into this branch of the subject and neglect the many untrodden paths in inorganic chemistry, nevertheless no special or important discoveries are to be chronicled, unless we may mention the beautiful process by which indigo has been synthetically constructed by MM. Emmerling and Engler, following closely on the artificial manufacture of alizarine by MM. Liebermann and Graebe.

Molecular Physics has occupied a large share of attention, and the discussion before the Chemical Society on the existence or non-existence of atoms and molecules, has only too clearly shown how doctors differ among themselves, and that the very foundations of a science, considered so essential by some, are utterly repudiated by others. A very remarkable paper on the Size of Atoms, originally published in these columns by Sir William Thomson, in which he gives four distinct trains of reasoning by which he arrives at a proof of their absolute magnitude, has attracted much attention, and has been translated and copied into most of the Continental and American scientific journals. Dr. Thomas Andrews has also pursued his remarkable investigations on the continuity of the liquid and gaseous states of matter. The death of Professor Wm. Allen Miller, F.R.S., and Dr. Matthiessen, F.R.S., have left sad voids in the ranks of our English experimental chemists.

In Biology, the investigations of Professor Tyndall, "On Atmospheric Germs, and the Germ Theory of Disease," have contributed to a clearer knowledge of the nature of some of the most virulent of our infectious diseases, and have caused those diseases to be studied in a much more scientific manner than before.

The theory of spontaneous generation, which has been very prominently before the scientific world for the last ten years, has, during the past year, been very strongly attacked on the one hand by Professor Huxley, and defended on the other by Dr. Bastian and Dr. Child. In his inaugural address to the British Association meeting at Liverpool, Professor Huxley gave a long review of all the researches on the subject, from the time of Spallanzani and Needham to the present day, and declared his belief, after carefully weighing the evidence on both sides, that all life has its origin in some pre-existing life, and that spontaneous

generation, or, as he termed it, abioge nesis, is not now proved to take place. The investigations of Dr. Bastian, pub lished in these columns, gave the reasons for his belief that spontaneous generation certainly does occur. Feeling himself attacked and his experiments somewhat underrated by Professor Huxley in his address, he criticised it at considerable length, and detailed the results of some new experiments which confirmed his previous deductions.

The Darwinian theory of natural selec tion has been attacked by Mr. A. W. Bennett and Mr. Murray, and defended by Mr. A. R. Wallace and others; Mr. Wallace having also vindicated his claims to priority in this question, since he published many of the now recognized theories and speculations on the subject of natural selection at a time when he was resident in the East Indies, and entirely unacquainted with what Mr. Darwin had written on the same subject.

As respects Geology, during the past year the government has continued its grants of money for the purpose of deepsea dredgings, and at present the report of the most recent expedition is anxiously looked forward to. The results of the expedition in the autumn of 1869, as given to the public by Dr. Carpenter, Professor Wyville Thomson, and Mr. Gwyn Jeffreys during the past year, have been of the greatest possible interest and importance. They found that on the same level, at the bottom of the deep sea, two different deposits are in process of formation side by side, each characterized by a distinct Fauna, and yet apparently produced under perfectly similar conditions of land and sea, area, depth of water, etc. On investigating this curious result, however, it was found that the temperature of the water circulating over these two areas is very different, and that this mere difference of temperature is capable of entirely changing the character of the fauna of the simultaneous ly-formed deposits. Thus an entirely new element is brought into geological speculations, since it is shown that at one and the same time strata may be accumulated containing widely-different organic remains. In addition to this, they have shown that the calcareous deposit known to us as chalk is now being deposited all over the bed of the Atlantic

Ocean, and there are many weighty reasons for believing that this deposit has gone on steadily ever since the time during which we imagined the cretaceous rocks of the world to have begun and ended. Many organisms formerly supposed entirely extinct have been rediscovered in these deep-sea dredgings; and, in short, much has been done to show that our past geological reasoning requires thorough and careful revision. Professor Gümbel's discovery of the existence of bathybius and similar organisms at all depths, and stretching over an indefinite period of geological time, is of the greatest importance in relation to this subject. Professor Agassiz, on the other side of the Atlantic, has published reports of the deep-sea dredging off the Florida coast, and has stated that the results of his researches, and those of others, both English and Scandinavian, have convinced him that there is life all over the sea-bottom, and that where evidence of marine life cannot be found, we are justified in calling in the agency of the sea to explain certain obscure facts. These conclusions cannot be without their important bearing on many commonlyreceived geological theories.

In Botany many very careful series of observations have been made in the physiological department. Among the most important we may mention those of Prillieux and Duchartre in France, confirmed by Dr. McNab in this country, that, contrary to the previously-accepted hypothesis, plants do not absorb any appreciable amount of aqueous vapor through their leaves; and those previously announced by M. Dehérain, that the evaporation of water from the leaves of plants is due to sunlight rather than to heat, and proceeds independently of the degree of saturation of the atmosphere. Much attention has also been paid in Germany, Italy, and England, to the phenomena of fertilization opened out by Mr. Darwin's observations.

In Meteorology there is no great advance to chronicle. It still remains a science without a head, a chaotic mass of facts with no definite order or arrangement; for, though many are working at this subject, and some valuable papers on

the Origin of Winds and Storms have been published, still no definite progress can be ascertained.

The splendid appearances of the Aurora Borealis, visible all over the British Isles in September and October, have directed public attention to those unmistakably magnetic phenomena, and to the connection which exists between their appearance, great magnetical perturbations, and large solar spots. They have been examined very frequently during the past year by means of the spectroscope, and there is distinct evidence of lines in the green and red portion of the spectrum, the latter presumably due to hydrogen. We would direct attention to our desire to publish a complete tabular list of the more remarkable meteorological phenomena of the past year, so as to be serviceable to observers in all parts of the world. To render this as perfect as possible, we would invite the kind co-operation of all those interested in the subject who can forward us any data.

We cannot conclude without noticing how much science has lost during the latter half of the year just ended by the fearful struggle that has taken place between France and Germany, where each nation has brought into requisition all the resources of science only to inflict as much injury as possible on the other. For nearly six months we have witnessed the sad sight of workshops shut up, laboratories closed, universities and public schools wanting both professors and students, and the friendly emulation of similar tastes and pursuits turned to the fierce rivalry of the sword. Science will have to deplore the untimely loss of many of her most attached workers, and their country will have lost those who would in happier times have done her as much. honor at home as they have shown bravery in the field. While the French Academy, shut up in besieged Paris, has brought the art of ballooning to its present state of perfection, so that now it is used as a means of communication with the outside world, the result of the subtle strategy of the Germans, and the scientific education they so generally possess, has been to give them advantages which have, to the present time, baffled their adversaries.

AFTER a long sleep of more than a century and a half, the German Empire once more takes it place in the family of European States, and the sturdy old Prussian king, who may have thought, in his accession to the throne ten years ago, that his posterity of the third generation might possibly wield the Imperial sceptre, now finds himself at the head of an Empire more thoroughly German, more united, and far better endowed with all the elements of national strength than ever the Empire was before in history.

To tell how these events came about would be to trace the progress of the political agencies which have been at work in Germany since the beginning of the

century, to follow King William through the tempest of 1866 and the unparalleled triumphs of the present war, and to relate for the thousandth time the story which has been before the eyes of every reader of a newspaper for the past month. It is enough for our purpose to say that when the North German Confederation was widened so as to embrace the South German States, every one knew that the next step would be to proclaim King William Emperor. Toward the close of the year, all the German princes, following the lead of King Louis of Bavaria, joined in a petition to the king; and after some show of reluctance the request was acceded to and the empire proclaimed. The coro

nation of the Emperor William I., which the London Spectator calls the most dramatic event of this century," was performed on January 18th, in the Hall of Mirrors, at Versailles, in the presence of all the German Princes and representatives of the regiments of the army. On the next day the following proclamation of the Emperor was read in the German Parliament:

"In consequence of the appeal of the German Princes and of the free towns for us to restore the German Empire, after a lapse of 60 years, we announce that we consider it our duty to the Fatherland to accept

LITERARY The Works of Isaac Disraeli. Edited by his son, the Right Hon. B. DISRAELI. New York: W. J. Widdleton : 1871.

In his recent work on Hereditary Genius, Mr. Galton has collected a very imposing array of instances of what we may call transmitted talent, but none of them we think is more marked and more interesting than that of "the elder Disraeli," and his son, the British ex-Premier. That the talent in this case was hereditary, there can be no doubt; but more curious than the illustration which it affords of Mr Galton's law, is the intellectual contrast presented by father and son. The latter has always been fierce, caustic, and bitter, wielding a lash which few opponents have ever met without wincing; while than that of Disraeli the elder, no more genial figure ever ambled along the walks of literature. It is really quite charming to read the sketch of his life which the Hon. Benjamin has prefixed to the first volume of his works, and if it inspires a more cordial respect for the latter than most of his other writings, it makes one feel almost an affection for his father.

Mr. Disraeli was one of the most perfect types that England has produced of the litterateur in his most scholarly aspect. It is scarcely an exaggeration to say that his whole life was spent in a library; that books were his only companions, and he produced works which are unique and unrivalled of their kind in English literature. From the literatures of Greece and Rome, from the then unknown writings of France, Spain, and Italy, from English printed records and the obscure MSS. of the British Museum, he brought forth stores of such "quaint and curious lore" as can be found nowhere else in such marvellous abundance aud attractive form. No subject is too commonplace or too erudite for him, and no theme is dull when touched by the magic of his pen. Most of his earlier papers, it is true, are a mere chaos of facts, as if from too much storing the memory had overflowed on every side; but even these are more attractive than if they were written in a severely methodical way; and in the later volumes, compiled in the maturity of his powers, the more valuable facts are accompanied by scarcely less valuable reflections. We believe it is Oliver Wendell Holmes who says in one of his breakfast table monologues, that Isaac Disraeli is the armorer who furnishes forth two-thirds of

the Imperial dignity. Henceforth we and our successors will bring to the title of Emperor of Germany the hope that God will and that, under our auspices, its ancient splen, vouchsafe a blissful future to the Fatherlanddor may be restored. We partake of the dignity, conscious of our duty to preserve with German fidelity the rights of the Empire, and of its members to maintain peace and to support and strengthen the independence of Germany, in the hope that the German people will reap, in lasting peace within our boundaries, the fruits of their bloody battles, and be safe against the renewal of French attacks. God grant that we and our successors may protect the Empire, not by warlike conquests, but by works of peace, freedom, and civilization."

NOTICES.

our American lecturers, and we scarcely think that his armory is sacred to lecturers. Even in the present number of the ECLECTIC, "Curious Titles of Books," from Chambers's Journal, is merely a revised edition of "Titles of Books," a paper in the first volume of Curiosities of Literature.

In his preface to the works, Mr. B. Disraeli tells how his father was first led to enter upon the branch of literature which he afterwards so enriched and adorned :-"While Mr. Andrews and his friend [Disraeli] were hunting for personal details in the recollections of their contemporaries, my father maintained, one day, that the most interesting of miscellanies might be drawn up by a wellread man from the library in which he lived. It was objected, on the other hand, that such a work would be a mere compilation, and could not succeed with its dead matter in interesting the public. To test the truth of this assertion, my father occupied himself in the preparation of an octavo volume, the principal materials of which were found in the diversified collections of the French Ana; but he enriched his subjects with as much of our own literature as his reading afforded, and he conveyed the result in that lively and entertaining style which he from the first commanded. This collection of 'Anecdotes, Characters, Sketches, and Observations; Literary, Critical, and Historical,' as the title-page of the first edition figures-he invested with the happy baptism of 'Curiosities of Literature.' ." This octavo volume was afterwards extended to six, and these were followed in the course of time by "The Quarrels of Authors," "The Calamities of Authors," "The Amenities of Literature," an elaborate "Essay on the Literary Character," etc.

All that is most valuable in these works will be found in the nine volumes of the present edition, and Mr. Widdleton has brought them out in very choice library style. They ought to be in the possession of every lover of polite literature, and to the student they will prove scarcely less fruitful, and vastly more suggestive, than a cylopædia.

What to Read, and How to Read. By CHARLES H. MOORE, M.D. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 1871.

IN his introduction to this book the author remarks very truly that "the utility of some guide

to the inexperienced reader to direct and shape his studies amid the immense mass of literature now before the public, is something so evident that it is unnecessary to enter into any labored argument in its proof. To parents also, who may not have time or ability to select properly the reading of their children, the benefits and convenience of a work like the present are undeniable. But, as regards utility, there is another view still more significant," and that view it seems to us is that the utility of such a work depends entirely upon the ability of its compiler, and we find little in the present volume to indicate that Dr. Charles H. Moore possesses that ability. The plan is good, and he has compiled long, though by no means complete, lists of books on various topics; but when we come to the classifications, which alone can make the book really useful, there is scarcely a department in which a tolerably well-read man would not repudiate his decisions. Books which ought to be commended are left unmarked in the list, books are commended which might have been left out altogether, and a cursory examination will show numerous omissions of most important works. For instance, in the department of History, no mention is made of either of Earl Stanhope's histories, nor of Parke Godwin's History of France, nor of the Duc d'Aumale's lives of the Condés; in the department of Biography, Spedding's Life of Bacon (the best) is omitted, so is Bence Jones' Life of Faraday, while of Dickens there is no biography at all. Fully one-third of the books, moreover, that are ticketed "rare" can be procured in any decently stocked book-store.

Many of Dr. Moore's opinions with regard to the relative merits of books are calculated to make critics stare, especially when he gets among the novelists (whom he divides into four classes); but the climax of the preposterous is reached when we find him placing the "Muhlbach novels" in the second class, that is, in the same class with those of Hans Christian Andersen, and About, and Bjornsen, and Mrs. Gaskell, and Charles Lever. Really in order to retain any respect at all for his critical ability we must suppose that he was not unaware of the fact that the Appletons publish and have made a good deal of money out of these novels, and that they were also to publish his book. It is not the only instance in the volume in which they are favored.

Of course we are aware that no man living probably could prepare a work of this kind which would satisfy all, because there is legitimate room for the most ample differences of opinion, and probably we ought not to convey to our readers the impression that Dr. Moore's is useless or even not useful. As we have said, the plan is good, and a thorough revision, embracing omissions and additions, would render it quite valuable to readers, and especially so to those who are desirous of purchasing books.

The Woodruff Stories, by Rev. F. R. GOULDING. Phila.: Claxton, Remsen & Haffelfinger.

1870.

WITH the recent growth of "children's books " into a distinct and very prolific branch of literature, enough writers have sprung up, both here and in England, to drown the whole rising generation in the ink which they shed; but the only

Southern writer who has cultivated this field with anything like conspicuous success is the Rev. F. R. Goulding, of Georgia. We can very well remember the time, not a great many years ago, when "The Young Marooners" used to occupy the next place in our affections to "The Swiss Family Robinson," and as that book, and those which the author has written since, have been republished abroad and are in steady demand every season, we imagine that the boys of to-day find them hardly less attractive.

"The Young Marooners" is the earliest and doubtless the most popular of Mr. Goulding's works. Reading them now critically, and with the zest of boyhood gone, we should say that "Marooner's Island' is equally as good and equally as interesting, though it has met with the usual fate of " sequels," and is not so well known.

The Woodruff Stories, published during the present season, comprise "Sapelo; or, Child Life on the Tidewater ". -a charming narrative of recollections of childhood on the Southern sea-coast; "Sal-o-quah; or, Boy Life among the Cherokees;" and "Nacoochee; or, Boy Life from Home "-the latter being a record of miscellaneous adventures. All these stories are quite delightful of their kind, and deserve a larger measure of success than, in the immense competition they must encounter, and the absence of anything like discrimination on the part of parents, they are likely to attain.

The qualifications which Mr. Goulding brings to his work are of a high order, and such as are not too conspicuous in most of our writers for the young. He draws his facts and illustrations from copious stores of just such knowledge as boys most desire; his stories are narrated in charmingly simple, direct, and objective style,-not with the usual elaborate effort to "write down to the level of children;" and though the little leaven of morality is working in all his pages, he seems to realize the fact that in order to teach it is not necessary to preach, and to feel convinced that an insufferable prig is not the best exemplar to set before boys. Besides their excellent and beautiful qualities as stories, moreover, all of Mr. Goulding's books present very lively pictures of the curious habits, customs, and ideas that distinguish Southern plantation life; no better glimpses of negro character can be formed anywhere than in these volumes; and the scenes which he paints are not only skilful, but photographic in their accuracy.

Woven of Many Threads. A novel. Boston: James R. Osgood & Co. 1871.

No publishers in America have ever shown more tact and discrimination in the selection of books, or achieved greater success in securing the best authors, than the old firm of Ticknor & Fields, and their successors, Fields, Osgood & Co., and we shall scarcely be disappointed in expecting as much from the new house of James R. Osgood & Company; but a few more such books as "Too Bright to Last" and "Woven of Many Threads" will justify the critic in suspecting any anonymous novel that comes from Boston. "Too Bright to Last" was the hopelessly poor novel on which we "wreaked our ink" in the number for last December, and which, whether "too bright otherwise, certainly has not "lasted" till the present time; and "Woven of Many Threads," though

or