Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 11.djvu/388

374 notes a striking and unexpected similarity between the insect fauna of Colorado and the Ural and Altai Mountains. He believes that a careful examination of the existing insects of the Western country will throw light on the extinct forms which abound in the Tertiary of that region. From an economic point of view, he is of the opinion that a systematic account of the insect family which embraces the measuring worms—so many of which are injurious to vegetation—cannot but be useful to agriculturists.

little pamphlet raises no questions of ethics, but, assuming the fundamental canons of morality and rules of conduct, it aims to drive them home into the minds of the young by brevity and sharpness of statement, so as to make the most indelible impression. It is interspersed with interesting illustrations of the sayings and doings of great men, which serve to give interest to the work. The idea is a good one, and well carried out within its compass; it is used in the public free schools of Virginia, and is a candidate for adoption in primary schools everywhere.

so-called "pagan" religions of antiquity—the religions of Greece and Home, of Babylonia and Assyria—so far as we get a knowledge of them from a superficial reading of ancient authors, appear to rest on a basis of childish imaginations, for their dogmatic side, while on their moral (or rather immoral) side they seem to have their roots in unbridled lust and debauchery. This view of pagan religions is still held by the vulgar, and not very long ago was current even among the learned. The author of the present work rendered valuable service to the philosophy of religion when, amid much obloquy, he devoted himself to a patient and dispassionate study of this subject, and showed that, like all other religions, those of antiquity were in their origin the expression of man's highest aspirations. Among the topics learnedly discussed by the author are the mysteries and orgies, phallic worship, the sacred emblems of the various gods, etc. The present edition of Knight's work is edited by Dr. Alexander Wilder, who adds an introduction, some notes, and a complete index. Further, the notes, which in the original edition are mostly in foreign languages, are here translated into English.

chief interest of this formidable volume lies in the fact that it is the production of a young English nobleman, who, notwithstanding the powerful influences brought to bear upon him to maintain his reputable position, chose to be free in the matter of thought, and had the courage to express and the determination to publish his opinions, regardless of their unpopularity. The volume indicates extensive and systematic reading, rather than much depth or originality of thought, and to persons who have a taste for skeptical literature it will have the freshness of an elaborate restatement of objections to religious dogma. Lord Amberly believes in the universality of the religious sentiment, as a part of the mental constitution of human nature—as a natural and not a supernatural thing—but he discredits its intellectual accompaniments as embodied in the doctrines and creeds of all religions. He professes to take the scientific standpoint, and to write in the scientific spirit, but we question if his book would take any rank as a scientific or authoritative contribution to the subject. Its scheme was too large, the man was too young, and had done no preliminary work in any of the special departments of science, to give him the power and maturity necessary to deal with so important a theme at the present time. Without comparing his work with that of Mr. Buckle, his position as regards science is not unlike that of the author of the "History of Civilization in England," who knew a great deal about scientific literature, and was much influenced by its method, but was not strong and thorough and well grounded in the