which now serve the ends of philanthropy, not one could have resulted from any amount of calculation, or of conscience, or indeed of culture. The seer simply declares what he beholds, and the artist translates his idea, as best he may, into his own form of art; but the artist who looks away from his ideal to contemplate himself misses his mark, and the student who utilizes art as a mere tool for self-improvement defeats his own object. All noble and ennobling art has been, and must be, followed for its own sake.

When we look back on the advance music has made in England since the beginning of the century, it seems wrong to take an unhopeful view. Only all our advance seems to be in the representation of the already presented. Not till music has become the speech of the people will it find anything fresh to say.

Not till that has come about will the most heaven-born genius, should he appear among us, have much chance of recognition or appreciation unless first exported and returned to us with a foreign seal. It may well be that the future of English music lies in the success and the spread of the movement which, in some of its phases, we have described. Till then we seem only to fashion a lovely statue, as Pygmalion did; we add grace after grace and finish after finish till it is all but life-like. We exclaim in delight as we recognize again and again the features and the smile that we have dreamed of—that we know. But in vain we kneel and worship and invoke-in vain, so far. The smiling statue is still a statue. It does not descend from its pedestal; it will, as yet, not live for us. -The Nineteenth Century.

UNCLE REMUS: His Songs and His Sayings. The Folk-Lore of the Old Plantation. By Joel Chandler Harris. With Illustrations by Frederick S. Church and James H. Moser. New York: D. Appleton & Co.

In his graceful introduction to this remarkable book, the author seems somewhat disposed to protest against its being looked upon as a humorous production, declaring, that no matter how humorous it may be in effect, its intention is perfectly serious. However this may be, and heightened perhaps by its transparent good faith and objective realism, humor is its dominant characteristic, and to this no doubt is largely due the very wide popularity which it has already achieved. For readers of our day, at least, there is no literary quality so certain to prove attractive as humor; and the humor of Uncle Remus is of a peculiarly quaint, racy, genial, and laughter-provoking type. It pleases by its very freshness and spontaneity, and by the contrast which it thus affords to the artful, self-conscious, elusive, and carefully cultivated humorousness which modern writers have drilled themselves to supply in obedience to the universal demand.

The truth is, however, that Mr. Harris's book appeals to three distinct and separate classes of readers. For children, the semi-mythical, semi-realistic stories of Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox, Brer Wolf, Brer Tarrypin, Brer Tukky Buzzard, and the rest, possess the romantic fascination that pertains to all genuine folk-lore and nature-myths. Grown-up readers are charmed by the humorous flavor of which we have spoken, and by the homely good sense, the shrewd observation, and the gleams of poetic imagination which are revealed by the songs and the sayings as well as by the stories. And already ethnologists have begun to perceive that as contributions to myth literature the plantation legends are likely to prove of no slight value, and to suggest questions of profound significance in regard to race origins and relationships.

To estimate in detail the relative weight of these several considerations would require

more space than we can spare; but to our mind the feature which will be found to contribute most to the permanent value of the book is the light which it throws upon the essential character of the negro, his outlook upon life, and his conception of men and things. We hardly exaggerate when we say that, from this point of view, it is by far the most important outcome of that concentration of interest with which the negro has been regarded in this country during the past two or three generations. Uncle Tom" was produced by Mrs. Stowe as the camel was produced by the German-he was evolved from the depths of her consciousness, and represents nothing but the creative power of a realistic imagination suffused with intense feeling.

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Uncle Remus" is the actual, living, typical plantation negro, whose personality gave (and still gives, we hope) a flavor and picturesqueness of its own to plantation life in the South, and whose figure is recalled with a half-humorous, half-tender regret by the great majority of Southerners when looking back in memory upon the scenes and experiences of their childhood. The skill with which Mr. Harris has portrayed and illustrated this many sided character proves him to be an artist of a high order; and, if we are not mistaken, he has added a permanent figure to the great portraitgallery of literature.

In any event, it must be regarded as a happy augury that some of the most successful-successful in the highest and widest sense of recent American books have been produced by Southeners. Mr. Cable has taken his place unchallenged in the foremost rank of American novelists, and Mr. Harris's work, modest and unpretentious though it is, is worth a whole shelf-full of such stories as Miss Augusta J. Evans's, or even those of Christian Reid.

YOUNG IRELAND: A Fragment of Irish History. 1840-1850. By Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, K.C.M.G. New York. D. Appleton

& Co.

After a lapse of nearly forty years Sir

Charles Gavan Duffy, one of the leaders of the "Young Ireland" party whose agitation nearly produced a civil war in Ireland a generation ago, narrates the history of the events in which he took part, and paints the characters and explains the motives of the patriots who, with himself, played the leading rôles. His object is to make the history of the past throw light upon the difficulties of the present, to show how the same sufferings and grievances are producing the same results to-day that they have always produced, and to explain why when England is prosperous and contented Ireland is convulsed in the throes of civil discord. He writes without passion, though dealing with questions and events about which he evidently feels as deeply as ever; his arraignment of the policy of the British Government toward Ireland is severe and trenchant but never descends to the level of mere invective; his arguments are nearly as unimpeachable as his facts; and there can be no doubt that his able and interesting book will really contribute something to the solution of difficulties which might well be thought to baffle the efforts of peaceful statesmanship.

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The present volume only covers the period from 1840 to 1845; but, though yet incomplete, the work has made a profound and favorable impression upon the English public. Says the London Spectator: Never did any book appear so opportunely. But, whenever it had appeared, with so lucid and graphic a style, so large a knowledge of the Irish question, and so statesmanlike a grasp of its conditions, it would have been a book of great mark. We have come round now to a different point on the ascending spiral curve on which the history of English and Irish relations might be traced, and all the old difficulties are meeting us again in a form materially different indeed, but not fundamentally different, from that of thirty-five years ago. It is all the more instructive to read these vivid and eloquent pages, that the personal relations involved are so different, while the political relations are so closely similar."

Whoever wishes to understand the sentimental as well as the practical side of the Irish grievances which are now thrusting themselves so obtrusively upon the attention of the world should read this book.

upon the same plan by the same author. The earlier volume, we may remind the reader, included in its scope only things in nature, science, and the arts; and this later one com. prises accounts of the most noted persons and places, both real and fabulous. The two together cover the usual range of cyclopædic knowledge, and constitute a work which should be in every school library, in the hands of every teacher, and in every family where there are children. During the past year we have in our own family applied some pretty severe tests to the practical utility of the earlier volume, and have proved that a quite young child can readily be taught to refer to it for answers to those innumerable questions with which young folks are apt to pester and puzzle their elders. We have proved, too, that the superior completeness and precision of the answers thus obtained is appreciated by a child quite as much as it would be by those more accustomed to the use of such works. Quite apart from the importance of the information thus acquired, the value of the habit formed in this manner can hardly be overestimated in the mental training of the young. The scanty use made of works of reference, in ordinary households, even when the works are at hand, can only be attributed to the fact that in most cases the habit of such use was not acquired in the early or plastic stage of experience; and if the

Young Folks' Cyclopædia" did nothing more than accustom children to consult it in their perplexities it would render valuable service to the cause of education.

The present volume is much larger than its predecessor and is much more copiously and satisfactorily illustrated, containing maps and charts, as well as portraits and other pictures. A very valuable feature is the pronunciation of the proper names, which is indicated not by confusing and misleading diacritical signs, but by the use of the simple letters of the alphabet combined with a careful system of syllabification and accentuation. This feature renders the book as valuable to grown people as to children, for it is precisely the pronunciation of proper names which in general it is hardest to get at.

There are other features which will serve to render the book as satisfactory to parents as to children, and it may be said in brie: that the "Young Folks' Cyclopædia" will meet the requirements of all who are in search of a compact, untechnical, and plainly-written dictionlary of general knowledge.

THE STUDENTS' LAW DICTIONARY. By S. S. Peloubet. Second Edition, Revised and corrected. New York: Diossy & Co.

EQUITY: With English Translations. By S. S. Peloubet. New York: George S. Diossy. Though designed primarily for the legal profession, these little books are not without value and interest for laymen. The law touches upon life at so many points that there are numerous occasions when even the ordinary reader would find it convenient to have at hand a glossary of the words and phrases used in legal papers and documents, with concise and trustworthy definitions of them; and in his "Students' Law Dictionary," Mr. Peloubet has prepared just such a work in remarkably compact and convenient shape. The full title of this useful little work is The Students' Law Dictionary of Words and Phrases in Law Latin, Law French, and Anglo-Saxon, with statutory and common law definitions, together with definitions of terms and expressions used in the code of civil procedure ;" and its practical value is indicated by its passing so quickly into

a second edition.

The purpose of the second work is as the author says, to collect in a small compass all the principal legal maxims in law and equity which are found scattered through the various law-books, giving under each an approved English translation. It is intended for the student preparing for the bar, and for the practising lawyer who may desire to find a maxim which will apply to, and illustrate, the case before him." The collection is at once compact and comprehensive, the arrangement is good, the translations appear to be in general fairly apt and literal, and a topical index at the end enables the student to find the maxims upon any subject that may happen to have been included.

The style in which the little books are issued commends them at once to the eye and the pocket.

CERTAIN MEN OF MARK. Studies of Living Celebrities. By George Makepeace Towle. Boston: Roberts Bros.

The

Into this compendious little volume, Mr. Towle has gathered biographical sketches of Gladstone, Bismarck, Gambetta, Lord Beaconsfield, Castelar, Victor Hugo, John Bright, and the Emperors William of Germany, Alexander of Russia, and Francis Joseph of Austria. sketches are almost too slight for publication in book form, and would seem more naturally to find place in a magazine; but they are excellent as far as they go, and the only fault the reader is likely to find with them will be on the score of their brevity. Mr. Towle has seen most of the celebrities with whom he deals, and his personal descriptions and anecdotes give an animation to his pages which such sketches do not usually possess.

FOREIGN LITERARY NOTES. It is rumored that Brugsch-Bey is rewriting his famous pamphlet on the Exodus.

PROF. HUXLEY is, we are glad to hear, to contribute a volume on Berkeley to the "English Men of Letters" series edited by Mr. John Morley.

THE eleventh volume of the Archives de la Bastille, just published under the editorship of M. Ravaisson, contains some documents relating to Avedick, Patriarch of the Armenians at Constantinople, who has been identified by several authors with the Man in the Iron Mask.

A NEW work of Goethe has lately been discovered by Prof. Arndt, of Leipzig. It is in prose, and fills only a small number of pages in the Ms. It belongs to the species of "Singspiel," a sort of pastoral play, intermixed with little bits of verse and songs. It is hoped that it will be published shortly.

IT is announced that Von Ranke is about to publish with Messrs. Duncker and Humblot, of Leipzig, the first volume of a Universal History (Weltgeschichte), which is to be rather a Philosophy of History than a history in the strict sense of the word. The first chapter will be entitled " Ammon-Ra, Baal, and Jehovah."

E. SCHWEIZERBART, of Stuttgart, advertises a complete edition of Mr. Darwin's writings ("Ch. Darwin's Gesammelte Werke"), to be completed in fifty weekly parts, with 143 wood-cuts, seven photographs, and a portrait of the author. The series will afterwards be issued in six volumes. The publication opens with the "Voyage of a Naturalist."

A PROJECT has been started for marking, by some suitable monument, the spot where the corpse of Shelley was burned in 1822 on the sea coast near Viareggio. Some gentlemen belonging to Shelley's own college in Oxford, University College, whence he was summarily expelled in 1811, are taking the first steps in this matter: a fitting and laudable act of expiation.

MESSRS. GEORGE BELL AND SONS are about to publish an illustrated work on "Bookbinding of all Ages," in which examples will be given from the libraries of Maioli, Grolier, Henri II. and Diana of Poitiers, President de Thou, and other celebrated collectors. It will also contain specimens of the workmanship of Clovis Eve, Le Gascon, Dérome, Padeloup, and other noted binders. The work is edited by Mr. Joseph Cundall, who read his first essay on bookbinding at the Society of Arts just thirty-three years ago.

AT the last meeting of the Royal Society of Literature, Mr. F. G. Fleay read a paper entitled "The Living Key to English Spelling Reform now found in History and Etymology." The object was to show that the objections to spelling reform are principally founded on an exaggerated estimate of the amount of change required. Mr. Fleay, on the other hand, proposed a scheme which was developed in two forms-one, perfectly phonetic, for educational purposes; the other differing from this only in dropping the use of the accents, and the one new type required in the former. He showed

that even in the vowel sounds not one-tenth would need alteration; while in the case of the consonants the alteration required would of course be much less.

MR. GOSTWICK, already known as a writer on German literature, is preparing for publi

cation a book entitled "German Culture and Christianity." It is intended to give in outline a history of the main controversy in which, for more than a century, German culture— especially in philosophy and Biblical criticism -has been engaged in opposition to certain Christian tenets. The chief aim of the book is to show that the attack, masked at times by various auxiliary movements, has always been directed mainly against the central tenet of Christianity. The history begins shortly before the time of Lessing, and ends with the date 1880.

THE issue of typographical and illustrated works of a costly and "luxurious character is as yet too perilous an enterprise in Spain to be of frequent occurrence. Publishers are chary of risking capital in such speculations. Still, the presses of Madrid and Barcelona have turned out illustrated works of considerable artistic as well as typographical merit. It is proposed to publish at Madrid an edition of some of the poems of Señor Nuñez de Arce, illustrated by Domingo, Jimenez y Aranda (José), Raimundo Madrazo, Melida, Palmeroli, Plasencia, Pradilla, and Sala y Vierge. The poems proposed for illustration will be "Misere," "La Selva Oscura," "La Vision de Fray Martin," "La Lamentacion de Lord Byron," and others inedited. It is also proposed to issue the poem of Campoamor entitled "El Rio Piedra," illustrated by Villegas. It is to be hoped that these attempts to unite the sister arts may prove such a success as to induce further ventures in the same direction.

-Athenæum.

SCIENCE AND ART.

THE COPPER PRESENT IN COAL,An examination by Stolba of specimens of coal, chiefly from Bohemia, shows the invariable presence

of a small quantity of copper. (Sitzber, böhm. Gesellschaft der Wiss., April, 1880.) The ashes of the coals, carefully prepared, always showed a strong copper reaction; the pure coal itself contained a trace only of copper; the pyrites accompanying it gave a strong reaction. In fact the strength of the reaction appears to go hand in hand with the amount of pyrites present in the coal. The never-failing copper of the coal determines the amount of copper present in iron prepared with such coal or coke. The copper present in the coal with which we heat our ovens can be shown by the following simple method. When the coal is burnt and ceases to give a flame, and only the so-called glow is to be observed, a spoonful of pure salt is to be thrown upon it and stirred about with a tongs or stick of wood. Immediately the azure blue flames of carbonic oxide

containing copper chloride are produced, and the appearance lasts some time. Coal which contains much pyrites exhibits the color with great intensity and in great beauty. This, doubtless, is the cause of the color which is so familiar to most people, and for which many explanations have been proposed.

FIRE PROOF AND WATER-PROOF PAPER.— A French journal describes a kind of paper which is fire-proof and water-proof. It is made of a mixture of asbestos fibre, paper paste. and a solution of common salt and alum; is passed through a bath of dissolved gum-lac, and then goes to the finishing rollers. The strength and fire-resisting capability are increased by the alum and salt; and the lac renders the paper impermeable to moisture, without producing unsuitability for ink.

COLOR-BLINDNESS IN THE UNITED STATES. -The United States Government has taken prompt and vigorous action on the basis of the recent conclusions come to by scientific investigators as to the prevalence of color-blindness. Both in the army and the navy, and in the case of pilots, systems of examination have been

devised and are enforced to secure the detection of color-blindness in all cases in which such a defect would be likely to lead to inefficient discharge of duty. As we formerly intimated, also, the State of Connecticut insists that all railway employés within its borders be tested for the same purpose, and doubtless in time such a law will be passed in all the other States. The following are the rules for conducting the examinations in the State of Connecticut Rule 1. For the qualitative estimation of color-blindness the following tests are to be employed: Holmgren's worsteds, the Tables of Stilling, Donders's color test patterns, Pfluger's letters, with tissue papers. Woinow's revolving cards may also be used. For the quantitative test for color-blindness,