illustrious men were pledging their word for his success. His defeat is not due simply to the hatred of the entire clerical party and the dissatisfaction of two or three Republicans, but more especially to the composition of the academic body, in which humdrum and obscure professors have a majority. In opening the door to Dumas, this majority did a wonderful thing,-made a concession to public opinion which pained them greatly. To elect Taine and Dumas on the same day would have been too much. Therefore they yoked him between two university shafts, two good scholars, MM. Mézières and Caro. I have nothing to say against the successful pair. They are equally industrious, educated, and respectable,-endowed with all the mediocre qualities that flourish in our schools. They lack talent only. The one has written lengthy and learned commentaries on Shakspeare, Dante, and Petrarch; the other has, for ever so long, helped to say mass in the philosophical church of M. Victor Cousin. The Academy had crowned them over and over again, and it thought that at forty-eight they were old enough to crown the Mézières and Caros of the future. Of their style I shall say nothing, except that give the most experienced critic a page of M. Mézières and a page of M. Caro

to read, and he would be unable to tell which was written by Caro and which by Mézières. All the gauffres from the same gauffrier (iron) are alike. That is no reason for despising the gauffres when they are sweet and flavoured with vanille. But I hope Taine will not expose himself a second time to the risk of figuring behind the triumphal car of a professor crowned with goose-feathers after the fashion of the Carnival. EDMOND ABOUT.

Literary Gossip.

A LIFE OF CHRIST, by the Rev. F. W. Farrar, D.D., Master of Marlborough College, and chaplain in ordinary to the Queen, is now in preparation, and will be shortly published, in two volumes, by Messrs. Cassell, Petter & Galpin. Each volume will contain an illustration from an original sketch, made expressly for the work, by Mr. Holman Hunt.

IN our last week's number we said that the

Trustees of the British Museum have resigned their patronage into the hands of the Government. This statement, we have been informed, is incorrect. However, the Trustees will, we believe, in all probability, take the step before long, and, indeed, would have done so by this time, but for the dissolution of Parliament.

THE world is fast forgetting Mrs. Barbauld, we fear; so we are glad to hear that Messrs. Bell & Sons are about to publish a little work, Memoir of Mrs. Barbauld, including Letters and Notices of her Family and Friends,' by her Great-Niece, Anna Letitia (Mrs.) Le Breton. The volume will contain a medallion

portrait of Mrs. Barbauld.

MR. WATKISS LLOYD, whose 'History of Sicily' we reviewed just twelve months ago, is about to bring out a book called 'Fifty Years of Greek History.' These "Fifty Years" include the period between the defeat of the Persian invasion and the Peloponnesian War, the period which witnessed the rise, development, and perfection of Greek art. The book is intended to give an account of the rise and development of Greek architecture, sculpture and art generally. The publishers

will be Messrs. Macmillan.

MR. FURNIVALL has a few more Chaucer gleanings: 1. That on the 3rd of September, 1390, the poet was robbed, at the "focile oke," of 201. of the king's money, which he had, as Clerk of the Works at Westminster, &c., to pay for wages and materials. Of this sum

Richard II. forgave Chaucer the repayment, by Writ of Privy Seal of the 6th of January, 1391. 2. That Chaucer's appointment as Clerk of the Works at St. George's Chapel, Windsor, was a separate appointment from the general one at the King's Palaces at Westminster, Eltham, &c., and the Tower of London. Chaucer was appointed when the chapel was in a ruinous state, and ready to tumble down, and seems to have done nothing to it during two years, except buy some stone for future repairs, and pay a few men to unload them. It is possible that this neglect may have led to the loss of his office. 3. In May and October, 1390 (or between June, 1389, June, 1391), Chaucer must have superintended the putting up of scaffolds for Richard II. and his Queen to see the jousts in Smithfield, as His own he paid 81. 12s. 6d. for the work. wages were two shillings a day, the master carpenter's being one shilling. 4. Mr. Furnivall has also found in the City Hustings Rolls three additional purchase deeds of Richard Chaucer, the poet's grandfather.

THE Pedigrees of the County Families of Yorkshire will shortly be published, compiled by Mr. Joseph Foster, who recently issued a volume of Lancashire Pedigrees. The work will occupy two large quarto volumes, the first of which is devoted to the families in the West Riding of the county, and this, we believe, will be ready immediately. In the compilation, Mr. Foster has had the assistance of the Rev. C. B. Norcliffe of York, Mr. Charles Jackson of Balby, Dr. Sykes of Doncaster, and Mr. Skaife of York.

IN Mr. Freeman's "Historical Series for Schools" the History of Germany' will be the next to appear, and will be immediately followed by the 'History of America.' The German history is by Mr. James Sime, a young writer who has resided several years in Germany, and has not only had Mr. Freeman's general supervision, but has been revised in detail by Prof. A. W. Ward. The 'History of the United States of America' has been written by Mr. J. A. Doyle, Fellow of All Souls', Oxford, who obtained at Oxford the Arnold Prize for an essay On the English Colonies of America before the War of Independence.'

GENERAL DI CESNOLA, who has returned to Cyprus, and who had resumed his excavations, has found a sarcophagus at Golgos, a Cypriote inscription, and some glass vases. One of these has, in relief, the name of the maker Meges, METHC EIOHCEN, and the curious formula MNHCOH O AгOPÁZAΣ, "Let the buyer remember." The form of the Σ is C. A vase, with a Phoenician inscription giving A vase, with a Phoenician inscription giving the name of its possessor, has also been found.

a

THE Duke of Argyll's 'Reign of Law' is about to appear in a Norse dress, by the Fröken Augusta Rudmose of Ferslev young Danish lady. Dr. Robert Brown's double honour of translation into the Danish Races of Mankind' is also to receive the and Magyar languages.

THE publication of Dr. Schliemann's Reports on the excavations on the site of Troy, which was delayed on account of the difficulty of printing the numerous photographs, is now fixed for an early day. It will consist of an octavo volume of text, and an atlas of 218 photographs. A French edition is promised in March.

THE article 'Heer's Primeval Life in Switzerland,' in the current number of the Edinburgh Review, is from the pen of Mr. J. R. Leifchild.

THE forthcoming Tenth Report of the Early English Text Society's Committee reviews the Society's work during its first decade, sketches the second ten years' work, and says that a third or fourth decade, supposing the Society's income keeps up to its present level of nearly a thousand a year, will finish the Society's work. During its first ten years, the Early English Text Society has spent 8,7001. in printing some 17,000 pages of Texts, extending from about 870 A.D. to 1619, and including the most valuable Alfredian, SemiSaxon (or specially Transition), and early dialectal works yet published, as well as all the chief early Romances, books on Manners and Customs, on Social History, Theology, &c. The Society has led to the formation of six other Societies, publishing works of our middle period, or illustrating our dialects and early manuscripts. It has also caused the production of the best English grammar and early text-books. The Committee assert that "it can be truly said that no other Society like ours has ever been able to do so much for the history of English as our Early English Text Society has."

AT the sale of the library of M. Dancoisne, which is to commence in Paris on the 9th inst., and is to last twelve days, a great many rare and valuable books are to be disposed of. We may mention among them, A. Lefournier, La Deuration d'Humaine Nature,' Paris, 1530, 8vo.; Vicentino, L. Regolo da Imparari Scrivere,' Venetia, 1533, 4to.; Les cinq Livres des Odes de Q. Horace Flacce,' traduits en Verz François par J. Mondot, Paris, 1579, 8vo.; Contes de La Fontaine,' édition des fermiers généraux, bound by Derome, 2 vols., 8vo. Paris, 1762; Theseus de Coulogne,' Paris, s. d., 4to.; R. Gaguini de gestis Francorum, Paris, 1497, 4to.; A. Bouchard, 'Chroniques d'Angleterre et Bretaigne,' Paris, 1531, folio; Hucboldi, De Laude Calvorum,' a poem, each word of which begins with the letter "C," &c.; and a number of books relating to the North of France and South of Belgium.

A HISTORY of BALTIMORE, U.S., has, we learn from the Publishers' Weekly, been compiled by a Mr. J. T. Scharff.

MR. W. R. S. RALSTON will deliver a course

THE new novel by Auerbach, which has been expected for some time, is at last announced to be published in March. The title will be 'Waldfried, a Family History.'

"To the end of his days, he was as ready to send to the Times or the Evening Post a letter about the rude impoliteness of his fellowcitizens, the intellectual insufficiency of a popular

statesman, the horribleness of the American cuisine, as ever Mr. Cooper was ready to bring an action at law against a book critic for charging him with malice against certain of his countrymen. His topics were multifarious: Whether there is any English rhyme for 'Dieppe'; what is Plato's true place among philosophers-is it not a low one? the correct pedigree of a certain race-horse; a reason why the French use small-swords in duelling and not pistols; an explication of a dubious passage in Lucretius; an anecdote of Lola Montez; a reason why it is probable that Dr. Burdell was killed by a woman and not by a man; the difference between New York society in 1873 and in the days when Amity Street was the centre of fashion; the principles of Latin prosody; why when two vehicles meet in a New York street each driver bears to the right and not, as in England, to the left; the causes of the early decay of American women; Grote as a historian; the stupidity of the 'Aquarians' (people who approve of prohibitory laws about drinking); the oddity of the fact that once all the champagne in New York used to be "Roederer' and at another time 'Widow Cliquot,' to the entire exclusion of 'Roederer'; the fallacy of the 'noscitur-a-sociis' maxim (illustrated by a diagram); the real distinction between Philadelphia society and that of Baltimore on one hand and that of Boston on the other," &c.

THE author of a novel called 'Tower Hallowdeane,' that we noticed three weeks ago, complains that in a quotation which we made from his book, the word "nurse" was printed "reverse." This, in the case of an ordinary writer, would be a serious error, but the passage is so nonsensical that in it the one word really does quite as well as the other.

SCIENCE

Man and Apes. By St. George Mivart. (Hardwicke.)

THE study of the correct classification of animals and plants may be reckoned among the highest efforts of the working biologist, and great credit is due to those who throw any new light upon its principles or its details. The difficulty of the subject is rendered evident by the fact that a considerable proportion of its literature shows crudeness of thought and want of a thorough knowledge of the ends to be attained; many mixing up in their argument without appearing to recognize the existence of the mixture, two sets of phenomena which, when more fully discussed, are found to arise from entirely different causes, and lead to divergent results. In the work before us this imperfection is frequently apparent.

On evolutionary principles, a true classification of any family, order, or class of living animals, means nothing more or less than an accurate placing of the genera, families or orders referred to, in a form which represents the correct relative positions of those divisions, as the present generation of an hereditary line of descent in which the detailed data of the

pedigree would, but for the imperfection of the geological record, be filled up by fossil forms. The lines of descent must have been as immutable as are those of the best-known family in the British Peerage, and that they are not as well known is only the result of the incompleteness of our knowledge, and our incapacity for forming correct generalizations from a limited number of facts.

It is in the manner of employing the methods at our disposal for tracing lines of heredity

that we differ from Mr. Mivart. In the case of the kinship of the gorilla and man, this author, in the work before us, introduces to our notice a large number of anatomical points, several of them made known by his own assiduous labours; nevertheless, we cannot help feeling disposed to value differently from himself the relative importance of many that are brought forward and laid stress on.

Similarity in fundamental structure, a corresponding degree of elaboration of organization, and an employment of a single type of organ for different ends, are amongst the most significant points to be looked for in determining intimacies of relationship amongst living beings. With these as our guide, we place man among the primates or monkeys; with the old-world or catarrhine rather than with the new-world or platyrrhine monkeys; and with the latisternal apes or anthropomorphæ, rather than with the baboons and macaques. With respect to this last point, it may be worth while to recapitulate the most important facts on which this opinion has been founded, in which the highest apes agree, and differ from all other monkeys. The most important of these common characters are the possession of a broad and flat sternum, a vermiform appendix to the cæcum of the intestine, a remarkably simple liver (except in the gorilla) and no tail. These, in combination with other less important characters, make it evident that man was differentiated off from the primates after the peculiarities which characterize the anthropomorpha or latisternal apes had been developed in their ancestor, and consequently man must have a nearer blood relation to each of these, his distant cousins, than to any of the lower monkeys. This fact but few zoologists are prepared to deny, Mr. Mivart himself accepting it. Such, however, being the case, we think that there is much in Mr. Mivart's work which has but little real bearing on the question at issue, and which only tends to encumber the argument as well as confuse the minds of his readers.

Man having been determined to be an anthropoid ape, what conceivable good is there in comparing his frame piece by piece with those of other animals, which the statement itself indicates are more distantly related to him? What classificational value can accrue from the knowledge that in some one or two points he most resembles the slow loris or the short-tailed indris? Is he any nearer the halfape hepalemur than to lemur itself because in the former of these two the canine teeth are

not developed to the same extent as in the latter? Not in the least. The diet of hepalemur, amongst the half-apes, is associated with a peculiarity in the dentition which agrees with that of man in some respects; therefore a similar force has acted on both the lines of descent, producing a similar conformation, but no hereditary associations. A similar method of argument would make it necessary to bring all the blacksmiths in the kingdom into one family because of the similar development of their arms, and the ballet-dancers into another from the size of their gastrocnemii; however, this would not in reality give the least hint as to the true blood relationships of the individuals of the professions in question.

For these reasons it is, therefore, apparent that when Mr. Mivart enters into an elaborate comparison of the different structures in man

and the lower monkeys, he goes over much ground which can lead to but imperfect results. He repeats an exactly similar process among the anthropomorphæ themselves, bringing out the points of similarity with the gibbons, which are certainly the lowest and furthest removed from man.

As to which is the most anthropoid of the apes, many will now agree with our author in considering that the gorilla differs from man as much at least as any of its congeners; and though it is not so stated, the balance of evidence seems strongly in favour of the higher position of the orang, that comparatively smooth-skinned, sedate and melancholy mimic of humanity, whose struggle for existence has been so slight as not to call for any extra development of cerebral capacity, and has caused it to remain the dumb and illiterate creature that it is found to be.

4 Course of Analytical Chemistry. By William W. Pink and George E. Webster. (Lockwood & Co.)

THIS little work embraces qualitative and quantichemist, and the other a lecturer on metallurgy. tative analysis. One of the authors is a practical They should, therefore, be fitted for the task they have undertaken, and they certainly have produced a book well adapted to the requirements of students who intend to subject themselves to the examination of the Department of Science and Art. The printhe chemistry of a few years since, is an absolutely ciples of "modern chemistry,” as distinguished from necessary branch of knowledge to the young chemist who desires to secure the certificate of that Department. To many students the notation used in the College of Chemistry is unintelligible, there fore the authors of this "Course" have explained the system in the Introduction to this work. They use the most recent atomic weights,-the metric clature, and the approved constitutional formulæ. units of mass and volume,-the most recent nomenIndeed, the formula of re-agents are, in all cases, followed by both their old and their modern names. Analysis does not admit of much originality of treatment; but the clear explanations, and the systematic arrangement of this work, recommend it as an excellent substitute for more elaborate and expensive volumes.

Outlines of Natural Philosophy. By Bentham Simpson. (Collins, Sons & Co.) THIS book has been written with a considerable amount of care by a "science teacher," who evidently possesses a fair share of accurate knowledge of the physical sciences. Arguing that the natural important with the nutrition of their bodies, and thirst of the youthful mind for knowledge is equally that every effort should be made to satisfy it, our author has attempted to bring his explanations of the more important physical phenomena down to the level of the ordinary understanding of the young

are

student. In most instances he has succeeded in doing so, and he has, therefore, produced a small book, out of which a large amount of useful knowledge may be acquired. It must not be supposed, from these remarks, that these "Outlines" very rudimentary. They are not so; they are "adapted for upper classes in Elementary and Middle Class Schools"; but the essential principles of Natural Philosophy are, wherever they admit of it, explained with a clearness which will render them easily intelligible to a thoughtful child. At the same time the book is well adapted to supply the intellectual wants of the more advanced student.

GEOLOGICAL NOTES.

IN the Report of the "Mining Surveyors and Registrars for Victoria," for the quarter ending September, 1873, Baron Ferd. Von Mueller describes some new vegetable fossils found in the

auriferous drifts of Nintingbool, Victoria, by J. Lynch, Esq. The Odontocaryon Macgregorii, after the Hon. James Macgregor of the Department of Mines, was found at the depth of 150 feet. It is evidently the fruit and seed of a large evergreen tree. The only specimen yet discovered is nearly 1 inch long, and slightly exceeds 1 inch in diameter. Baron Von Mueller has "not ventured

to refer this fossil to any natural order, being unaware of any existing or extinct genus to which it bears really close resemblance." The other fossils are named Conchotheca and C. rotundata, which in their general appearance remind one of that of several Grevillea, but that the fruit is larger, shows a wider cavity, and is provided with a conspicuous stipes. The Grevillea referred to are all tropical, and there are no living species now in the colony of Victoria. The Rhytidotheca pleioclinis also found in the lower pliocene formation of Nintingbool, is of a similar character to a fossil previously described, but "as both fossils came from the same geological formation and locality, and as they show considerable structural similarity, it was deemed advisable to keep them generically together, until we learn more of the two plants, yielding us as yet only the recorded remnants." These fossil fruits are very carefully figured in the Report referred to.

It appears to us that an important investigation has been commenced by the State geologist of Mississippi, Dr. Eugene W. Hilgard. It is an examination of the physical constituents of soils and clays, undertaken with the aid of the "Churn Elutriator," a machine for separating the silt from the clay or soil. Numerous analyses of this character are published in the American Journal of Science and Arts for January, and a paper by Mr. R. H. Loughridge 'On the Distribution of Soil Ingredients among the Sediments obtained in Silt Analysis.' The results obtained show that, to a certain extent, a correct idea of the value of soils and subsoils for agricultural purposes can thus be obtained; but Dr. Hilgard remarks, "The questions remaining to be determined in connexion with this subject are so numerous, and so little explored as yet, that their full elucidation might well form the work of a lifetime."

Dr. T. Sterry Hunt has communicated to the Boston Natural History Society, some account of the Decomposition of the Crystalline Rocks of the Blue Ridge. His researches had an important bearing on the much vexed question of the mode of formation of China clay or koalin. He states that the Gneisses with hornblendic and micaceous Schists, like those of the Montalban, or White Mountain series, are completely decomposed to a depth of fifty feet or more from the surface, being changed into an unctuous reddish brick clay, in the midst of which the interbedded layers of quartz are seen retaining their original positions, and showing the highly inclined attitude of the strata. In a mine at a considerable depth, feldspathic Gneiss was found completely kaolinized, and a similar decomposition of the Gneissic and Granitic rocks in Brazil is said to extend to a depth of one hundred feet. In connexion with these researches of Dr. Sterry Hunt, it may be stated that similar conditions may be observed in the immense beds of Chinese clay at Lee Moor on Dartmoor and around St. Austell in Cornwall.

We have received a collection of geological specimens to illustrate Prof. Geikie's Geology in the "Science Primer" Series, published by Messrs. Macmillan & Co. This collection consists of twentytwo specimens of sedimentary and organic rocks, of fossils, and of igneous rocks. They are selected with much judgment, and each specimen is typical of its class. This series cannot fail of being exceedingly useful to all who are about to commence their study of geology, by the assistance of Prof. Geikie's primer. The collection, nicely arranged in a box, can be obtained of Mr. James B. Gregory, of Russell Street, Covent Garden.

At the last meeting of the Manchester Geological Society, Mr. J. Aitken exhibited some new fossil fishes from the Millstone Grit of Yorkshire, about two miles north of Hebdenbridge. There

had been discovered seven specimens of Goniatites and a dozen other fish remains, the most remarkable being a new species of Acrolepis presenting peculiar characteristics.

SOCIETIES.

ROYAL-Jan. 29.-The President in the chair. -The following papers were read: 'Contributions to the Normal and Pathological Anatomy of the Lymphatics of the Lungs,' by Dr. Klein, and On the Comparative Value of certain Geological Ages (or Groups of Formations) considered as Items of Geological Time,' by Prof. A. C. Ramsay. SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES.-Jan. 29.-J. W. Jones, Esq., V.P., in the chair.-Mr. V. D. H. C. Elwes exhibited a drawing of a Roman pavement, which he had himself re-opened on his property at Roxby, Lincolnshire.-Mr. W. M. Wylie com

municated a short account he had received from Dr. Keller of a bone-cave which had been found in the canton of Schaffhausen. Among the objects discovered was the drawing of a reindeer on a horn of that animal. Mr. A. W. Franks, Director, stated that he had received from Dr. Keller a drawing of this interesting object. The representations of the reindeer closely resembled what has been found in other bone-caves in other parts of Europe, and was a curious specimen of prehistoric art. Mr. H. H. Howorth communicated a paper 'On the Historical Value of the Life of Rollo as related by Dudo of St. Quintin, and as accepted by all the historians of England.' Mr. Howorth showed that Dudo had transferred to Rollo acts and exploits which belonged to other personages, such as Guthrun and Siegfried, and that the whole history is thus a farrago of distorted events, borrowed from older annalists.

MICROSCOPICAL.-Feb. 4.-Anniversary Meeting. -C. Brooke, Esq., President, in the chair.-Mr. J. S. Crisp, Esq., was elected a Fellow, and numerous donations were announced.-The Report of the Council and the Treasurer's Statement of Accounts were submitted and adopted, and the Officers and Council for the ensuing year were elected. The Annual Address to the Society was delivered by the President, in the course of which, after reference to their present position and future prospects, he gave a critical review of the most important papers brought before their notice during the year; alluded to the microscopical apparatus exhibited at the Vienna Exhibition; and concluded with obituary notices of Fellows deceased since the last Annual Meeting.-The following gentlemen were elected as Officers and Council: President, C. Brooke, M.A.; Vice-Presidents, Dr. R. Braithwaite, J. Millar, W. K. Parker, and F. H. Wenham; Treasurer, J. W. Stephenson; Secretaries, H. J. Slack and C. Stewart; Council, J. Bell, F. Crisp, Dr. W. J. Gray, J. E. Ingpen, S. J. M'Intire, H. Lee, W. T. Loy, Dr. H. Lawson, H. Perigal, A. Sanders, C. Tyler, and T. C. White.

INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.-Feb. 3.Mr. T. E. Harrison, President, in the chair.Forty-one candidates were elected, including five Members, viz.: Messrs. J. C. Bailey, W. Bell, W. Foulis, A. Moncrieff, and M. Paterson. Thirtysix gentlemen were elected Associates, viz.: Major W. Crossman, Major-Gen. H. Y. D. Scott, Messrs. H. Barratt, H. P. Boulnois, E. B. Bright, M. Bromley, W. A. Brown, G. H. Chubb, W. Conyers, W. Cooper, C. Copland, A. L. Cousins, J. Douglas, S. J. Dunlop, J. H. Eykyn, J. E. Fisher, J. E. Hannah, C. W. E. Henslowe, R. R. P. Hickson, W. F. Howard, J. Jackson, P. T. S. Large, J. E. Lowe, J. M'Ritchie, F. G. Mann, J. Menzies, J. Penn, R. Pinchin, W. H. Roberts, W. H. Stanger, J. Strachan, L. Trench, G. A. Twynam, E. H. Vernon, P. L. Weatherhead, and C. G. Wilson. The Council had recently admitted the following candidates as Students, viz.: Messrs. H. O. Baldry, C. W. Scriven, A. H. Thompson, and H. J. Tingle. -The paper read was, 'Description of the Brighton and Hove General Gas Company's Works, Portslade, Sussex,' by Mr. J. B. Paddon.

ROYAL INSTITUTION.-Feb. 2.-The Duke of Northumberland, D.C.L., President, in the chair.— The Lady Claud Hamilton, the Right Hon. G. J. Goschen, the Rev. F. Braithwaite, Messrs. R. S. Faulconer, H. F. Harwood, S. H. Harwood, R. J. Taylor, and J. C. Zambra, were elected Members.

ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE.

Jan. 27.

Anniversary Meeting.-Prof. Busk, President, in the chair.-The President referred to the finances of the Institute. Although the receipts are adequate for the necessary expenditure on the present economical principles of management, they do not allow the Society to pay off more of the debt or to enlarge the scope and usefulness of the Institute. Until the indefensible secession of members early in 1873 on a purely personal question, the Institute, since its formation, had paid off the combined debts of the two old societies at the rate of 100%, a year. He appealed to the members to make a united effort to extinguish the debt of 8001. A year's income would do it. The President further announced that nearly 2501. had been promised by members present at a council meeting held that day, provided the sum of 500l. be contributed by other members of the Institute. The President then delivered the Annual Address, in which he viewed the work done during 1873 by English and foreign anthropologists. Amongst a large number of topics, he adverted at considerable length to the important contributions_to_craniometry by Dr. H. Von Jhering and Dr. P. Broca, criticiz ing the respective methods employed by those distinguished anthropologists; and concluded that part of his address with the observation that the study of craniology is almost futile when applied to highly civilized, and consequently much mixed, peoples, and that its results are the more certain in proportion to the purity of race; that purity at the present time was rapidly disappearing, and with it the surest data for the determination of the problems involved in the antiquity and physical origin of man. The following Officers and Council were elected to serve for 1874; President, Prof. G. Busk; Vice-Presidents, J. Evans, Col. A. Lane Fox, A. W. Franks, F. Galton, Prof. Huxley, and Sir J. Lubbock, Bart.; Director, E. W. Brabrook; Treasurer, Rev. D. I. Heath; Council, Dr. J. Beddoe, W. Blackmore, H. G. Bohn, Dr. A. Campbell, Hyde Clarke, Dr. J. B. Davis, W. Boyd Dawkins, R. Dunn, D. Forbes, Sir D. Gibb, Bart., G. Harris, J. P. Harrison, J. F. M'Lennan, C. R. Markham, F. Ouvry, F. G. H. Price, J. E. Price, F. W. Rudler, C. R. Des Ruffières, and E. B. Tylor.

MEETINGS FOR THE ENSUING WEEK. Mox. London Institution, 4.- Development of Civilization,' Mr. E. B. Tylor. Royal Academy, 8.- Sculpture,' Mr. H. Weekes. Society of Arts, 8- Chemistry of Brewing, IV. On Boiling, Dr. C. Graham (Cantor Lecture).

Social Science Association, 8.- Rules of Practice and Proce dure to be formed under the Judicature Act, 1873,' Mr. G. M. Dowdeswell.

Geographical 8-Journey outside the Great Wall of China, Dr. S. W. Bushell; Notices of Southern Mangi (China),' Mr. G. Phillips. TUES. Royal Institution, 3.-'Respiration,' Prof. Rutherford. Anthropological Institute, 8.- Explorations among Ancient Burial Grounds, chiefly on the Sea-Coast Valleys of Peru,' Part II., Mr. T. J. Hutchinson: Skulls and Implements from Palestine,' Messrs. C. F. Tyrwhitt Drake and A. W. Franks.

WED.

Civil Engineers, 8.- Construction of Harbour and Marine Works with Artificial Blocks of Concrete of Large Size,' Mr. B. B. Stoney.

Colonial Institute, 8.- Our Relations with the Ashantis, and other West-African Tribes,' Sir R. G. M'Donnell. Literature, 44.-Council.

London Institution, 7.-Conversazione.

Society of Arts, 8.-Type Printing Machinery, with Suggestions thereon,' Rev. A. Rigg.

British Archeological Association, 8.-'On Watering-Pots,'
Mr. E. Roberts.

THURS. Royal Institution, 3.-'Palæontology, with reference to
Extinct Animals and the Physical Geography of their Time,
Prof. P. M. Duncan.

Royal Academy, 8.- Painting,' Mr. C. W. Cope. Mathematical, 8.- Foundations of Dynamics, Free Motion of a Solid in Elliptic Space,' Prof. W. K. Clifford; Note on the Inversion of Bernouilli's Theorem in Probabilities," Mr. C. J. Monro.

Antiquaries, 8-Gems from the Royal Collection,' Mr. C. D. E. Fortnum.

Society of Arts, 8.-African Section.

Royal Institution, 9.-The Opponents of Shakspeare,' Dr. Doran.

Royal Institution, 3.-Mohammed and Mohammedanism,” Mr. R. B. Smith.

United Service Institution, 3. Ventilation of Ships," especially of Low Freeboard, and Hospital Ships,' Dr. J. D. Macdonald.

Botanic, 3.-Election of Fellows.

probably, a true one; but then the desired book must be a very different one from Ecclesiastical Antiquities of London and its Suburbs (Burns & Oates). It should be the work of a scholar, with skill enough to write concisely and clearly, with impartiality and vivid perceptions of the bearings of his subject upon actual life. Our author possesses none of these essential qualifications. He has gathered, with no real pains, much trivial material, and put it together badly. He indulges in sentimental twaddle, and displays strong prejudices.

MESSRS. LONGMANS send us A Treatise on Practical, Solid, or Descriptive Geometry; embracing Orthographic Projection and Perspective or Radial Projection. Mr. W. T. Pierce, the author, tells us that he is not acquainted with any English textbook on the subjects described in the above title. This statement involves an opinion which we need not discuss. He has done his best, with considerable success, to supply the defect which he alleges to exist. He relies mainly on Prof. Bradley, Leroy, and Hamilton. Beginners will need to acquire some preliminary knowledge ere they can conveniently make fair use of Mr. Pierce's work; but even they may, by using this book, and with due pains, be initiated in the mysteries which attend the representation of solids on scientific principles. This is an almost exhaustive treatise on the practical part of the subject. It is amply illustrated with dia

grams.

Summer Etchings in Colorado, by Eliza Greatorex, Introduction by Grace Greenwood (New York, Putnam), is an illustrated book of gossip, about journeys performed among the settlers and the remaining Indians of the district in question. The illustrations are landscapes, and have many excellent qualities, too often spoiled by indifferent printing. They give a capital idea of the country, and, as gift-book ornaments, they are highly acceptable. Miss Greatorex displays a hoydenish, not to say "loud" spirit, and her landscape descriptions are rather inaccurate. Possessed of a good deal of animal spirits, and not too fastidious, many young readers may be able to get through these pages. If they do, they must be easily amused. We yawned dreadfully over the book, and were glad when we had done

with it.

GENERAL EXHIBITION OF WATER-COLOUR

DRAWINGS, DUDLEY GALLERY.

THE frequency of the exhibitions at the Dudley Gallery, gives us but short time to consider whether or not the practice of stimulating the production of great numbers of pictures, of small value and moderate merit, is beneficial to Art. Here are nearly seven hundred drawings, of which not fifty are meritorious, while not more than a dozen have received the attention that every painter, anxious to advance himself in design by diligent and studious practice, ought to bestow. Hosts of cheap and pretty sketches are sold at this place for small sums, to decorate modest homes. This is the best that can be said for the system.

We will, in the first instance, consider the more valuable examples, without reference to their respective degrees of merit. Miss K. M. Goodwin sends a drawing with a motive which is not so novel as it was a few years since, when the lady's brother enunciated, although, of course, he did not discover it. The trick has been prodigiously overdone, and Miss Goodwin uses it too often on this occasion: yet the drawing has considerable merits that are its own. It is styled Autumn Twilight, St. Catherine's Hill, Guildford (No. 48) -a cliff-like, verdant ridge, sloping, with ruins on its summit, in twilight towards a river, rising grey and solid against the opalescent and rosy sky; the reedy shallows are in purplish gloom, and a dim shadow reigns on the hill-side; a barge is made fast at the bank of the river in front, a thin blue film of smoke drifts along the valley as it rises. The general effect is expressed with dignity and pathos, but it is doubtful whether anything except the painter's lack of skill could have caused the

defect of solidity which pervades this interesting picture. The Haunt of the Sea Birds (117) and Feeding Time (302) by this lady are pictures which one feels pleasure in looking at.-Mr. Poynter's Portraits of Mr. Bell and his Daughter (84) is, both in its excellencies and its defects, the very opposite of the above-named works. The workmanship of the portraits is, although of a noble kind, less entirely satisfactory than that of likenesses formerly shown here by the artist. A little girl, with bright, deeptoned golden hair, stands at her father's knee, hand in hand with him, as if she stood to be painted. The design is a capital one, the thought expressed by it is rare in portraiture, and the expressions of the faces show character and pathos as genuine as they are charming. But not enough has been made of the opportunities for producing good colour which are offered by the subjects; the flesh is not clean and clear enough in the shadows; the drawing of the girl's features, although admirable in details, is not happy in regard to the combination of the features, at least the face appears to us slightly out of drawing. Her white pinafore seems not happily treated either as dress or drapery, while it is hardly fortunate in colour. After all, however, it is hard to turn from the learned, conscientious, artistic, and genuine art of this work and in what we have said we have compared Mr. Poynter with himself, not with less accomplished, less indefatigable painters. The same artist contributes several capital landscapes, in which the characteristics of his art prevail. Coed (363), an admirable piece of water-modelling; These are Summer Noon (304),-Fall at Bettws-ynote the treatment of the turbulent stream in the front, and the draughtsmanship of the little cascade, -Hardrow Scar, Yorkshire (596),—also Wilden Meadows (652), a topographical study of an extensive view, with beautiful drawing in a rising ground on our right.

No contrast could be greater than that between Mr. Poynter's works and the charming studies of Mr. Knewstub, which are hung near them. In Rain Cloud (111), is the head of a little girl, in a greenish hood; this face is most exquisitely pure and beautiful in form, and lovely in character. The hood is ill-adapted to the head. Violin Player (393), a child with a violin, is a noble piece of colour and rich deep tone, with delightful expression. "Her Majesty," Children at Play (462), is by the same, and highly enjoyable. These studies are works of pure art.-Called before the Curtain (128), by Mr. Brewtnall, is a clever, if not quite successful, study of the effect of garish artificial light on the figures of an actress and actor bowing to their admirers. It is, in many respects, happy in execution; and although it is dexterous rather than solid, it has much merit in colour and truthful rendering of light and shade. The sole defect we noticed is that the shadows cast by the figures are too small for the concentrated nature of the source of light. The faces and attitudes are expressive and well studied. To the effect of the middle distance, the solidity, tone, and other qualities proper to the foreground have been sacrificed, and hence the figures in the orchestra are mere dummies. The difficulty of the feat of painting such a theme at all lay in combining the foreground and middle distance without sacrificing the solidity of either. In spite of a very large show of merit, this picture is one of which it is easy to get tired. Sindbad the Sailor asleep on his Raft (416) is an ingeniously-chosen subject; in treatment and execution it betrays the fact that the spectacular stage is among the sources of the painter's inspiration. Not an encouraging sign that.

Port du Moulin, Sark (152), by Mr. C. Thornely, the isolated rock, with the tide out, shows a fine and broad mode of painting and colouring, which is peculiarly welcome here. Boat-building at Rye (353), and Les Antelets, Sark (438), by the same, merit much attention.-In Mr. W. Stocks's Rocks at Combe-Martin (153) the drawing is good of the slaty rocks, but it is probably due to a photograph, for the foreground boulders are much inferior in execution, and even in painting, to the

upper parts of the picture. The cliff is excellently modelled. The Abbey Brewery, Abingdon (142), Staithes (199), and others, of inferior merit, are by the same painter.-Showery (185), by Mr. T. Lloyd, is an admirable drawing of the effect named in the title, as it appears over a sandy bay. The foreground here is rather weak, but the rest of the picture redeems the defect of this part.-Plums and Venetian Glass (244), by Miss H. Coleman, shows capital painting of the tall, modern, opalescent glass; the flowers are rather mechanical.—A Coast Scene (347), by Mr. G. Sheffield, displays grandeur of treatment and an imposing subject, the latter being the approach of a storm, with brownish black clouds, to a lofty coast. This is one of the few grave and masculine landscapes here.

Mr. J. C. Moore's portraits are apt to be a little mannered, and their sentiment is usually the same; but they are always charming, from a certain pure brilliancy of painting, which recalls in a pleasant way the finest qualities of fresco. His pictures want relief, solidity. He affects too frequently the shadowless effect of bright open daylight; he is too fond of painting backgrounds of old brick walls. Nevertheless, apart from and beyond all these shortcomings, the results, probably, of timidity rather than of poverty of conception, the usual source of manner, there are abundant grounds for liking such pictures as Richard, Son of Lord and Lady Cavendish (348), a beautifully-painted portrait-study, of a noble little boy, seated in a state chair of embroidered marone velvet, and clad in white. The fair as it is; the expression and forms of the features splendid complexion is evidently not exaggerated, are intensely characteristic; the dress is excellently modelled. The whole work has been studied with

a sense of colour and chiaroscuro which is extremely rare. By the same is Blanche, Daughter of Admiral the Hon. F. Egerton and Lady L. Egerton (224), a pretty little girl, standing with a Japanese parasol behind her head. The colour here is most agreeable, but it is rather "pretty"; yet it is hard to object to this in a picture of which the elements are all in keeping. The work, apart from manner, is in every way graceful; the hands have been made too small.

Mr. W. Crane, whose children's books are the delight of young eyes, appears to be endeavouring, and with considerable success, to adapt Japanese principles of colour and design to European modes of art. His Winter and Spring (262) is symbolical and poetical, and we need not inquire why two damsels, in quasi-classic robes, stand and sit, posing themselves in a ruined temple, or whatever it may be. So far as we see, the motive of this picture is a Renaissance allegory, clumsy, as such motives almost invariably are; but we might say much in praise of its proper artistic merits. Mother and Child (278) shows a beautiful and pathetic sentiment, manifested, it may be, a little stiffly, but with thoroughly fine feeling for the charm of the subject, and much delight in colour. A youthful mother holds, Madonna-wise, a very little babe on her knee.-After Sunset, Westmoreland (285), by Mr. C. Richardson, is a solidly-painted landscape, comprising cattle and a horse, feeding at twilight; it is treated with great force and breadth of effect: a thoroughly good work.-A Moorish Lady (550), by M. L. Leloir, a lady, seated, with a background formed by a gorgeously-embroidered and most brilliantlypainted curtain, is a fine example of splendid lighting, distinct among its fellows here for the sparkle and soundness of its charming colour. Pretty Cockatoo ! (549), by the same, is not so successful, it being less solid and pure in tint and

tone.

After this, our survey will be general. It is unfortunate for ourselves that the gloomy weather of the present week has defeated our hopes of thoroughly studying the contents of this gallery. However, there can be little doubt that we do right in recommending to the more fortunate visitor's notice the under-mentioned pictures, which we take in their order on the walls, grouping each artist's works.-A Robber Chieftain's Stronghold (4), by Mr. J. Mogford: this has the qualities