thoroughly traversed. The Song of Songs is characterized as a very noble poem, and the earliest complete book in the Old Testament, its date being about 800 b. c.
The Apocrypha is treated as the "missing link" between the New Testament and the Old. The apocryphal literature goes a great way, and shows how gradual was the evolution from Malachi to Jesus. The book of Enoch, which only the Abyssinian canon has retained, is further evidence of this, and is of the first importance. We are now already in the New Testament atmosphere, especially in that of the Apocalypse.
The sixth lecture, after a brief history of the formation of the New Testament, proceeds to consider the Epistles. Of the fourteen commonly ascribed to Paul only eight are found to be authentic—Romans, Galatians, and Corinthians, surely so; the others not so certainly. From Thessalonians and Philippians we have the evolution of Paul's ideal Christ from simple manhood to superangelic power and grace.
In the seventh lecture the Apocalypse is assigned to the year 69 b. c. The last lecture is on the Four Gospels, and Matthew is assigned to the year 100 a. d.; Luke to 115 a. d.; Mark to 120 a. d.; and John to 140 a. d.; these dates are, however, only approximate. A full chronological table, setting forth the dates of all the separate books of the Bible, is prefixed to the volume, in the shape of an analytical index.
This book represents a great amount of labor and research, and is executed in a manner highly creditable to the scholarship of the author. Though following the great authorities that have preceded him, he is not a servile follower but an independent student. The style of the work is spirited and attractive, and it is inspired with a moral earnestness and a reverent sincerity that will commend it to all unprejudiced and fair-minded readers.
Stock-Breeding: A Practical Treatise on the Application of the Laws of Development and Heredity to the Improvement and Breeding of Domestic Animals. By Manly Miles, M. D., late Professor of Agriculture in the Michigan State Agricultural College. D. Appleton & Co. Pp. 424. Price $1.50.
We have here a timely and valuable manual upon a subject the practical importance of which is only equaled by its theoretical interest. A well-digested treatise on the art of cultivating animals through the control of genetic conditions has been long needed. Upon this point the author justly observes, "It is somewhat remarkable, in this book-making age, that there is no systematic work accessible to the student in which the known facts and principles of the art of improving and breeding domestic animals are presented, in convenient form, for study and reference, notwithstanding the importance of live-stock to the farmer, and the wonderful progress that has been made in its improvement since the time of Bakewell." The art of breeding was long pursued empirically, and was developed by numberless experiments from which rules were deduced that, though not rationally understood, were still sufficient to guide breeders in the improvement of stock. Modern biology has given greater precision to observations, has indicated new lines of experimental research, and has established various principles that are of controlling utility in practice. Much is still unsettled, and many questions remain in profound obscurity, yet there has been such a clearing up of old difficulties and such an extension of positive knowledge in this field that it is now necessary to deal with the subject from the scientific point of view. Dr. Miles's work is rich in the varied facts which constitute the foundation of the art, and which have been selected with careful judgment in regard to their authenticity, but in the classification and interpretation of his data the author follows the scientific method. Indeed, if a book were to be selected simply to illustrate the practical fruitfulness of modern scientific inquiry, in one of its most recent lines of exploration, we are inclined to think the present volume might well be chosen for the purpose. The book is so full of interesting and valuable information that we should like to transfer large portions of it to our columns; but, as this is impossible, we must content ourselves with quoting a few remarks from the author's preface, indicating the main features of his work:
