Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 3.djvu/801

Rh man's conscious relation to the Infinite. The savage who wonders at the unseen but mighty wind that streams from unknown realms of power ha3 already the germ of the feeling which inspires religion. But the conscious relation to the Infinite includes every stage in this consciousness, just as the name of a plant includes the blade as well as the fruit. If the evolution of religion be a normal phase in the development of mankind, there must be at the root of it that grand and measureless Power which is the inevitable complement of the conception of evolution. All evolution implies a divine Power, but religious evolution has to do with the dim apprehension of that Power in consciousness. Mr. Herbert Spencer, to continue the reasoning of the author, has been much blamed, by many religious thinkers, for making the reconciliation between science and religion to lie in the recognition on both sides that "the Power which the universe manifests to us is utterly inscrutable." Yet the very persons who most strenuously object to this suggestion are in the habit of quoting the words of Scripture which declare the unsearchable mystery of the Divine Nature. Those words are used to rebuke the arrogance of philosophy. But, when philosophy learns the lesson, its humility is condemned as wilful blindness. The true philosophy of ignorance, however, retains as an indestructible element of human consciousness an apprehension of something beyond all fragmentary existence, the Absolute Being, at once the only true substance, and the One that constitutes a universe from the phenomenal world. It is inevitable that attempts should be made to give practical expression to this feeling. And in such efforts we find the first germs of religion.

With the imperfect summary which we have given of the views maintained in this volume, it will be perceived that its position in literature is that of a commentary on new developments of thought, rather than of a complete exposition of any system of philosophy or science. Accepting the consequences of modern physical research, it aims to establish their consistency with the principles of a high religious faith, and thus to remove the vague alarms which their prevalence has called forth in certain portions of the community. The author is evidently a man of an ardent poetical temperament, of a reverent and tender spirit, and an aptitude for illustration rather than for demonstration.—N. Y. Tribune.

is number one of Van Nostrand's science series, and is a technological monograph that will be useful to engineers and builders. The author says: "Furnaces or closed fireplaces, which it is the main design of this essay to treat upon, are essentially different in principle and construction to the ordinary open fireplaces of dwelling-houses, as they are exceedingly different in their general scope and object, and in the vast variety of their applications;" and he then proceeds to expound the general philosophy of special chimneys for furnaces and steam-boilers.

is number two of the same series, and is a most instructive and readable essay. The editor states that, although published ten years ago, later experiences would add but little if any thing to the knowledge it affords. The various observed scientific questions in regard to the causes of steam-boiler explosions, such as over-heating, electricity, the spheroidal state, decomposed steam, etc., are considered, but Mr. Colburn maintains that, whether these are valid causes of explosion or not, they are collectively as nothing compared with the one great cause—defective boilers. The style in which this essay is written is a model of simplicity and clearness.

Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences commences this year the publication of their Bulletin, which it is proposed to continue, four numbers to be issued annually. The two numbers before us contain seven papers, six of which are devoted to the describing and cataloguing of American moths, and one gives descriptions of new species of