Book Reviews [pp. 334-336]

Book Reviews.
cidental blow from a hoof, causing instant death. Her
mate refused to leave the stable where the nests had
been made, and he soon became sick and died.
Neither Dick nor her mate had many white feathers, but the young pigeons bred from them had considerable white on bodies as well as on wings; at
the time the old birds died, there were, perhaps, fifty
pigeons entirely white. These had been selected
from a larger number, which had become too numerous for the space set apart for them.
It is probable that Dick, when she first came to
the ranch, had escaped from sportsmen at a shooting
match. No such trial of skill was likely to occur
nearer than ten miles away. The pigeons procured
Darwinism and Other Essays.l
THERE can be no doubt that Mr. Fiske is one of
the clearest and most brilliant of popular writers
on philosophical subjects. He is known, not as a
mere interpreter of other men's thoughts, as popular writers usually are, but as a really original thinker.
No man could expound so clearly and so vividly the
evolution theory of Darwin and Spencer.unless he
had not only mastered the thoughts of these men, but
had also made the subject his own. Some readers
gather and store other men's thoughts, arrange them
nicely in mental pigeon holes, and can reproduce them
in their exact original form on suitable occasions.
Othersfeed on other men's thoughts; digest, assimilate them, so that they enter into the composition of
their mental bone and muscle, and reappear in new
forms in their own thought-work. Mr. Fiske certainly belongs to this higher class.
The volume before us is a collection of essays written at different times and on various subjects, but
the same spirit and philosophy runs through all. To
ensure intelligent public attention, it is necessary only
to name and characterize the successive chapters.
The first five chapters are devoted to Darwinism and
evolution, defining their essentials, answering their
critics on the one hand, and their materialistic supporters on the other, and thus defining his own position as a theistic evolutionist. Then follows an essay
on "Inspiration," and another on "Modern Witchcraft" (spiritism); then one very excellent and appreciative essay on "Comte's Positive Philosophy," and
two on the "Fallacies of Buckle." The first of
these two is somewhat crude, but, considering that it
was written at the age of nineteen, it is certainly a
marvel of thoughtfulness and of style. The next, on
the Danubian races, is especially interesting, now that
the attention of the world is again turned on the
Eastern Question. The next tiro, on "Liberal Edu
for the shooting clubs were often brought from other States by express- too far distant for ordinary
pigeons to find their way back to the place where
they were raised.
This is simply a conjecture, offered to explain the
appearance of a single pigeon so far from its home.
Dick was never known to fly a half mile away from
her adopted home after seeking shelter at the ranch
Edward E. Chever.
ERRATUM: On page 217, February OVERLAND,
"The Bland Bill," read "bimetallic" for " limitable," in the sentence "The single gold standard is
not incompatible with a limitable currency."
cation" and " University," are a just presentation of
the true aims of education.
We wish every one would read Mr. Fiske's essays
on evolution. We believe his position on this subject is the only just and tenable one. Many people
seem to think that evolution and materialism are convertible terms-that the truth of the one necessitates
the truth of the other. On the contrary, evolution
leaves the question of materialism just where it found
it. We find now among evolutionists the same diversity of view on this question as among thinkers
before the advent of Darwin and Spencer. If HIeckel and Biichner are materialistic- if Huxley and
Tyndall are agnostic-we find Cleland, and Flower,
and our author are theistic. Though the clearest and
warmest expounder of evolution living, yet no one has
shown more clearly than our author the untenableness
and even absurdity of materialism.
In fine, it seems to us that our author is singularly
just in his views on the leading questions of the day.
We would, therefore, cordially recommend all his
works, not only as in the highest degree entertaining,
but as thoroughly healthful in their effects on the
mind.
Briefer Notice.
Several collections of amateur dramas and recitations come before us for notice. The plays collected
in the The Globe Drama2 comprise "The Flowing
Bowl," "Better than Gold," "Comrades," "Nevada, or The Lost Mine," "Past Redemption," and
"Rebecca's Triumph." The author of these plays,
Mr. George M. Baker, has been long known as the
editor of a series of volumes of selections for readings
and recitations, and as the author of many excellent
plays adapted to the wants of school exhibitions, literary societies. lyceums, and social gatherings. In
the work he ha. already done he~has shown a good appreciation of what is needed by young dramatic as
I Darwinism and Other Essays. By John Fiske. 2 The Globe Drama; Original Plays. By George
Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. i886. For sale in M. Baker. Boston: Lee & Shepard. i885. For sale
San Francisco by Chilion Beach. in San Francisco by W. Doxey.
334
[March,