Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 25.djvu/284

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274
THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.

rive at a true understanding of mental phenomena, and also by the systematic character and evident thoroughness of his studies in the nervous system. His volume has interest from this point of view, quite independent of any special conclusions at which he has arrived. The first edition was published in 1879, and met with so favorable a reception that he has found it desirable, from his own ripening views and from important contributions that have been recently made to the subject of animal intelligence, to revise it, and publish the second edition, which has now appeared. While Dr. Calderwood has, of course, a large appreciation of the importance of the organic factors in psychical science, it need hardly be said that he writes very much in the interest of the old mental philosophy, and against what he regards as the inordinate claims of materialistic doctrine. The object of his book, as he says, "is to ascertain what theory of mental life is warranted on strictly scientific evidence," and nothing certainly can be more significant of the progress of mental philosophy than this unreserved acceptance of the strictly scientific method in its pursuit, and the acknowledged necessity there is of studying organic derangements in connection with mental aberrations, and of studying the psychical manifestations of inferior animals, if a valid and comprehensive theory of mind is to be reached.

The Fertilization of Flowers. By Professor Hermann Müller, translated and edited by D'Arcy W. Thompson, B. A. With a Preface by Charles Darwin. Illustrated. London and New York: Macmillan & Co. Pp. 669. Price, $5.

This comprehensive book is a collection of all the latest information upon a subject which pertains to the relations of two sciences—botany and entomology. It was not until the close of the last century that the true nature and significance of flowers began to be perceived, and we are indebted to Sprengel for the earliest true explanations of the most important phenomena in the life of flowers. From that time onward observations have accumulated and explanations multiplied until the present age, when the whole subject received a new impulse and took a new direction under the influence of the Darwinian school. Of the book before us, which is quite a cyclopædia of the subject, Mr. Darwin says in the prefatory notice, which was one of the very last of his writings:

The publication of a translation of Hermann Muller's "Die Befruchtung der Blumen," etc., will without doubt be a great service to every English botanist or entomologist who is interested in general biological problems. The book contains an enormous mass of original observations on the fertilization of flowers, and on the part which insects play in the work, given with much clearness and illustrated with many excellent woodcuts. It includes references to everything which has been written on the subject; and in this respect the English edition will greatly exceed in value even the original German edition of 1878, as Müller has completed the references up to the present time. No one else could have done the latter work so well, as he has kept a full account of all additions to our knowledge on this subject. Any one who will carefully study the present work, and then observe for himself, will be sure to make some interesting discoveries; and, as the references to all that has been observed are so complete, he will be saved the disappointment of finding that which he thought was new was an already well-known fact.

The Unity of Nature. By the Duke of Argyll. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Pp. 571. Price, $2.50.

This work is a sequel to "The Reign of Law," published in 1866. It is of philosophical import, and devoted to the discussion of many of the most important questions and problems concerning the order and government of nature, which have come into great prominence in new forms in the present age. It is written from the orthodox stand-point, is full of acute criticisms, displays a wide familiarity with the results of science, is full of controversy, and is an elegantly printed and very handsome book—as becomes its ducal authorship.

For Mothers and Daughters: A Manual OF Hygiene for the Household. By Mrs. E. G. Cook, M. D. New York: Fowler & Wells. Pp. 292. Price, $1.50.

The author has spent many years in studying the causes of the sufferings of women and trying to relieve them. Believing that they came of ignorance or violation of Nature's laws, she has composed this work to point out those laws, and direct such women as it can influence to return to them. In it are discussed, briefly, the ordinary subjects of hygiene, and the special functions