afford every advantage of pictorial representation. At the same time the work would prove valuable as an authentic account of the present condition of geological science for general reading and convenient reference.
Like all the other volumes of this series, it is presented in an elegant form and finished workmanship, alike in engraving, typography, and binding. Le Conte's compend should at once take rank as a standard school text-book.
The Destiny of Man, viewed in the Light of his Origin. By John Fiske. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. Pp. 121. Price, §1.
It was certainly not at all surprising that Mr. John Piske should have received an invitation to lecture before the "Concord School of Philosophy"; but it was a matter of some surprise to many that he should have accepted it. There are those who will think he was not at home there; and yet there seems to have been a propriety both in the invitation and in the acceptance of it. The Concord philosophers this year took up the question of immortality, and, as Mr. Fiske has views upon this subject, and as his opinions upon any grave philosophical question are highly valued, and as, moreover, there is a good deal of interest to know how he regards this particular problem, the Concord people must be credited with doing an excellent service in calling him out.
We shall here be able only to state Mr. Fiske's position, as to discuss his views will require a formal article; and we can not better indicate the ground he takes upon the question of immortality than in his own words in the preface, which will also afford a clew to its treatment in the book. He says: "The question of a future life is generally regarded as lying outside the range of legitimate scientific discussion. Yet, while fully admitting this, one does not necessarily admit that the subject is one with regard to which we are forever debarred from entertaining an opinion. Now, our opinions on such transcendental questions must necessarily be affected by the total mass of our opinions on the questions which lie within the scope of scientific inquiry; and from this point of view it becomes of surpassing interest to trace the career of humanity within that segment of the universe which is accessible to us. The teachings of the doctrine of evolution as to the origin and destiny of man have, moreover, a very great speculative and practical value of their own, quite apart from their bearings upon any ultimate questions. The body of this essay is accordingly devoted to setting forth these teachings in what I conceive to be their true light; while their transcendental implications are reserved for the sequel."
From this it will be seen that Mr. Fiske's volume affords a compendious presentation of the doctrine of evolution in its highest aspects as throwing light upon the origin, history, career, and possible destiny of man. As an exposition of this subject the little book is a gem of lucidity and instructiveness. Mr. Fiske has but very few peers as a clear, attractive, and brilliant writer; and on the subject here treated he writes with the authority of one who by his independent and original investigations has aided in giving shape to modern evolutionary doctrine in its higher aspects. The book is to be very strongly commended on this ground, and is certain to be widely read. The incompleteness which is a necessary result of its brevity may be supplemented by reference to the more elaborate presentation of his views in his other works; and at the close of the volume he indicates which of his larger volumes is to be consulted for this purpose and where the more elaborated opinions are to be found. Without inquiring at present into the validity of the special conclusions he has arrived at on the question of immortality, we will only say that the book taken in connection with its references is a unique and incomparable statement of evolutionary doctrine, that may be perused with equal pleasure and profit by all concerned in this class of inquiries.
Shoppell's Building Plans for Modern Low-Cost Houses. Edited by Robert W. Shoppell. New York: Co-operative Building Association. Forty Plans. Price, 50 cents.
The houses for which plans arc given are in the favorite styles of the day, and range in cost from $400 to $6,500. The designs arc furnished by Stanley S. Covert and Fran-
