Burr's "Pater Mundi."*

To

THERE is happily yet a large class of cultivated minds, to which the supra-sensual truths of Religion are none the less real because they are not primarily based upon evidence derived from the senses, and are incapable of scientific analysis and treatment. such minds works like the one at present before us are ever welcome, even though they may not always be without their defects. They are weapons, more or less keen and trenchant, which the Christian can use in the inevitable conflict which arises in every thinking mind, at some period or other of its development, between materialism and spiritualism. In so far as this conflict is a public one, waged not in the inner soul of each individual, but between opposing schools of thought, its intensity varies from century to century, with the set of the intellectual tide at different times, and with the prevailing form of society at each particular epoch. Nevertheless the conflict is a constant one, never entirely absent from the intellectual life of communities, and inevitably demanding its solution in every human soul which is not content to pass its existence in this state of being merely in baking bricks for the Egyptians. Never, perhaps, has this conflict been more hotly carried on than at present; never have so many and such able combatants been arrayed on either side; and never before has public attention been so strongly attracted to the fortunes of the fight. The battle between Materialism and Spiritualism is no sham fight, but is the inevitable result of the psychical development of individuals and peoples; and no one can doubt that its final outcome must in

all cases be for good in the long run. This battle, however, is commonly, but erroneously, confounded with what is only in part the same thing-namely, the contest between Science and what is generally called Religion. In part the antagonism which subsists at present between Science and Religion is the antagonism between Materialism and Spiritualism, divesting the latter term of the extraneous and offensive meaning which it has in modern times come unjustly to bear. In so far as this is the case, the issue of the conflict cannot for a moment be doubtful. When Science fights against the primitive and instinctive religious beliefs of mankind, then it is not Science properly so called, and it is fighting against forces immeasurably stronger than itself. But in many cases, what is commonly called the antagonism of Science and Religion may be resolved on careful analysis into an antagonism between Science and that very different thing from Religion, which we know as Theology. Theology is but the human interpretation of religious beliefs, and is as much a branch of Science as any other "ology." It is not conceivable, except by those who are willing to believe in human infallibility, that Theology is invari ably correct and right in its laws, formula, and con

Pater Mundi, or the Doctrine of Evolution. By Rev. E. F. Burr, D.D., Lecturer on the Scientific Evidences of Religion in Amherst College. Second Series. Noyes, Holmes & Company. 1873.

clusions. Indeed, no better proof of this is wanted than is afforded by the differences of opinion which subsist between different theological schools. In so far, therefore, as the conclusions of Science may seem to conflict with those of Theology, we may watch the contest, and await the result with comparative calm ness; for no victory of natural or physical Science over any given theological dogma would at the bottom touch injuriously the vital truths of Religion.

The first question, then, in any consideration of the now celebrated "doctrine of Evolution" is to decide whether this doctrine is opposed to the fundamental truths of Religion, or merely to certain theological dogmas. This question, we think, Dr. Burr rightly answers by deciding that the hypothesis of Evolution is essentially, and by its own logical necessities, materialistic, unspiritual, and at heart atheistic. It is quite true that the theory of Evolution is not absolutely inconsistent with the belief in a Supreme Being, and that its positive proof would do nothing towards dis proving the existence of a great First Cause. Still there cannot be much question but that "both in its practical influence and its logical sequences, it is quite inconsistent with a reasonable faith in the Bible and in God.. Let men say what they will, Evolu tionism means Materialism; and so denies to man moral character, responsibility, personal immortality; and so denies the chief use of having a God." We are bound to say that we think Dr. Burr is fully justi fied by the facts in taking this view of the case, and that, therefore, in common with all the advocates of a Christian philosophy, he is fully justified in combating the doctrine of Evolution with all the weapons at his command.

The present work is a careful analysis of the hypothesis of Evolution, with the view of showing that it is not consonant with known facts, that it deals largely in assumptions, and that it is not the only or the necessary explanation of the facts. Upon the whole, the extensive task thus indicated has been well carried out, and Dr. Burr may be congratulated on having produced a work which may be, and we hope will be, profitably consulted by the numerous inquir ing minds which halt dubious and uncertain in the neutral ground between the two great modern schools of thought. In parts, our author rises to the level of true eloquence, whilst his argument generally discloses an acute and subtle mind that has carefully pondered over the question under discussion. In parts, how ever, the reasoning stumbles under a load of metaphor; whilst there are indications here and there (as in the chapter on Geology) that the writer has not in all cases grasped the full import of the evidence. As an example of the author's style in his happier mood, and as a fair exponent of the method in which he handles his subject, we may direct attention to what he says upon the question of the indefinite variability of species. It is well known that the key to the Darwinian position rests in the assumption that species are capable of indefinite variation, and that no trans.

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utation of species is possible except upon this asmption. Dr. Burr, however, points out that the Imission that species are capable of a certain amount variation by no means proves that such variation ay not be perfectly definite and limited by rigid It is quite certain that sooner or later all variaons must reach natural limits somewhere, and the uestion to be solved is where these limits may be. he Darwinians place these limits so far away, as ractically to abolish them altogether; but in truth here is reason to believe that every specific type oscil. ates about a central point, deviating now to one de and now to the other, but always returning in In the end to its center of equilibrium. This subject is apitally illustrated by Dr. Burr, in a passage we have ot room to quote, by a reference to the secular variaons of astronomy.

"Lars." *

FROM the remote sphere, peopled with mystical personages, that invited his last poetic experiment, Mr. Taylor descends in this one to common daylight and simple human feeling. With the plain elements of peasant life, thrown into strongly contrasted situations, he has wrought out a very distinct conception of the power in mere goodness to conquer evil in character, and to soften by its example even barbarous national customs. It was a bold attempt to reconcile the extremes of Norse ferocity and Quaker meekness in the same spirit. Yet no miracle is invoked. transformation proceeds under quiet natural influences; patient toil and womanly tenderness prepare a genuine conversion without religious spasms, until the Berserker fire of the exiled slayer burns in the chastened zeal of the returning missionary.

The

It is in this psychological study that the real difficulty of the task and the interest of its performance are found. The story moves through a narrow range of events. Lars, a woodman and hunter on the wild Norway heights, is the rival of Per, a blue-eyed masterful sailor, and Brita, the capricious beauty of Ulvik hamlet, lingers in her choice between them until jealousy breaks into deadly strife. In the duel with knives, permitted by savage Norse usage, Per is slain, leaving his enemy to Brita's hatred, who learns her preference too late, and to revenge laid as a duty on the dead man's kindred by the barbarous custom of blood-feud. Lars, seeking an escape, not from them, but from memories of his haunted life, recalls a tradition of his forefathers' emigration, and crosses the sea, to find a home among a community of Friends in Delaware. Renewal of the old strife in his soul, calmed into peace through the ministrations of Ruth, the daughter of the Friend who first gave him shelter, and transition to the quiet content of their marriage, employ the second book of the poem; and the last brings him again with her to Norway, as a preacher of hu

Lars: A Pastoral of Norway. By Bayard Taylor. Osgood & Co. Boston, 1873.

manity and a reformer of the cruel customs of his kindred. The offered sacrifice of his own life disarms his challenger, the brother of his victim, and his grand courage in rebuke, aided by Ruth's saintly example among the women of the region, checks, if it does not succeed in destroying the traditional vendetta.

This outline of the story suggests its capability of rich illustration. Mr. Taylor has availed himself of this in a masterly manner, borrowing from the pictures long ago laid up in his memory shapes and colors for landscape sketches, and touches of household ways that finish his work in very high relief. Contrast in character between the rude heartiness of Norwegian simplicity and the quaint serenity ingrained in Quaker life is as strongly portrayed as is the difference between the wild fells and blue Scandinavian fiords and the tranquil streams and sunward slopes of Hockessin.

The cool, quiet tone pervading the whole poem is perfect, and its symmetry so complete that the skill of construction almost escapes notice in the harmonious effect. As instances in style of this symmetry, the illustrative comparisons strike us by their accurate keeping, such as the likening of character to the "force of rooted firs that slowly split the stone," or the figure of uncertain hope in one

"who in a land of mist

Feels one side warmer, where the sun must be."

But the art goes deeper than style. Each of the main parts of the poem balances and reflects the other. Continuous life slowly changing, yet the same, for Lars presents in maturer days the softened copy of his fiery early years, the transfigured image of a nature still one in its elements. Love for a woman comes between him and his rival to kindle his Norse blood into fury, as it comes again, grave and tender, to part another quarrel and allay instead of inflaming his spirit. Old age warns Brita out of its little hoard of maxims, and larger, riper experience counsels Ruth. Even the little incidents continue this repetition that sustains identity. The wedding rout at Ulvik shows as a foil to the serene ceremonies among the Friends; -the knife that served Lars' wrath is hurled away in his self-conquest at a later hour of temptation,-the garnet brooch lost in the sea reappears, sparkling among the weedy rocks, binding the distant years together with a link of superstition. This interdependence, skillfully wrought into its various parts, heightens the impression of unity in the poem, while it makes any quotation that could do it justice difficult. And this impression is completed by the sustained evenness of the measure, which is smooth and fluent without pretensions to loftiness, and broken only by a single instance of a careless Alexandrine. As a mere bit of pastoral verse we frankly prefer Mr. Taylor's late stanzas, "John Reed's Thoughts;" but this is something higher and more complete, pastoral in its setting and atmosphere only, but thoughtful, and even tragic, how subdued soever the tone, in its study of the heart and its simple truth of action.

"Memoir of a Brother."

We all know and love "Tom Hughes." After reading this delightful book we shall know better how he came to be the brave, straightforward, loving, true man he is. This Memoir of a Brother (J. R. Osgood & Co.) is a revelation of more lives than one. To us it has been far more a revelation of the father (whose first name even, is not given), than of the son who is its subject. We wish every parent in America would read this book, and ponder well the letters which this father wrote to his boys at school. We do not know anywhere such models. And there is in them all just that certain fine aroma of tender manliness and manly tenderness, of devout simplicity and simple uprightness, without a trace of cant or priggishness, which we have seen reflected in Thomas Hughes, and which we find from this memoir were also reproduced, as such qualities in a father must inevitably be, in the older son George, "the home-loving country gentleman,' of whose life this book is a touching record. So touching, indeed, in its unfeigned sorrow and exquisite simpleness of story, that one has almost a sense of intrusion upon a sacred family circle in reading it. Here is a part of one of the elder Hughes's letters to his sons while they were at Rugby.

The boys were in disgrace: a poor image dealer's wares had been taken and set up for "cock-shyes," and the sixth-form boys either could not or would not report the offenders. Dr. Arnold expelled half a dozen or more, among whom was George Hughes.

"I have heard an account of the affair of the

images. You should have remembered, as a Christian, that to insult the poor is to despise the ordinance of God in making them so; and moreover, being well-born and well-bred, and having lived in good company at home, which maybe has not been the privilege of all your schoolfellows, you should feel that it is the hereditary pride and duty of a gentleman to protect those who, perhaps, never sat down to a good meal in their lives. It would have been more manly and creditable if you had broken the head of some pompous country booby in your back settlement, than smashed the fooleries of this poor pagan Jew, which were to him both funds and landed estate. This strict truth obliges me to say. Though if you had bought his whole stock to indulge the school with a 'cock-shy,' I should only have said, 'A fool and his money are soon parted.' It is impossible, however, to be angry with you, as you came forward like a lad of spirit and gentlemanly feeling to repair your share, and, perhaps, more than your share, of the damage. The anxiety the poor fellow had suffered you could not make up to him. And it is well that you did make such reparation as you did; had it not been the case, you never would have recovered the place you would have lost in my esteem. Remember this sort of thing must never happen again if you value that And have no acquaintance you can avoid with the stingy cowards who shirked their share of the

esteem.

damage; they can be no fit company for you or any gentleman."

And again: "I do not care two straws how you stand in the opinion of Doctor this or Doctor that, provided you deserve your own good opinion as a Christian and a gentleman. And if you only fear God in the true sense, you may snap your fingers at everything else, which ends all I have to say on this point. 'Upright and downright' is the true motto."

The precepts in these letters, true and sound as they are, are the least of the merits. It is the absolute sympathy, the friendly equality of tone. These are what tell on the young. These are what told on George and Thomas Hughes, and again on their children. "From generation unto generation "such heritage passes down.

We have left ourselves little room to speak of the subject of the memoir. Brave, athletic from infancy, riding to the hounds at seven, stroke oar in university races, and never beaten champion in golf at the age of forty-nine. So much for his bravery and bodily strength. And for patience and unselfishness of soul, we have only to note that he sacrificed to the needs of an invalid relative his whole professional careerspending his winters in search of sunny climes to suit the sufferer, and everywhere working quietly and earnestly for the good and the amusement of the community in which he lived. As his brother says in the preface, he was one of the humblest and most retiring of men, who just did his own duty, and held his own tongue without the slightest effort or wish for fame or notoriety of any kind."

"Memorial of Col. Kitching."

THIS is a book closely of kin to the one just mentioned; a simple unvarnished record of a Christian gentleman's life and death. The purely religious element was far more developed, or we should say, brought to surface and expression in Col. Kitching than in George Hughes. But in simplicity, in unselfishness, they were alike.

Col. Kitching was the Colonel of the 6th New York Artillery, and received in the battle of Cedar Creek the wound from the effects of which he finally died. No more touching records of the emotions and experiences of a young Christian soldier have ever been written, than are to be found in Col. Kitch ing's letters to his friends.

That there were thousands as brave, as pure as he, who fell in our terrible war, is our best hold of trust for the future of our country. There must be thousands more as brave, as pure to-day, living, as Tom Hughes says, in the preface to his brother's memoir, "their own quiet lives in every corner of the kingdom, bringing up their families in the love of God and their neighbors, and keeping the atmos phere around them clear and pure and strong by their example,-men who would come to the front, and might be relied on in any serious national crisis."

Strength of Wood.

PROFESSOR THURSTON reports the results of a ries of experiments on the torsion or twisting of arious kinds of wood. Among other interesting deelopments, he relates that black walnut, hickory and cust resist torsion up to a certain point; the resistnce then becomes less for a time, when it again inreases, passing considerably beyond the first maximun; then diminishes as the wood slowly twists asunder. This striking peculiarity, he says, was shown by arefully-repeated experiments to be owing to the fact hat in those woods in which it was noticed, the lateal cohesion seemed much less in proportion to the ongitudinal strength than in other varieties. Watchng the process of yielding under stress, it could be seen by close observation, that, in the examples now referred to, the first maximum was passed at the instant when, the lateral cohesion of the fibers being overcome, they slipped upon each other, and the bundle of these loose fibers readily yielding, the resistance diminished, until, by lateral crowding, further movement was checked, and the resistance rose until the second maximum was reached. Here yielding again commenced, this time by the breaking of the fibers under longitudinal stress, the rupture taking place in the exterior fibers first.

Guns and Gunpowder.

THE problem of delivering the largest possible projectile with the greatest possible velocity, has for years occupied the attention of the ordnance officers

of this and other countries. To solve the problem, two courses were open, viz.: either to strengthen the cannon, or to modify the powder so that the cannon might stand the discharge without bursting.

In Europe the first method was adopted, and the cast-iron gun was soon supplanted by wrought-iron and steel. Here, on the contrary, Rodman and others directed their attention to the second method, and devised the mammoth powder which, by burning slowly, should bring the pressure to bear on the projectile gradually. Though the mammoth powder reduced the rapidity of the combustion, the greatest pressure was still exerted when the projectile had moved only a short distance, and necessarily diminished as the shot traversed the remainder of the bore. To attain the desired result successfully, it is necessary to begin with a small surface of combustion, and increase it as the projectile passes along the bore. This it is now proposed to accomplish by making the powder in large prismatic grains with several perforations; thus a small surface would be presented at first, which would rapidly increase as the perforations increased in diameter and surface.

Deterioration in Iron.

In thinking of the disaster to the Steamship Atlantic, many of our readers doubtless recollect the

story of the wreck of the Great Britain on the Irish coast, and how she was cut in two, put together again, and is we believe still running in the Australian trade. Though this power of resistance to violence and also to decay was in part owing to the manner of construction, it is in part to be accounted for by the fact that the iron now made is not as good as it was in those days. An excellent illustration of this fact is furnished by the wear of railroad rails. In 1840, the seventy pound rails of the London and North-Western railroad withstood the passage of 313,000 trains, whereas it is estimated by Mr. Price Williams that the best iron rails now made will not stand the passage of more than 100,000 trains.

The life of a well-made steel rail, on the contrary, exceeds that of the old iron rails as much as the latter exceeds that of modern iron. On the railroad mentioned above, sixteen iron rails have been worn out in succession, while an adjoining steel rail has been worn evenly to a depth of a little more than a quarter of an inch. On the Philadelphia and Baltimore railroad also a good steel rail has outlasted sixteen iron ones, the traffic being the same in both

cases.

Errors in Generalization.

IN reviewing Mr. Moggridge's work on Ants and Spiders, Alfred R. Wallace says: "It might have been thought that the habits of European insects were pretty well known, and that a person comparatively new to the subject could not add much to our knowledge. But the fact is quite otherwise, for Mr. Moggridge, in the course of a few winters spent in the south of Europe, has, by careful observation, thrown considerable light on the habits and economy of two important groups of insects, and, as regards one of them, has disproved the dogmatic assertions of several entomologists. Nothing is more curious than the pertinacity with which scientific men will often draw general conclusions from their own special observations, and then use these conclusions to set aside the observations of other men. Mr. Moggridge now confirms, in many of their minutest details, the accounts given by classical writers of the habits of ants. These habits were recorded with so much appearance of minute observation that they bear the impress of accuracy; yet because the ants of England and of Cen

tral Europe have different habits, it was concluded that the old authors invented all these details, and that they were at once accepted as truths and became embodied in the familiar sayings of the time. The ants were described as ascending the stalks of cereals and gnawing off the grains, while others below detached the seed from the chaff and carried it home; as gnawing off the radicle to prevent germination, and spreading their stores in the sunshine to dry after wet weather. Latreille, Huber, Kirby, and many less eminent authors treat these statements with con

tempt, and give reasons why they cannot be true for European species, yet we find them verified in every detail by observations at Mentone and other places on the shores of the Mediterranean."

Curious Customs in the East.

DR. ANDERSON, who accompanied the expedition sent out by the British Government in 1868 to ascertain how far it was possible to open the great highway to China, by the Valley of the Tapeng, to British commerce, makes the following interesting statements, which we extract from a review by John Evans :

The practice of horse-worship in connection with the Buddhism of the Sanda Valley may, however, be noticed, as well as the Shan method of concealment of gold and precious stones, by burying them beneath the skin of their chest and necks, by making slits, through which the coins or stones are forced, and which subsequently heal up. When the valuable object is wanted a second cut is made upon the spot, and it is extracted. In some instances as many as fifteen stones or coins were found to be hidden beneath the skin of men just arrived with a caravan at Mandalay.

Their method of producing fire is very remarkable, and is effected by the sudden and forcible descent of a piston in a closed cylinder. There is a small cupshaped cavity at the end of the piston-rod, into which a little tinder is inserted. The apparatus is identical in principle with one now employed in the lecturerooms of our colleges.

Both bronze and stone celts are very common. They are thought to be thunderbolts which have penetrated the earth and afterwards worked their way to the surface. The belief in the celestial origin and healing powers of these implements is as common in Asia as in Europe. They are worn as charms, and carefully kept in small bags; when dipped in water they are supposed to impart curative properties to it, and it is administered as a medicine which is supposed to possess great value, especially in difficult labor cases.

Ancient Monuments.

REGARDING the destruction of such monuments in England a writer in Nature says:-"It is perhaps rarely the case that these monuments are destroyed in a merely willful manner; it is usually from economical motives. The barrows offer a mound of soil well adapted as a top dressing to some neighboring field, and there is also the secondary advantage that their site, after the removal of the mound, offers no impediment to the passage of the plough. The stones of the megalithic monuments offer supplies of material both for the purposes of building and the repair of the road in the vicinity. As it was with the Egyptian mummies which Cambyses or time had spared and which avarice now consumeth,' so it is with these rude monuments of our forefathers."

The writer, in conclusion, deplores the want of care for these relics of past times, and adds that in France, where a building or other ancient structure is classed

as a historic monument, it is regarded with some degre of pride and affection by those who live near it, an the necessary expenses for the preservation of suc monuments are not grudged as they are in England.

Ventilation in the Mont Cenis Tunnel.

THE Engineering and Mining Journal states th up to last autumn the tunnel was sufficiently well vent lated; but in the latter part of the autumn frequent an violent barometrical disturbances took place all ove central Europe, and it is highly probable that the ste dy current of air through the tunnel was more tha once brought to a stand-still, and even reversed. O one of these occasions, during the first week in De cember, a goods train stuck fast in the midst of th tunnel because all the personnel of the train had fainte in consequence of the vicious air and smoke. Thi train was met by another goods train coming in the opposite direction, which succeeded in pulling out th first train, when the half-suffocated persons soon re covered their senses.

Memoranda.

A NEW microscope slide for observing the appear ances presented by fluids as they circulate through the capillary vessels has been invented by Mr. D. S Holman. It consists of two shallow cavities on one side of the slide: these are connected by a minute groove. The liquid, e. g. blood, milk, &c., to be examined is placed in the shallow cups, and these and the groove are then covered with a piece of thin glass. By pressing on the portion of the glass covering one or the other cavity, the fluid is caused to circulate through the narrow tube, when the movements of its globules or corpuscles may be examined at leisure.

Country post-offices are the centers of information in rural districts. "Old Probabilities," we hear, is about to establish a system of telegraphic communication with these post-offices, and so afford the farmers information which will be of the greatest value in the management of their crops.

Dr. I. Waly finds that glacial acetic acid is an excellent solvent for iodine. On cooling a hot saturated solution, long arrow-headed crystals of iodine sepa

rate.

Mr. Paley has sent a communication to the Cambridge Philosophical Society, in which he attempts to show that as the word Odusseus signifies "Setting Sun," the Odyssey is to be regarded as a solar myth describing the journey of the sun to the west, and his return after many adventures to his bride, Penelope, the spinstress or cloud-weaver in the east.

A bandsaw 55 feet long and 5 inches in width is in successful operation in Philadelphia. Its speed is 4,500 feet per minute. It is said that the blade will follow the curvature of the grain of the lumber, thus combining economy with increased value in the product, especially when it is to be used in ship-building.