affirming the eternal principles of things and the necessity of obeying them, that he shows himself essentially religious.»

Anthropology: AN INTRODUCTION TO

OF MAN AND CIVILIZATION, by E. B. Tylor: 1881. A work designed to give so much of the story of man as can be made interesting to the general reader. It tells what is known of the earliest appearance of man on the globe; of the races of mankind; of languages and writing; of the various arts of life and arts of pleasure, as they were developed; of the beginnings of science; of the earliest stages of religion, mythology, and literature; and of the first customs of human society. The work is a valuable contribution to popular knowledge of the origins of human culture. Like all Professor Tylor's books, it is eminently readable.

Intellectual Development, The His

tory of, Vol. i., by John Beattie Crozier. The first volume of an elaborate work on the origin and evolution of the systems of thought which have made up the intellectual development of the human mind. The present volume tells the story of Greek philosophy, which was so long believed by all to stand alone; and with it that of Hindoo thought, the

philosophical systems of India, which are now known to rival the Greek as products of the intellect, and as expressions of spiritual aspiration, if not as aids to the moral life and helps to social and political crder. The philosophies of Greece and of India are fountain-heads of thought never surpassed as intellectual outbursts, and suggesting a law of origin widely different from that cf evolution as commonly understood. in sequel to these ancient systems, Mr. Crozier embraces in his survey the developments of Græco-Roman paganism, those of Judaism, and those of Christianity in the Roman empire down to 529 A. D., the date at which the latest schools of Athens were closed by the emperor Justinian. In an earlier work, Civilization and Progress,' Mr. Crozier indicated his views in philosophy; arguing that the controlling factor of civilization is the material and social condition of man, and that in accordance with material and social needs, ideas of right and wrong are formed.

Institutes of the Christian Religion,

by John Calvin. The first great theological work after the Reformation, undertaking to establish, against Roman Catholic belief and usage, a Protestant system of doctrine and communion; and through its service as such, and its masterly grasp of system and argument, widely accepted as the standard of reformed theology. The original design of the author was to make a small work for popular instruction; and his first edition conformed to this design, except as he changed his plan in order to lay before the King of France, Francis I., a defense of the Reformed Confession. By

same time it supplies many elements of modern culture. The distinction given the author by this work led to his having a seven years' period of service in India as legal member of the Council; and on his return to England and appointment to a professorship of jurisprudence at Oxford, his first course of lectures was published as Village Communities (1871). It was another course of Oxford lectures which gave the substance of his 'Early Institutions'; in which, as in Village Communities,' he drew from knowledge gained in India to throw light upon ancient social and political forms. Not only were these works among the first examples of thorough historical research into the origins of social order and political organization, but the skill in exposition and admirable style in which they are executed make them of permanent interest as models of investigation. The work of Maine on the origin and growth of legal and social institutions was completed by a volume in 1883 on Early Law and Custom. A principal contention of Maine was that patriarchal or fatherly authority was the earliest germ of social order.

Beginners of a Nation, The. A his

tory of the source and rise of the earliest English settlements in America, with special reference to the life and character of the people. The first volume in a history of life in the United States.' By Edward Eggleston. (1896.) This is the first volume of a proposed History of the United States, on the lines set forth by Mr. Eggleston in the sub-title quoted above. The volume is fully and carefully treated in the LIBRARY, under 'Eggleston.'

work reached the form in which it is now known.

Early History of Institutions, Lect

ures on the, by Henry Sumner Maine, LL. D. (1875.) In his remarkable work on 'Ancient Law: Its Connection with the Early History of Society, and its Relation to Modern Ideas' (1861), Sir Henry Maine attempted to indicate some of the earliest ideas of mankind, as reflected in ancient law, and to point out the relation of those ideas to modern thought. To a large extent the illustrations were drawn from Roman law, because it bears in its earliest portions traces of the most remote antiquity, and at the

John Fiske. The occasion and manner of this book, in the author's series of American History volumes, are indicated in a few sentences of the preface:

casting off the original sin of its inLeritance from primeval savagery, it is scarcely possible in any age to get a result which will look quite satisfactory to the man of a riper and more enlightened age.

Fortunately we can learn

something from the stumblings of our forefathers; and a good many things seem quite clear to us to-day, which two centuries ago were only beginning to be dimly discerned by a few of the keenest and boldest spirits. The faults of the Puritan theocracy, which found its most complete development in Massachusetts, are so glaring that it is idle to seek to palliate them or to explain them away. But if we would really understand what was going on in the Puritan world of the seventeenth century, and how a better state of things has grown out of it, we must endeavor to distinguish and define the elements of wholesome strength in that theocracy, no less than its elements of crudity and weakness."

In the scientific spirit, which seeks the truth only and never the buttressing of any theory, yet with the largest liberality of judgment, the historian illustrates the upward trend of mankind from its earlier low estate. His philosophic bent appears most lucidly expressed in the first chapter, where the Roman idea of nationmaking is contrasted with the English idea; the Roman conquest, with incorporation but without representation, with the English conquest, which always meant incorporation with representation. Then follow a description of the Puritan exodus, and the planting of New England, with comments on its larger meanings, a picture of the New England confederacy; the scenes of King Philip's lurid war, and the story of the tyranny of Andros,James the Second's despotic viceroy,which began the political troubles between the New England and the Old, that ended only with American independence. This volume, as will be inferred, is among the most interesting and suggestive of Mr. Fiske's many monographs.

New England Primer, The.

This

famous work, the earliest edition of which known to exist was published in Boston in 1727, has passed through various changes of form and text.

An eighteenth-century edition contains the alphabet and syllabarium, followed by several columns of simple words. Next appears

THE DUTIFUL CHILD'S PROMISE.
I will fear God, honor the King,
I will honor my Father and Mother,
I will obey my superiors.

The alphabet rhymes, illustrated by crude wood-cuts, follow. Among the most atrocious of these is the picture of the man of patience, spotted with sores, accompanied by this rhyme:

"Job feels the rod,

Yet blesses God."

here is said to have been a picture of the Crucifixion in an earlier edition, with appropriate rhyme; which our rigid Puritan ancestors discarded in favor of Job, claiming that it smacked of paрасу.

Among other curious rhymes may be quoted:

"Proud Korah's troop

Was swallowed up." "Peter denies

His Lord, and cries."

• Whales in the sea God's voice obey.

Time cuts down all,

Both great and small."

The last rhyme is illustrated by a picture of the Grim Destroyer mowing a broad swath with an old-fashioned scythe.

After the Lord's Prayer and the creed is an illustration of John Rogers surrounded by blazing fagots, guarded by the sheriff, with his wife and "nine small children and one at the breast" gazing upon his martyrdom. There is an account of John Rogers, and a copy of his rhymed address to his children.

AN ALPHABET OF LESSONS next appears, beginning with

A wise son maketh a glad father, but a

foolish son is the heaviness of his mother;

Bimbi: Stories for Children. Ouida

has done nothing so perfectly as her stories of child-life. In Bimbi we see her at her best. The stories are simply but charmingly told, and show a wonderfully intimate sympathy with children. The characters are mostly little peasants, sweet, natural, and thoughtful, filled with a love of beauty and of old legends, and touched with the simple spontaneous heroism that is possible only to a child.

Hirschvogel,' which opens the volume, is the story of a German boy's romantic attachment for a beautiful porcelain stove, made by the great master Hirschvogel. August's father having sold the stove, the child secretes himself in it, and after a terrible journey of three days is found inside by the young king who has bought it; and who, pleased with the child's devotion, allows him to stay with his beloved Hirschvogel and receive an artist's education.

'Moufflou takes its name from a clever poodle, which Lolo, his little lame master, had taught to do many tricks. Lolo's

mother having sold the dog while he was away, the child takes the loss so much to heart that he becomes ill, and is saved from death only by the opportune arrival of Moufflou, who has escaped and walked many miles to find his little master.

Findelkind is a boy whose whole life is saddened because some twin lambs from his flock stray, and are frozen to death, while he is away upon a quest for money with which to found a monastery.

The Little Earl who gives his name to the last story in the book learns early the lesson that "It is the title they give me and the money I have got that makes people so good to me. When I am only

me you see what it is."

'In the Apple Country' relates how a young Englishman receives into his home Gemma, a hot-tempered, warm-hearted little Italian girl, with her grandfather and brother, who have been arrested for strolling. And when Gemma has grown into a beautiful girl, impulsive still, but sweet and gentle, she consents to give up forever the grapes and oranges of Italy to live in the "Apple Country," as Philip Corey's wife.

Perhaps the most charming of the stories is The Child of Urbino,> Two friends of the child Rafaelle - Luca, a noble youth, and his sweetheart Pacifica, a gentle maiden-are in great trouble. Pacifica's father, a great artist, has prom

ised his daughter's hand to the painter winning in a contest to be decided by the duke, and Luca could paint but ill. On the day of the decision the duke and all present gaze in wonder upon one piece, which is found to be the work of the seven year-old child Rafaelle. Modestly and quietly the child claims Pacifica, takes her hand and places it in Luca's. They tell Luca that an angel has come down for him. "But Luca heard not: he was still kneeling at the feet of Rafaelle, where the world has knelt ever since.»

Old

Mamselle's Secret, The (Das Geheimniss der alten Mamsell), by "E. Marlitt" (Eugénie John), has its action in Thuringia, Germany, in the early part of the nineteenth century. In the town hall of X a performance takes place, the chief actors of which are Orlowsky, a juggler, and his wife Meta, a beautiful and refined woman. A tragedy occurs: the great trick miscarries, and she falls mortally wounded by a stupid assistant. She implores her husband to place their little girl of four years in some quiet home. Herr Hellwig, a retired merchant, compassionately adopts the child, Felicitas, in spite of the violent opposition of his wife,—a woman full of pious cant, but cruel by nature. They have two sons: John, who is away at school, and Nathaniel, aged seven. Of the two servants, Frederika is her mistress's humble counterpart, and Heinrich his master's.

Felicitas is tenderly cared for by Herr Hellwig until his death a few years later. Thenceforward she becomes a household drudge, only retained because of the dying man's injunction to John.

Felicitas accidentally discovers the Old Mamselle, her benefactor's aunt, ostracized by the family, and living in a remote part of the mansion; and through her loving instruction, in stolen hours, Felicitas becomes very accomplished.

Nine years later, John, now become a famous physician in Bonn, orders his cousin, the Councilor's widow, to Xfor her child's health; and together with him they become members of the Hellwig household. The beautiful but violent-tempered young widow lays siege to John. He, however, falls in love with Felicitas, whom as a child he had treated harshly. She hates him bitterly, and hopes soon to live openly with the