thod, and it is followed not only in portraying character but in the scenery and general framework of the novel. M. Droz is an artist, a keen analyst of those motives which give individuality and coherence to human actions, and moreover a most graceful and charming story-teller. Several of his novels are announced by Mesrs. Holt & Williams and will no doubt be cordially welcomed by the public. The Erckman-Chatrian Novels. A New Edition. New York: Scribner & Co. Of all the novels " written with a purpose," those of the famous literary firm of Erckman-Chatrian are probably the most effective as they certainly stand in the front rank as works of art. Millions of copies of them have been sold in France during the past twenty years, and they have done more doubtless than any other agency in exposing the sham of the First Empire, the essential hollowness and cruelty of military glory, and in showing what war, stripped of its "pomp and circumstance," really means. The unanimity with which the French people rushed into the recent war at the beck of blundering politicians was no doubt very discouraging to those who would fain believe that the mission of these novels had been fulfilled; but such an influence must in the nature of things make itself felt in time, and one of the most healthful symptoms that France has manifested since the war is the demand for them, which is said to be as great now as ever. Such scenes as are presented in "The Conscript" and "The Blockade of Phalsburg" must have a profound effect, read in the lurid light of the recent experiences and present condition of the large majority of the French people; and the lessons which they teach will not be lost. These novels, however, have already been reviewed at length in the ECLECTIC, and one of them, "The Blockade of Phalsburg," was translated for and first appeared in our pages. The new edition of Messrs. Scribner & Co. embraces them all, and the low price at which it is issued ought to make MM. Erckman-Chatrian as popular in America as they are in France. We commend them especially to those who have been raised in the ignorant belief that "French novels" are of necessity prurient and demoralizing. No purer, more earnest, or more wholesome stories were ever written than these of which we have spoken, and few which, founded upon temporary and local incidents, have awakened such general and permanent interest. Reminiscences of Fifty Years.-By MARK BOYD. New York: D. Appleton & Co. MR. BOYD is a bore, and a bore of such mag. nitude as could only be developed by fifty years of persistent dining out and "agitation" of popular questions. Some of his reminiscences are interesting merely by reason of the names with which they are associated, others contain feeble hints that a good anecdote may really lie hidden in the verbiage; but by far the larger number are without point, reason, or interest, and seem to have been written with the sole purpose of proclaiming that Mr. Boyd or his family has enjoyed personal intercourse with certain high and mighty personages. It is really amusing to read some of the stuff which Mr Boyd perpetrates under savory headings, and then speculate upon the character of mind which a person must have who believes that the public can be brought to feel an interest in it. Also to speculate upon how many of these "reminiscences one could listen to in an even ing without drinking himself into imbecility in sheer self-defence. Sidney Smith said that no Scotchman could get a joke into his head without a surgical operation. In Mr. Boyd we have one who has succeeded apparently in getting several into his head, but the period of life at which he has published this book precludes the hope that, through the medium of the pen, he will ever be able to get them out. When above all things spirited and pointed language is requisite, his phraseology is as stilted, lumbering, and elaborate as that of a legal trcatise. It is seldom that we have so conspicuous an illustration of how effectually words may drown ideas, or of how dull a man may be who has associated with famous men. The Historical Reader. 1871. By JOHN J. ANDERClark & Maynard. THE plan upon which this Reader is compiled seems to us an excellent one, and likely if introduced in the schools to impart a new interest to the study of history. It substitutes for the brief, disconnected, and usually rhetorical "extracts" found in the ordinary text-books, "Selections from standard writers of Ancient and Modern History, interspersed with illustrative passages from British and American poets." These selections are arranged chronologically, and divided into "American History,' "English, Scottish, and French History," and "Miscellaneous History." They represent most, of the leading historians, ancient and modern, especially those of England and America; and give the student a vivid and tolerably connected general outline of the whole course of history, together with such details of important events as are likely to impress them on the youthful mind. Besides the selections, there are, to quote from the title page, Explanatory observations, notes, &c., to which are added a Vocabulary of Difficult Words, and Biographical and Geographical Indexes." The volume as a whole is a marked improvement, both in plan and execution, on the ordinary compilation, and will no doubt increase the reputation which Mr. Anderson has already made as one of the most thoughtful students of the practical needs of our educators: New York Illustrated. New York: D. Appleton & Co. Choice A NEW edition of this admirable hand-book gives us an opportunity of saying a few words of commendation. It is as serviceable as any other of the numerous "guides" to the city, and is incomparably handsomer and more suggestive. wood-cuts of the parks, churches, principal public buildings, &c., embellish its pages, the accompanying text is accurate and readable, and handsome type with fine paper invite the reader's perusal. Nothing so artistic and attractive of its kind has yet been issued, and even for those who cannot make a visit, it is likely to satisfy (or perhaps stimulate) a good deal of the curiosity about the great metropolis. BOOKS RECEIVED. [The Publisher will send any book reviewed in the ECLECTIC, or any other new publication, postage paid, on receipt of the price.] Livy's History of Rome. Literally translated by D. SPELLMAN, A. M. M.D. New York: Harper & Bros. 2 vols. 12mo, cloth, pp. 747, 725. Price $3.00 Olive. A Novel. By the Author of "John Halifax, Gentleman." New York: Harper & Bros. 12mo, cloth, pp. 428. Price $1.50. Sophocles. Greek Text. per & Bros. 18mo, cloth, cents. New York: Har pp. 340. Price 75 By Marquis and Merchant. A Novel. MORTIMER COLLINS. New York: D. Appleton & Co. 8vo, paper, pp. 167. Price 50 cents. German Conversation Tables. A New Method of Teaching German in Classes. By AUGUSTUS LODEMAN. New York: Holt & Williams. 16mo, boards, pp. 36. Price 40 cents. Won-Not Wooed. A Novel. By the Author of "Bred in the Bone" &c., &c. New York: Harper & Bros. 8vo, paper, pp. 131. Price 50 cents. FOREIGN LITERARY NOTES. A National Library is to be established in the State of Nicaragua, Central America. The Circulation of newspapers in Great Britain has increased from forty-five millions in 1831 to seven hundred millions in 1870. Dr. John Henry Newman has re-written his History of Arianism, and a new edition comprising these changes will soon be issued. The Coming Race, a novel of the future, which has excited much interest in England, is generally attributed to Mr. Laurence Oliphant. Among other Indian languages which are being brought under print in the United States are the Dakota, of which we have a primer and a spelling book, and the Ponape. A Critic in the Academy declares George Sand's last novelette in the Revue de Deux Mondes "as melancholy a production as ever signalized the decadence of a nation or a writer." The honorary degree of D. C. L. has been conferred upon M. Henri Taine by the University of Oxford, at which he is now delivering a series of lectures on the French Literature of the 18th Century. The Phonix, the magazine for Chinese and Japanese, published in London, is now giving, besides a course of Chinese novels, a translation of a Japanese novel, on account of the attention that has been excited by Japanese tales. Mr. Furnivall claims to have settled what was Chaucer's first poem, and what was the succession of his first four, namely: 1, "The Compleynte to Pite"; 2, "The Dethe of Blaunche the Duchesse"; 3, "The Parlament of Foules"; 4, "The Compleynt of Mars.” It is rumored that Prof. Jowett intends, in course of time, to publish a volume supplementary to his translation of Plato, in which he will discuss at length the question of the genuineness of the Platonic dialogues, and other points that he was unable to treat of within the limits of his recent work. A new weekly newspaper, the Journal des Annexés, is published at Brussels, and is shortly to be brought out daily. The editor is M. E. Vacca, formerly editor of the Indépendant de la Moselle, and the object of the new paper is to defend the interests and make known the wants of those inhabitants of Alsace and Lorraine who, owing to the cession of their country to Prussia, have determined to emigrate, and to settle in Belgium or France. The Dublin Evening Mail announces the discovery of what is said to be the first Runic inscription ever found in Ireland. The discovery was made at the opening of a tumulus on the estate of Lord Rathdonnell, at Gernon's Town, County Louth. Among the objects which were brought to light was a bronze sword, which bore the inscription in Runic characters, interpreted as meaning "Tomri of Solshoff owns this sword." Readers of Irish history will remember that Tomri, or Tomar, was the name also of the owner of that "collar of gold" which Moore says Malachi "won from the proud invader." The sword has been sent to Copenhagen for further examination of the Runic characters. Mr. Scott, of the British Museum, informs us that he has discovered, in a MS. tract on "The Excellency of the English Tongue," penned cire. 1590, by Richard Carew of Antony, Esq., and addressed to William Camden, then Head Master of Westminster Grammar School, a mention of Shakespeare. The passage runs-"Will you read Virgil, take the Earl of Surrey, Catullus, Shakespheare." The tract has been already printed in Camden's "Remains." It is singular that the passage should have hitherto been overlooked by Shakespearean critics, as it is, undoubtedly, an earlier notice of Shakespeare as a poet, without any allusion to his plays, than any mentioned by his biographers.-Athenæum. New Edition of the Koran.-M. Aristide Fanton, a member of the French Bar, now residing at Constantinople, has recently come into possession of a singularly valuable MS. of the Ko ran, and has had it reproduced in phototype in England for the Mohammedan book market. The fac-simile thus obtained is very beautiful, and will, we have no doubt, be eagerly purchased by the adherents of Islam throughout the world. The MS. from which it is taken is one of six copies written about 180 years ago by a renowned Turkish scribe, named Haffiz Osman. Of these six copies, one is in the possession of the Sultan, another belongs to Prince Mustapha, a third to the Khedive, a fourth to the Emir of Bokhara, and a fifth to M. Fanton. The ownership of the sixth has not been ascertained. The most ambitious of the many volumes of verses inspired by the military triumphs of Germany (Das Lied vom neuen Deutschen Reich, a series of 500 sonnets by Oscar Redwitz) has been fortunate in calling forth letters of acknowledgment to the author from Bismarck and von Moltke, the principal themes of his muse. The former writes in a conventional and diplomatic style; but the aged general appears sincerely to envy the laurels of the great men in the past who owed nothing to these extraneous causes "chance, for tune, fate, or the divine ordinance," by the help of which the German army worked its miracles. It was on this ground he deprecates the excessive praise addressed to him, in a few sentences which may be read with more interest than the poem which suggested them. One sonnet or two on contemporary politics might pass muster, but 500 is too many. Some Literature of the Franco-German War. -Amongst recent French publications on different subjects connected with the Franco-German war are "Le Blocus de Metz en 1870," published by the Municipal Council of Metz. Three interesting and detailed reports form an introduction to the work: the first, by M. Prost, gives a general summary of the events; the second, by M. Justin Worms, is on the means adopted with reference to provisions; the third, by M. Emile Michel, gives an account of the ambulances and of the assistance rendered by the women of Metz. The "Histoire de l'Armée de Chalons, Campagne de Sedan," by a volunteer of the Army of the Rhine, which has reached a second edition, gives a very impartial account of the events, and will live longer than the majority of pamphlets on the subject. The "Tablettes d'un Mobile, Journal Historique et Anecdotique du Siège de Paris," by MM. L. de Villiers and M. G. de Targes, is a very interesting story of Paris during the siege, told with all the events and anecdotes as they occurred day by day. History of the Idyll.-A suggestive essay on the history of the Idyll in Antiquity and the Middle Ages occurs in a late number of Gosche's Archiv für Literaturgeschichte. The origin of this species of poetry is to be referred, not to the simple, but to an over-refined state of society. When a transition period in the development of a people occurs, the feeling of despondency and doubt which it causes makes thoughtful men take refuge in the contemplation of nature. But nature unassociated with man is soon felt to be a wilderness, and accordingly for purposes of art it is peopled with the figures most akin to it, the shepherd and the fisherman. Hence arises the Idyll, which therefore generally implies the idea of contrast, and that contrast unfavorable to the writers' own time. Thus in Hebrew literature, though it would be a mistake to exclude the story of Hagar and Ishmael, or that of Ruth, from the class of idylls because of their simple truthful character, yet the term is more rightly applied to the descriptions in the Song of Solomon, which were written from this more advanced and more critical point of view, and are a protest of fresh nature against artificial splendor, and of simple feeling against refined sensuality. Similarly in India, notwithstanding the idyllic episodes and descriptions of nature that are found in the earlier poems, it is in the writings of Kalidasa, who flourished probably about the Christian era, and consequently at a time when Indian culture had reached a high point, that the almost to the present day the same feature is found true idyllic treatment first appears. From his time in that literature at different periods; but always artistic, and usually as the work of a self-conscious age. With the exception of Solomon's Song, and one Indian poem-the Gitagovinda of Jayadevathe form of poem which we term idyll is not found which idyllid poetry, as a distinct branch of literain Eastern literature. The Alexandrian age, in ture, really took its rise, corresponds in its features to those just mentioned. The greatness of Theocritus consisted in his combining three elements which had existed separately in Greek poetry before tions of character in the Comedians, and emotion -feeling for nature in Homer, realistic descripin the Tragedians. Virgil again is the representative of a period of mental unrest. By the time the Idyll has passed into his hands, it has become more rhetorical and more sentimental: he introduced allegory into it—an element, the influence of which became permanent at the revival of letters. Idyllic episodes may be found in the writings of other Latin poets, especially Ausonius, but almost the only real idylls that are found in classical literature after Virgil are the Moretum-wrongly attributed to him and far more Theocritean in tone than any of his compositions; and the "romance" of Daphnis and Chloe by Longos, which may almost be said to bridge the gulf between the ancient and modern world. The rest of the essay is devoted to an account of the rise of the village-tale in Germany, the peculiar character of which is determined by the village-life, which forms so essential an element in the history of German civilization. Especial attention is drawn to the early story of Ruodlieb, thoroughly German in tone, though in a Latin garb; and to that of Helmbrecht in the 13th century, in which the same features are found: with these is classed the early English story of Phyllis and Flora. From this literature we turn to its counterpart, though with numerous points of contrast, the "Pastourelle" of North France, and the "Pastoreta" of Provence, in which the injurious influence of the Virgilian allegory shows itself at an early period. Finally, the decline in France, towards the close of the Middle Ages, is tone of this literature, both in Germany and pointed out, owing to the contempt with which the peasants had come to be regarded. SCIENCE. A New Heat Measurer.-It is known to electricians that the resistance of a conductor is increased by elevation of its temperature. Mr C. W. Siemens, F. R.S., takes advantage of this fact to construct a pyrometer by which to measure the temperature of a furnace. The pyrometer (heatmeasurer), in this instance, is a small cylinder of platinum, to which long wires are attached. The cylinder is placed in the middle of a furnace, where it becomes of the same temperature as all that surrounds it; and the amount of this temperature is recorded by a voltameter outside the furnace, to which the wires are fastened. The length of wire is unimportant; so that a manufacturer may, if he pleases, have in his office indications of the heat of a furnace at a distance of a mile or more. The Best Way of Transmitting Power by Means of Leather Belts.-The experiments made in the United States, with a view to discover the best way of transmitting power by means of leather belts, have led to the conclusion, that the effectual way to prevent the slipping of the belts is to cover the pulleys with leather. From this, it would appear that leather on leather offers a certain steadiness, and with the further advantage that the belt does not fly off, and wears out less rapidly than when it runs on iron or wood. It is found in practice in a spinning-factory, that a belt running on leather will produce a thread free from knots, and of much greater length, within a given time, than when running (and slipping) on an iron pulley. And we learn that in a steam-mill with five run of mill-stones, each set ground twenty, seven bushels a day after the pulleys were covered with leather, being from three to four bushels more each day than before. In paper-mills and sugarmills, equally satisfactory results have been ob tained; and we may conclude that pulleys covered with leather are best under all circumstances, even where belts or ropes of wire are used. One of Darwin's Theories Refuted.-In a paper read at the Royal Society, Mr. Francis Galton gave an account of experiments he had made to test Mr. Darwin's theory of pangenesisa theory put forward to explain the numerous phenomena allied to simple reproduction, such as reversion, growth, and repair of injuries. The principal points of this theory are, that each one of the myriad cells in every living body is, to a great extent, an independent organism, and that this organism throws "gemmules" into the circulation, where they swarm, waiting opportunity for further development. If this be true, the differences among animals of the same species are due to differences of blood; and if the blood of one variety be transfused into the veins of another, signs of mongrelism should in due time appear in the offspring of the one that had received the alien blood. Mr. Galton experimented on rabbits, choosing the silver-gray, a pure variety; and into their veins he transfused the blood of other varieties; and though he worked at his self-imposed task with patience and skill for more than a year, he arrived at no result favorable to the Darwinian theory. About six score young rabbits were produced, and not one showed signs of departure from the silver-gray. Cross circulation, as well as transfusion, was tried; but the silvergray still remained a pure silver-gray. Hereupon, Mr. Galton says: "The conclusion from this large series of experiments is not to be avoided, namely, that the doctrine of pangenesis, pure and simple, is incorrect." Sun-spots and the Aurora.-A German physicist, Mr. Fritz, after long investigation of the subject, concludes that the connection between sun-spots and auroral and magnetic disturbances indicates some cause or action external to the sun; and this he finds in the positions, or, as astronomers say, the "configurations" of the planets. The planetary influence he places in the following order Jupiter, Venus, Mercury, Earth, Saturn; but their magnetism, as well as their position, has something to do with the phenomena of sun-spots. As a rule, there will be most spots when Jupiter and Saturn are in quadrature, and fewest when those planets are in conjunction. As regards the auroras, Mr. Fritz is of opinion that there is a monthly maximum occurring every twenty-seven and a quarter days, and that this is dependent on the presence of a planet between Mercury and the sun, which has not yet been discovered. Spitsbergen and East Greenland.-In the fifth part of Petermann's Mittheilungen for this year there appears an original map of East Spitzbergen, based on the astronomical observations of the Swedish expedition under Nordenskjöld and Dunér, but amplified and extended by the surveys made by Thomas von Heughlin during his journey in the months of July, August, and September of 1870. Barento and Edge Island, or Stans Foreland, assume a completely new aspect upon this map, as does also the mountainous unvisited land in the East, named King Charles Land, after his Majesty the King of Würtemberg, seen by Heuglin from Spitzbergen. The map is accompanied by a complete description of the topography of the newly-explored coasts. This part also contains the completion of an essay by Lieut. Julius Payer, who accompanied the second German polar expedition, on the orography of the interior of Greenland and its glaciers, on the sledge journey northward to the 77th parallel, the most northerly point ever reached on this side of Greenland, and the discovery of the great Franz Josef fjord. A provisional map shows the extent of the new coastline. The most complete account of the second German voyage is that published by the Bremen North Polar Committee, which comprises a number of papers by the different members of the expedition on the additions made to the physical geography of the region, the nature of the sea bed between the 73d and 75th parallels of north latitude, and on the climate, vegetation, and animal life of East Greenland. Among the discoveries made by the Germans is the fact that the same musk oxen which are so plentiful in Arctic North America appear also in East Greenland, though they are unknown on the west coast; and great interest is raised by the report of numerous dwellings, implements, and graves, the signs of a former native population in these far northern regions. Discovery of Actual Glaciers on the Mountains of Northern California.-The recent geological surveys instituted by the United States Government have added greatly to our knowledge of the Central and Western States, both as to Prof. Whitney and his assistants have developed in the their physical geography and geology. Sierra Nevada a glacier system as extensive and vast as that of the Alps; but no traces of existing glaciers were seen, only one or two rudimentary masses of ice and fields of perpetual névé. In an expedition to Mount Shasta, Northern California, in September last, Mr. Clarence King, United States geologist, discovered between the main mass of Shasta and the lesser Shasta a deep gorge through which flows a glacier about 4,000 feet in width and above three miles in length. It commences almost at the crest of the main mountain, which is 14,440 feet above the sea. From this crest three glaciers were seen, one being four miles and a half in length and from two to three miles broad. No glaciers or snow were seen on the south side, the northern snowy and the southern snowless slopes being divided by an east and west line. On the snowless side of the mountain, at a height of 8,000 feet, a great terrace occurs nearly 3,000 feet in width, entirely composed of moraine matter. The glaciers of Mount Tachoma or Rainier (an extinct volcanic cone) form the sources of four rivers in Washington Territory. The sides for 2,000 feet are covered with an immense sheet of white granular ice, broken by crevasses; lower still the ice-sheet is divided by rock-masses into ice-cascades for 3,000 feet, some of which nearly approach the perpendicular; from the foot flow true glaciers. Many of these glaciers are almost hidden beneath the masses of moraine matter which are heaped upon their backs. The largest glacier of all is that of the White River, which flows out of the crater of Tachoma, extending at least ten miles, being five broad on the mountain, and a mile and a half at its lower extremity. The thickness of rock removed by the action of this glacier is not less than a mile, or about one-third of the entire mass of the moun tain. It has two principal moraines with ridges and peaks nearly 100 feet high. Another extinct crater, that of Mount Hood, supplies from its snow and ice basin, which is half a mile in width, matter for three distinct glaciers, one of which descends 500 feet below the level of timber trees upon the slopes of the mountain. Great as are these existing glaciers they are but the remnants of a far mightier system which has carved and fashioned this great backbone of the American continent from a very remote period, and once extended, like that of the Swiss Alps, far and wide into the valleys themselves, carving out there as in Switzerland the great lake-basins which form so striking a feature in the physical geography of both regions. The Physiology of Mind in the Lower Animals.-A paper with the above title appears in the last number of the Journal of Mental Science written by Dr. W. Lauder Lindsay, and contain ing many points of interest. Dr. Lindsay remarks that comparative physiology, or the science of mind, in all classes of animals, including man, and in the lower animals specially, as contrasted with man, is almost entirely unknown and unstudied in this country. Physicians and metaphysicians, philosophers and others, who have studied the mind, have confined themselves to its phenomena as exhibited in man, or, in other words, to an analysis of the most complex form of mind; hence the belief at the present day by many highly educated men, that the lower animals do not possess mind at all, all their mental phenomena being attributed to the operations of the convenient faculty termed instinct. He thinks that to bring about the substitution of a better state of things we must first become ashamed alike of our ignorance and our prejudice, unlearn much that we have already learned in human psychology, and begin our studies on mind with its genesis or rudiments in the simplest forms of animals, tracing its gradual progress from simplicity to complexity. He then proceeds to give a series of illustrations (well deserving of perusal) of the mental endowments of animals, including their natural disposition or character, their acquired disposition, their emotions, their self-control, their moral sense, memory, observation, imitation, stratagem, will, imagination, abstraction, understanding, reflection and reasoning, actuation and motive, adaptation of means to an end, skill, arts, wars, education, &c. The general result of his own investigations is the conviction that certain of the lower animals possess mind of the same nature as that of man; that there is no mental attribute peculiarly or characteristically human; and that there is, therefore, no essential mental distinction between man and other animals. ART. Dubuffe's Prodigal Son.-Mr. J. C. Derby, taking advantage of the war, has secured another invoice of fine pictures in Europe and brought them to this country. Among those brought over last month is the immense canvas of Dubuffe called The Prodigal Son, which is described as follows by the Tribune: "It belongs to that great school of dramatic compositions of which the most famous exemplars among the old masters are those superb Suppers and Marriages of Paul Veronese, and the grand Adorations of Rubens, and of which one of the most noted specimens in modern times has been that incomparable Rome dans la Decadence of Couture, which was enough in itself to secure the prayers of the civilized world for the safety of the Luxembourg. It is a broad and brilliant work, full of blazing light and color, theatrical, in the good sense and not in the bad, for without being false or affected it labors to present with the greatest splendor of arrangement and decoration the full thought of the artist. The scene is the portico of a vast and noble palace in the East. The time is when you like. The artist has refused to be slavishly bound by any restraints of costume or local color. The dresses are mostly of that rich and graceful fashion of the renaissance, not that the painter cares especially for historical keeping, but simply because the wit of man has not yet devised anything more artistic in wealth of color than the dress of those days. There was but one moment when people dressed better, and that was the age of Phidias, when form was worshipped and color kept in subjection-or perhaps to-day, when form and color are alike despised, and men dress to save time and get readily into omnibuses. Still, no one can look at a picture like this without being grateful for the tailors and gallants of a more beautiful age. The most brilliant point of light in the picture is, as it should be, the Prodigal in his glory. He stands attired in a rich, warm drapery of scarlet, on the marble steps of the stately porch, the centre of a group of superb revelers. At his left a fair-haired woman leans forward, perusing his face with eyes of passionate earnestness, and on the right a riper |