may be called the art of naming. The accumulated materials of the senses are, through a certain chemistry of the nerves and brain, photographed as images on the mind, and these enable us, through the means of signs, to dissect and put into logical sequence the whole order of Nature. What we have in our minds, says M. Taine, when we conceive general qualities and characters of things, are signs and signs only. Signs or words, therefore, branch out of sensations, and, to be of real value in the organization of knowledge, these must originate from healthy and well-regulated senses and sound cerebral functions. The immutability of the external order of things in Nature is the only sure corrective of all the aberrations and errors to which the internal condition of man, as a reflecting medium, is subject.
Books III. and IV., concluding the first part, treat of sensations and of the physical conditions of mental events. In the discussion of these topics M. Taine is fortified by the leading writers of France, England, and Germany, to whose important authority he adds much original thought, and unties many a perplexing knot by his well-directed and practised ingenuity. In the second part of his work, M. Taine treats, in the first book, of the general mechanism of knowledge; in the second, of the knowledge of bodies; in the third, of the knowledge of mind; and in the fourth book, of the knowledge of general things.
Men and Apes; an Exposition of Structural Resemblances and Differences, bearing upon Questions of Affinity and Origin. By St. George Mivart. New York: D. Appleton & Co., 1874. Price, $1.50.
Mr. St. George Mivart, best known as an opponent of Darwinism, strictly so called (but not of evolution), has in this work examined into the relations of man and the apes as well as other primates. In a first chapter, he gives a summary of the "external forms, habits, geographical distribution, and classification," of the primates; in a second, the "external skeleton (skin and hair) and internal skeleton (the bones)" are examined; and the last or third chapter is devoted to the consideration of the "nervous system, visceral anatomy, summary of characters, and questions of affinity and origin." He admits, with all competent naturalists, that man is most nearly allied to the apes, that is, the group composed of the gorilla, chimpanzee, orang-outang, and gibbons: the difference, then, between Mr. Mivart and others is as to the special form of apes that man is most allied to. In order to solve this question, he successively recapitulates the characters common to man and the several forms referred to, as well as the main points of difference. His results are rather negative than positive: he entirely rejects the claim made on behalf of the gorilla to nearest kinship, but does not positively claim such rank for any of the other forms, although evidently disposed to regard the affinity at least as great between the gibbons and man as with any of the other forms; he is more reserved, however, in this respect than on a former occasion. Adopting the general theory of evolution, he applies it, so far as the body is concerned, to man, but he claims that in his case a specific creation has been manifested by the endowment of that body with a soul.
A Dictionary of Medical Science, with the Accentuation and Etymology of the Terms, and the French and Other Synonyms. By Robley Dunglison, M. D., LL. D. Enlarged and thoroughly revised edition, by Richard J. Dunglison, M. D. Philadelphia: Henry C. Lea, 1874.
For forty years this work has been an accepted authority in the hands of the profession, both here and in England. It was originally made in obedience to the demand created by the rapid advance of medical science, and how well it fulfilled its intended purpose is attested by its long and steady popularity. The present edition—the preparation of which was begun by the author, but, owing to his death, was finished by his son—is much enlarged, including more than six thousand subjects and terms not embraced in the last, and making altogether over a hundred pages of new matter. The book is something more than a dictionary. Besides the derivation, pronunciation, synonymy, and technical definitions of medical terms, it gives, under the appropriate heads, a large amount of valuable practical information which, from its conciseness and ready accessibility, cannot fail to be of great service to the physician. The typographical arrangement has also