390
��[Vol. v., No. 118.
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��modern luelliotls of il lustra lion. Its piirpoae is to give a general popular knowledge of these processes, rather than to give those explicit directions which would enable otie to carri' them out in practice. In one or two places the description is not qnite clear, as in the account of Mr. Eckstein's process, on p. 45. Again : under ' Instantaneous photography,' the state- ment of some of the optical phenomena is incorrect. But, with these trifling exceptions, the book is an at^miraMe one, and well adapted, in connection with a course of lectures, to serve as a test-book in our colleges and high schools.
In the preface to Clevenger's ' Comparative physiology,' the aiillior states that " Faraday, Huxley, and Tyndall, in chemistry, biology, and physics, with the host of workers in nerve phenomena, have afforded the materials for the author's work. Darwin and Spencer have taught him how to make use of them." The book shows that the writer reads widely, and thinks about what he reads. But to publish the quotations which have impressed one, with the ideas they have awakened, even if those ideas are apt and original, is hardly wise. The work contains some carefVil observations which have a bearing upon the doctrine of evolution ; but these are presented in such a fragmentary way, and in such an anxiously defensive tone, that it is difflcultto appreciate their force. The defect in the hook is owing to a lack of jmwer of analysis and synthesis. It has no method of arrangement, and it has no easy grouping of analogous fact. Some pages read like a series of proverbs, each one complete, but out of rela- tion to all the rest (pp. 125-123) : hence it is dilHcult to become interested, as the attention is not held. If one has worked out a system of philosophy which reconciles all the facts of physiology and psychology, it should be care- fully digested and arranged before being placed before the world, and then its acceptance wilt lai^ely depend upon a style which attracts, and a confident power of persuasion which con- vinces.
The plan laid down by the Holders in the preface to their ' Elements of zoology ' is excel- lent. Each branch, class, and order is to be plainly defined, and its difference from preceding ones shown. Available examples arc to be chosen, and the student encouraged to per- sonal investigation. The specimens described are, as far as possible, available. But the first promise is almost entirely disregarded. In- deed, the author seems to have such a fear of dassifi cation, that the book is a mass of facts, without any apparent system of arrangement.
���The descriptions of the lower invertebrate classes are so meagre and unsatisfactory, that it is sometimes impossible to tell exactly what group is intended without reference to the hcailing of the section, or to the cuts, which are generally excellent. Much less could the average student take any given normal speci- men, and, by reference to the text, locate it in its proper class, and find there a clear descrip- tion of its anatomical structure. Why do nearly all our elementary text-books devote fiom a third to a fourth of their space to mammals and birds, to the neglect of more available, but rather less familiar grou]>s (e.g., insects), which would furnish an inexhaustible mine of material easily accessible to the stu- dent's iuveatigation? The notes on the eco- nomic im|x>rtance of different groups form a new and interesting feature ; and the bibliog- raphy is excellent, in referring almost alto- gether to works which should be within reach of every teacher and student.
��NOTES AND NEWS.
It is announced that a lerlous revolt agniusC the Turklali power baa arisen in Morocco. Six provinces. or ccitiCoderateit bodies of popuUlioti, are implicated. Tlie situation is grave, though tuch matters are not rapidly disposed of in that country. Practically. all that part between the 6th and 7th degrees of west longitude from Paris Is to-day independent of the Hultun; and the Berdber, Indomitable and fero- cious, have, both in Ihe north and south, revolted against an authority lo which, by the way, they were never entirely submiaslre. Part of Ihls tribe are niountatneerB, like the Kabyles ; the rest, equally Berce nomads. Together they can muster twenty or thirty thousand rifles In war-time, Uorocco for a long time hu contained three targe regions which maintained their independence. In the quietest time^ only about one-half the area denomlnaleil Morocco on the best maps has acknowledged the temporal nuthority of the sultan. The Beriber, moreover, are the clients and religious Adherents of the princely family ot Sheik Walad SIdi nf Algeria, whose head, long retldent In Paris, is now the declared enemy of France, and one of the foremost soldiers of the S^noitsian confrater- nity. Prom these facts, It is evident that serious con- sequences might flow from the present disturbances.
— Serpa-Pinto writes from the Mozambique coast, at Port Bocage, that he is about Ui lead an Important scientiflc expedition Into equatorial Africa for Portu- gal. He will not visit the Kongo, as has been errone- ously reported. He will be assisted in astronomical matters by Deut. Cardozo and Paul Mapp (phol<^- rapher), a hundred Zulus armed with modern rifles of the best kind, and four hundred |>orters. His mtsaion la to study the country between the uppor
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