Page:Science vol. 5.djvu/325

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��SCIENCE.

��(Irawing-together of the scattered iiarticles, become beate<l. according to the well-kaown liLW for gasea.

Il will not do. perlin|)9. lo be critical liero. any more tliou one sliotiUI be of a I'airj-tale, Tor it would destroy the charm of the illusion ; and there is no reason why this speculation is not as good as. or [lerhaps better than, niiy other cosmolc^ical theory.

The book, Fuither. eontnins an additional part, giving a liistorical ac-counl of the evo- lution of cosmogonic doctrines; while, as :i whole, it uonlaine very full references to the literature of the subjects discussed.

��HOVEY'S MIND-READINd.

Tire title of this book gives no adequitle idea of its contents. It is a very full account. indeed in great part a reprint, of such of the Proceedings of the English Society for psychi- ral research as refer to thought-transference, with n few pages of introductOiTi' and conchid- ing matter. Why this fact should not be made apparent in the title, we fail to see. as it is distinctly stated in the body of the work, and IE evident on every page. The title will naturally sn^est to the reader an original dis- cussion of the history or philosophy of the sub- ject, which the hook does not pretend to give him. None the less, however, must we thank the author for presenting to the .\merican reader so complete an account of what is really important and interesting in the volumes tssueil by the society referred to. He has wisely omitted every thing not pertaining to the spe- cial subject of mind-reading and telepathy. The matter [Mrtaining to this subject is pi'e- sented so fully and so faithfully, that it leaves little for the reviewer to say of the general character of the contents of the book.

What are really original, ai-e the author's own discussions In the flrst and last chapters. These discussions are, we regret lo sny, of a nature rather to cast discredit upon the whole subject, in the minds of the closest thinkers, than to throw light upon it. The author wholly mistakes the point at issue between the believers and unbelievers in psychic force. He joins the great army of hobby-ridera by holding up to ridicule or disapprobation cer- tain real or supposed men who in the past have opjiosed, on st-ientilic grounds, views which alterwani turned out to be correct. This is just what every man does who has an

��engine to run without fuel, or a patent gun which is to destroy the largest armored shij). Mr, Hovey represents those wlio differ from him as men who pronounce untnie that which they cannot explain ; and all the way through he imagines himself talking about people who deny his facts. Now, there are no such people worth talking about, and there is no question of fact at issue. The real slate of the case is. that he has a theorj- for explaining admitted facts, and the onl>' men he has to op|)ose are those who do not lielieve that he has estab- lisiied his theory. The admitted facts are cer- taiu phenomena known as mind-reading, and certain acts of copying drawings by a blind- folded [)erson not in contact with any other person. The contested theory is that tbese facts prove the transfer of thought from mind to mind without the intervention of any physi- cal agency. Those who refuse to accept this theory tnay or may not have a tlicory of their owu: it is not at all incumbent on them to form one. They may say that thej- meet with phenomena which they cannot explain, every day of their lives, and that this is amongst them. The psychic societies were organized for the express pur|»se of investigating the subject, and finding out what theory, if any, was the correct one. If there were not some question as to how (he phenomena should be explained, there would be little occasion for a [isychical society.

��TriB lecture-notes on general chemistry, by Dr. J. T. .Stoddard, are, as the title indicates, merely an outline which should be the basis of a student's notes in a course of experimen- tal lectures. A few general principles of the science are given briefly, and then follow state- ments of the properties, uses, history, method of preparation, andoccurrence, of the common- est of the non-metals and theu' compounds. The appendix contains some tables and hints as to the methods of chemical calculation. From its briefness, the book can Iw of little value except as a suggestion of some elemen- tary facts which the beginner shoidd learn ; and its use as an outline for the basis of a

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