Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 30.djvu/587

Rh much, apparently, for the use of language as a fine art, although he had a great appreciation of arrangement and composition; and much of his best work was spoken before it was actually written. He had and exercised an aptitude for acquiring languages, and this probably turned, as Mr. Pollock suggests, on the fact that "a new language is a riddle before it is conquered, a power in the hand afterward; to Clifford every riddle was a challenge, and every chance of new power a divine opportunity to be seized." He prosecuted his studies in college with a view to what he wanted to learn rather than to passing the examinations, and therefore came out second wrangler, when by following the other course he might have been far in advance as first. This pursuit of knowledge for its own sake was the leading characteristic of his work throughout his life, "The discovery of truth was for him an end in itself, and the proclamation of it, or of whatever seemed to lead to it, a duty of primary and paramount obligation. This had something to do with the fascination of his teaching: he never seemed to be imposing dogmas on his hearers, but to be leading them into the enjoyment of a common possession. His affections went out to those whose lines of thought were in sympathy with his, without caring whether they agreed in results or not. Everything he said and did was straightforward; "and this, being joined to subtilty and wide range of vision, became in speculation and discussion a very formidable power. If there was anything for which he had no toleration, it was insincerity in thought, word, or deed. He expressed his own opinions plainly and strongly because he held it the duty of every man so to do; he could not discuss great subjects in a half-hearted fashion under a system of mutual conventions. As for considerations of policy or expediency that seemed to interfere in any way with the downright speaking of truth for truth's sake, he was simply incapable of entertaining them." Hence, and by reason of his charming social qualities, while it was possible to take offense at certain passages in his writings, it was "impossible not to like the man." Such was the man whose peculiar modes of thought are reflected in the essays in this volume. The papers, which are preceded by a few selections from Clifford's letters, are sixteen in number. The subjects are: "Some of the Conditions of Mental Development"; "Theories of the Physical Forces"; "The Aims and Instruments of Scientific Thought"; "Atoms"; "The First and the Last Catastrophe"; "The Unseen Universe"; "The Philosophy of the Pure Sciences"; "Body and Mind"; "The Nature of Things-in-Themselves"; "The Scientific Basis of Morals"; "Right and Wrong: the Scientific Ground of their Distinction"; "The Ethics of Belief"; "The Ethics of Religion"; "The Influence upon Morality of a Decline in Religious Belief"; "Cosmic Emotion"; and "Virchow on the Teaching of Science." The essays on "Types of Compound Statement," and "Instruments used in Measurement," which appeared in the first edition of the book, are omitted from the present one, having found a more fitting place in the volume of "Mathematical Papers," which was published in 1882.

hand-book was prepared to supplement the instructions of the Coast and Geodetic Survey; it furnishes information regarding the practical details of a magnetic survey. The discussion on the method of least squares is, as the writer states in the preface, an extension of an article in Weisbach's "Mechanics."

McGee, W. J. On the Meridional Deflection of Ice-Streams, pp. 7. The Relations of Geology and Agriculture, pp. 8.

Philosophical Society of Washington. Discussion of "What is a Glacier?" pp. 3. Discussion of the Charleston Earthquake, pp. 8.

Eccles, Robert G., M. D. Drugs and Digestion. Pp. 26.

Wheeler, H. A., and Luedeklng, C. Iodine in Blowpiping. Pp. 7, with Plates.

May, Thomas J. M. D., Philadelphia. Some of tho Causes of Pulmonary Consumption viewed from a Darwinian Standpoint. Pp. 16.

Sanborn. John Wentworth. The Roots and Stems of Words in the Latin Language explained and illustrated with Examples. Albion, N. Y. Pp. 14.