Library.

In this department we give short reviews of such NEW Books as publishers see fit to send us. In these reviews we seek to treat author and publisher satisfactorily and justly, and also to furnish our readers with such information as shall enable them to form an opinion of the desirability of any particular volume for personal use. I is our wish to notice the better class of books issuing from the press, and we invite publishers to favor us with their recent publications, especially those related in any way to mental or physiological science.

A TREATISE ON HUMAN PHYSIOLOGY. Designed for the use of Students and Practitioners of Medicine. By John C. Dalton, M.D., Professor of Physiology and Hygiene in the College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York, Member of the National Academy of Science, U. S. A., etc., etc. Sixth Edition, Revised and Enlarged. With 316 Illustrations; pp. 828. Philadelphia: Henry C. Lee, Publisher.

In the preface to this new edition of his work the author writes: "In a text-book like the present it is desirable that the reader should not be misled by having all the frequent changes of opinion or substitutions of theory presented as discoveries in physiological science. Any faithfully observed facts, however unexpected or peculiar, are, of course, at once invested with a prominent value. But the theoretical explanations by which they are sometimes accompanied are not of the same importance. They often represent only a scheme of probabilities existing in the mind of the author, and may be altered at any time to suit the requirement of more extended observation. In rendering an account, therefore, of the state of knowledge upon any physiological subject, the student should be informed, not only of the result now in our possession, but also of the means of investigation by which they have been attained."

In accordance with this sensible and truly scientific view of physical investigation, Dr. Dalton endeavors to cover the field of human physiology, describing how the different processes or functions are carried on in clear and terse phraseology, and dwelling but little upon the merely ratiocinative why. A grand truth is stated in the "Introduction," viz.: "The only method by which physiology can be studied is the observation of nature. The phenomena presented by living creatures are only to be learned by direct examination, and can not be inferred by any process of reasoning from any other facts of a different character. Even a knowledge of the minute structure of a part, however exact, can not furnish any information as to its active properties or function; and these proper

ties can be learned only by examining the organ when it is in a state of activity." In no department of anatomy does this truth more certainly apply than in the study of the nervous functions, and yet, when intelligent physiologists are asked to accept the evidence of their senses as shown in the phenomena of mental life, they turn to dead brain tissue and ask us to demonstrate therein all that is claimed. Now, to get at the true relations of function we must study it in activity-and that in normal conditions, not in morbid or irregular.

In his discussion of the numerous topics which are embraced in physiology, Dr. Dalton classifics them in three divisions or orders: 1. Everything which relates to the nutrition of the body. 2. The phenomena of the nervous system. 3. The process of reproduction. In the review of proximate principles the treatment is quite thorough, involving very nearly all that is of value to the student, the results of observers to as late a date as 1874 being drawn from. The comparisons by analysis of wheaten bread with beef flesh and other articles in common use as food are scarcely fair, for the reason that the bread taken by the author as his standard is that made of sifted or superfine wheat flour and prepared by the yeast or carbonic-acid process. The marked popular tendency of late toward the use of wheat-meal or "graham" flour, and the many authoritative declarations which have been given in this country and in England in favor of wheat-meal bread, are entirely overlooked by the author. The fact, too, that a large proportion of our population make the various cereals the chief constituents of their dietary, and use them as nearly in the state which nature furnishes them as is consistent with cleanliness and easy convertibility by the process of digestion, and do not appear to suffer any depreciation of mental and physical vigor, seems to have escaped his attention. The numerous tables showing the constituents of the ordinary articles of food, vegetable and animal, are of special value in studying the nutritive merits of each, and the admirable engravings which show the form of the proximate elements are of great assistance to the careful student. The part which interests us most as phrenologists is the nervous system, and a pretty careful examination of that has resulted in a most favorable opinion of Dr. Dalton's thoroughness and fairness in considering it. In his allusion to the part performed by any special department of the brain we find the spirit of candor generally controlling. He gives in clear review the results of recent vivisections by foreign and American investigators. Finally, of the wonderful phases of reproduction the descriptions are comprehensive and lucid, very many superb engravings contributing to the enlightenment of the student.

WILEY'S ELOCUTION AND ORATORY.Giving a thorough Treatise on the Art of Reading and Speaking. Containing Numerous and Choice Selections of Didactic, Humorous and Dramatic Styles from the most Celebrated Authors. Fifth Edition; pp. 444. Price, in cloth, $2. New York; Clark & Maynard. We have had occasion to notice this excellent volume in one of its editions, and now can do little more than reiterate our commendation of the method taken by Mr. Wiley to present the subject of elocution. Being a lawyer by profession, the author has had experience enough to convince him of the great need of some preparation to fit a man for the rostrum, and he has brought his knowledge of forensic manners and much special reading to bear in the compilation of the book. His treatise upon the principles of elocution is brief, but clear and comprehensive, copious illustrations being given to exemplify the the few rules laid down. As for the selections in general, they are very numerous and very excellent; furnishing the young man or woman who would contribute in an elocutionary way to the entertainment of the parlor or the public audience an ample reportoire.

MAGAZINES AND PERIODICALS RECEIVED.

TREASURE TROVE. A magazine of entertaining and select literature. Published by R. B. Caverly, of New York. This is a new candidate for public favor, but whether it will be able to make its way at the present dull time against the established miscellanies seems to us a matter of doubt.

EXPERIMENTS WITH THE ALLEGED NEW FORCE. By George M. Beard, A.M., M.D. Reprinted from the Archives of Electricity and Neurology, November, 1875. New York: T. L. Clacher, Publisher. This is a discussion with regard to the new force Mr. Edison, of Newark, claimed to have discovered a while back while making investigations in electric dynamics. Dr. Beard is not prepared to admit the existence of a separate force or element, but deems the new and singular phenomena elicited by Mr. Edison's and his own experiments to be worthy of further and more careful examination.

THE HEALTH LIFT Reduced to a Science, Cumulative Exercise, etc. A pamphlet bearing upon the " Reactionary Health Lifter," and its application as a substitute for ordinary exercise.

MONTHLY WEATHER REVIEW for February. The chief signal officer, who always uses good paper for his reports, if the press-work be not of the clearest order, says: "The principal features of the weather for the month have beenFirst, the average northerly courses of the areas of low barometer and the formation of barometric troughs and ridges; second, the high

barometer in the Southern States; third, the high temperature in all districts except the extreme northern stations; fourth, the gales of February 1, 2, and 15, and the tornadoes in Missouri, Illinois, and Indiana of the 13th and 27th."

THE JOURNAL OF EDUCATION, New York. No. 12 of Vol. I. is a beautiful specimen of what taste and good judgment can do in the way of arrangement, typography, and paper. A portrait and sketch of Mr. E. J. Whitlock, President of the Brooklyn Board of Education, are given, besides a variety of educational, art, and miscellaneous matters.

OUTLINE DRAWINGS of the Figure for Recording the Situation and Form of Cases of Skin, and for Noting their Changes. By Balmanno Square, M.D., London. We thank the author for his very excellent and suggestive pamphlet.

MUNSON'S PHONOGRAPHIC NEWS. Published semi-monthly; $2 a year; single copies ten cents. The first number of this phonographic print bears a good appearance. We are glad to see it as a revival of magazines printed in shorthand years ago, and which, from the lack of support, were suspended. It supplies a need felt by every short-hand writer, whether he be in good practice or still a student. Some comments are given by Mr. Munson on Scovill's short-hand. He declares it substantially a reproduction of an old system, and of no special advantage to the world in comparison with the systems based upon Pitman's in general use.

PETER'S HOUSEHOLD MELODIES. The last number of this excellent monthly collection contains several good songs, among them "The Rose of Killarney," "The Homestead," "Forever Here My Rest Shall Be." There are eight compositions, all printed upon thick-toned paper. Price of the number, fifty cents, or $4 per

annum.

BRIGGS & BROTHER'S QUARTERLY ILLUSTRATED FLORAL WORK, 1876. We have received the above-named catalogue, a book of 88 octavo pages, illuminated paper cover, which is also a treatise on the cultivation of flowers and vegotables. They say, "We do the heaviest business in our line in the world." Were it not that Briggs Brothers do an honest business they could not speak thus of themselves. Accompanying the catalogue we received their "Tomato Race," which is a very witty conception, and carried out with great empressement.

THE CATHOLIC WORLD is fresh and vigorous, seemingly having lost little by the recent change in its editorship. An article on "The Basques," deserves notice, as the author claims special importance for that people of Southwestern Europe, representing them as possessing an antiquity outranking all other Enropean peoples.

ians, would snatch the palm of victory at the polls. Yet it was demonstrated in that New England district that real talent, fine culture, and high moral worth will command the respect and confidence of men, and triumph over party scheming and chicane.

The gentleman whom Hampshire Co., Mass., has to represent her in the Congress of the nation was born in 1824, and educated in the schools of New England, at that time the best in the country. With the ministry in view he entered college in 1845, and was graduated in 1849. After a course of study preparatory to assuming the duties and responsibilities of the clergyman, he visited Europe, where he derived much pleasure and instruction during the course of a brief season of travel. Returning to America, he accepted the pastorate of the Reformed Dutch Church at Schenectady, in June, 1853. He remained in this relation several years, to the satisfaction of those who constituted his congregation. In 1858 he was invited to occupy the chair of moral and mental science in Amherst College, and, this being in accordance with the bent of his mind, he accepted the position, not, however, entirely withdrawing from ministerial avocations, as he is connected with the Congregational Church in the clerical capacity.

In 1872 he was invited to visit India, at the instance of resident missionaries, and there performed a good deal of useful service in the cause of Christianity and modern civilization by lecturing to the Brahmins on social and religious subjects.

Prof. Seelye's portrait, as we give it, shows a well-developed mental organization. The intellect is logical, critical, sharp, clear, and ready-of that sort which responds to the demand of an occasion by furnishing the materials its owner would employ to point

a moral or to demonstrate a proposition. The sense of Individuality is well indicated. He is not an imitator, not disposed to follow in the track of others. As a student and as an instructor he has his own ways, and avoids the monotony of repetitions by the introduction of much variety in his phraseology and illustrations. He is earnest and positive in the expression of opinion and in the performance of duty; has little sympathy for those who hesitate and vacillate in their life's work.

His religious sentiments are well marked in the brain development, and color his thought in its different phases. Few men attach more significance to the term "moral responsibility" than he, and few are disposed to hold themselves to a severer rule of accountability. Yet he is by no means wanting in sympathy toward the unfortunate and suffering; it is the willful, stubborn doer of wrong he would punish, not the sorrowful and repentant. He is sociable, believes in home and the duties of home; looks upon the elevation and harmonious organization of society as one of the chief objects of civilization; that there can be no substantial progress without a well-ordered civil régime. He is a calm, well-poised man, and not likely to be moved in his convictions of truth and duty by specious argument or the pretences of influence.

With regard to his election to Congress, a word or two should be added. In his case it may be said that the office sought the man, and not the man the office. And this should be the case in every instance. Indeed, if we would perpetuate our democratic republican institutions it must be so. No self-appointed usurper, no ambitious self-seeker, should be permitted to hold office, even as a pound-master, in this country. Good, honest, intelligent, temperate, and religious men should be chosen for all

places of trust and preferment. Let the incompetent and the vicious become qualified and reformed if they would be eligible in the line of promotion. It is said that the women of his district had much to do - indirectly with securing the nomination and election of Prof. Seelye. While he may not be a woman's advocate, in the general acceptation of that term now-a-days, yet we doubt not that woman has a staunch friend in him.

In his recent work on " Christian Missions," Professor Seelye discusses the essentials to thorough work in evangelizing heathen and savage peoples, and does so with striking clearness and force. We append an extract which is a model of excellent writing and good philosophy.

"No wise man will deny intellectual culture. Only ignorance despises knowledge. But the knowledge which is not inspired by virtue can give no inspiration to virtue. Unless it strikes its roots in a soil already pure, its blossoms and fruits will be only corrupt and corrupting. A godless education is not an object of wise desire for any people. It has no power to purify, and thus no salvation. It does not draw out the roots of evil, but rather strikes them deeper into the soul. It may deck the evil in a garb of beauty and weave for it garlands of song; but it is evil none the less, and by making its manifestations more attractive it only enables it, like Satan when robed in his garments of light, the more ef fectually to deceive.

"But it is said that we can reach the trouble by giving instruction in morality. The attempt has often been made. The argument in its behalf is plausible; men are immoral, therefore teach them morality. Set before them their duty and make this so clear that it can not be mistaken, and then the weight of obligation will be so

strong that it must be obeyed. But no man does his duty simply because he knows what his duty is. Unless he loves it, no clearness of knowledge will ever induce his obedience. Men are not, and certainly it is true in general that they never have been, raised from vice to virtue, from sin to holiness, from moral sickness to moral health by morality alone. No matter how pure it may be, no preaching of morality has ever sunk deep into society, or shown itself able to have any wide control over the conduct of men. It has never shown itself able to mold society internally and from the center. You can not make a man virtuous simply by teaching him virtue. You can not be certain that a child will practice the Ten Commandments simply because he has learned them by heart. The teaching is, of course, well; is not only important, but indispensable. How can men be led to do their duty unless they are first led to know it? How shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? But notwithstanding this, all the knowledge which men obtain of the Divine commands and their duty, never has been sufficient to lead them to a true obedience. No theory of human nature is deep and thorough which does not recognize the actual foundation for the fact, and no observation of human conduct is wide or penetrating which has not seen its frequent exhibitions.

"But can political and social changes do the work? Shall we preach republicanism and go with the Declaration of Independence and the doctrine of social equality to the nation in darkness? Alas! unless there be a foundation laid in the purified and prepared character of a people, we could only build the republic upon the sands to fall with the first flood, bringing only ruin in its fall. Political and social institutions can not be made for any peo