(part 2). The nervous system of the Holothuria pedata: Vol. xxxix. Part 3, December 21, 1883, contains:-On the Rotifers of the environs of Giessen, by Karl Eckstein, natural history student, Giessen (plates 23-28), enumerates and describes in detail fifty species (one new genus Distyla, with two new species, D. giessensis and D. ludwigii). A list of all known genera is given, with a general description of the anatomy, development, and habits of the group. A very complete bibliography is appended.-On the digestive apparatus of the Decapods, by Dr. F. Albert (plates 29-31, and woodcuts). Vol. xxxix. Part 3, December 31, 1883, contains:-On Bucephalus and Gasterostomum, by Dr. H. Ernst Ziegler (plates 32 and 33) (Bucephalus polymorphus was found in considerable quantities in Anodonta mutabilis).-On the central nervous system in Periplaneta orientalis, by Dr. Max Koestler (plate 34).-Ou the varieties of the cerebral fissures in Lepus, Övis, and Sus, by Dr. Victor Rogner (plate 35).-On the structure and fissiparity of Ctenodritus monostylus, sp. nov., by Max Graf Zeppelin (plates 36 and 37).-On the nervous system of the snout and upper lip in oxen, by Ivan B. Cybulsky (plates 38 and 39).-On the anatomy and physiology of the proboscis in Musca, by Dr. Karl Kraepelen (plates 40 and 41).-On the connective tissue of the epiphyses in Plagiostomes, Ganoids, and Teleostea, by Dr. J. Th. Cattel. SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES Royal Society, January 10.- "On the Amount of Light Reflected by Metallic Surfaces." By Sir John Conroy, Bart., M.A. Communicated by Prof. Stokes, Sec. R.S. In a paper which Prof. Stokes did me the honour of communicating to the Royal Society, and which appeared in the Proceedings, vol. xxxv. p. 26, I gave an account of some experiments I had made on the amount of light reflected by polished metallic surfaces when ordinary unpolarised light was incident upon them. The light of a paraffin lamp fell either directly, or after reflec tion from the metallic surface, on a photometer, and the readings were made by altering the distance at which another similar lamp had to be placed from the photometer in order to produce an equal illumination. I have repeated the experiments with the steel and speculum metal mirrors with polarised light. The polish of the tin and silver mirrors being defective, it was not thought worth while to re-examine them. The general arrangement of the apparatus remained the same; but in order to obtain a more intense light, a magic lantern (the one known as the "Sciopticon" being used) was substituted for the paraffin lamp carried by the goniometer. The metal plates were clamped to the vertical stage, and their adjustment examined by placing a second, or analysing, Nicol in the path of the reflected light and crossing the Nicols, the former being placed with its principal section either in or perpendicular to the plane of incidence, and adjusting the stage screws till the light reflected from the plate was completely extinguished. The experiments were made in the manner described in the former paper, the light being polarised in, or perpendicularly to, the plane of incidence by the Nicol. It was found that the illunination of the paper varied with the position of the Nicol, being always greatest when the light which fell on the paper was polarised in the plane of incidence. Four sets of observations and their means, made with the steel and speculum metal mirrors, are given in the tables. TABLE I.-Steel, with Light Polarised in the Plane of Incidence Angle of incidence A B C D Mean 67.74 30 57'01 61.67 40 50 65*31 61973 64'04 68.18 62'90 64°21 63'06 6105 60'70 76.18 55'37 60 67.41 71'97 69'41 68.52 77'70 43.18 55 60 74'55 76'02 68.76 70'41 70.88 65 77.22 81.40 74.83 81.48 80'77 85.22 81.57 84'09 84'92 90'32 84'71 86'01 87.87 70 83.29 37'45 86.32 43'53 77.96 74'31 74.42 75 85.52 35.84 77 37 80 88.74 45.88 82.26 As far as regards the general character of the phenomena the agreement is complete and in accordance with the observations of M. Jamin, but the actual values of the observed intensities always fall short of the calculated intensities, the difference being least with the steel mirror. The polish of the mirrors was examined at the end of the experiments by the method suggested by Prof. Stokes, and described in the paper already referred to; both the mirrors stood the test satisfactorily, the polish of the steel being very slightly the best. These experiments appear to show that the generally received formulæ for metallic reflection are approximately correct, but that the actual intensity of the reflected light is always less than the theoretical intensity, and that therefore, unless this be due to defects in the metallic surfaces, the formulæ do not completely express the laws of metallic reflection. If, as appears to be the case, a change in the reflective power of a plate can occur without any change in the values of the principal incidence and azimuth, it is necessary to regard the formule as only approximately true, and there is additional reason for thinking that, as Prof. Stokes has suggested, three constants are required to define a metal optically. Linnean Society, February 7.-Sir J. Lubbock, Bart., president, in the chair.-Mr. Henry Groves of Florence and Mr. F. L. Keays of Cobham were elected Fellows.-Mr. F. O. Bower showed specimens of the leaf of Tomeia menziesii, with adventitious buds situated at the base of the lamina. These buds appear at the same point in all the leaves, and under normal circumstances, so that their development seems to be a constant character of the species. Their origin is exogenous, and the buds are found already present at the period when lignification of the xylem of the young vascular bundles begins. Mr. Bower compared this development with that already known in Cardamine pratensis and Athyrurus ternatus.-There was exhibited, on behalf of Mr. Arthur C. Cole, a box containing mounted preparations illustrative of his "Studies in Microscopic Science," a work devoted to animal and vegetable histology, now being issued in parts.-A note on the gemmæ of Aulacomnion palustre was read by Mr. F. O. Bower. Specimens kept in a warm and damp atmosphere flourished well, but showed no sign of sexual organs. It was found, however, that the ordinary vegetative axes often bore towards their apices structures which were undoubtedly of a foliar nature, with a special adaptation for effecting asexual or vegetative reproduction of the plant. Indeed, these gemmæ were found to be capable of immediate germination when laid on damp soil or even floating on water.The second part of the Rev. A. E. Eaton's monograph on the recent Ephemeridæ or mayflies was read in abstract, its contents being a descriptive account of the genera and species from Potamanthus to Callibetes inclusive. -Another paper taken in abstract was by the Rev. A. M. Norman, on European and North Atlantic Crustacea. In this an attempt has been made to gather together all the present known and recorded forms of the group. Notices of many of the species are only to be found in obscure periodicals, &c., difficult of access almost in every language; consequently, since the production of Milne-Edward's "Histoire Naturelle des Crustaces" in 1834, the numbers have increased nearly threefold-revision therefore being highly necessary. Mr. B. T. Lowne gave an interesting communication embodying his researches on the compound vision of insects. He compares the structures of the simple ocellus with those of the compound ocellus (common in larval insects), and with those of the compound eye. The compound eye, according to him, is but composed of aggregated compound ocelli, or one of the latter in the larval insect is merely equivalent to a single segment of a compound eye. He refers to the development of the compound eye, and points out that in many larvæ during the moulting stages the "segregate" retina is finally replaced by another. He describes a deep, spindle-like layer in intimate connection with the nervous structures, and which layer he regards as playing an important part in the phenomena of compound vision rather than that this kind of vision is solely dependent on the number of corneal facets. Mathematical Society, February 14.-Prof. Henrici, F.R.S., president, and subsequently Sir J. Cockle, F.R.S., vice-president, in the chair.-Messrs. A. B. Basset and D. Brocklebank were admitted into the Society.-The following communications were made :-On the intersections of a triangle with a circle, by H. M. Taylor.-On the difference between the number of (4n + 1) divisors and the number of (4n + 3) divisors of a number, by J. W. L. Glaisher, F.R.S.-On a general theory, including the theories of systems of complexes and spheres, by A. Buchheim.-Prof. Sylvester, F. R.S., made some remarks on matrices with reference to nonions, &c. (see forthcoming paper in the American Journal of Mathematics). I I - κι Chemical Society, February 7.-Dr. W. H. Perkin, president, in the chair.-It was announced that a ballot for the election of Fellows would be held at the next meeting of the Society (February 21). The following papers were read:-On the expansion of liquids, by D. Mendeléeff; translated from the Russian by B. Brauner. In this paper the author, principally from data furnished by Thorpe (Chem. Soc. Journ. Trans., 1880, p. 141), gives the equation V = as expressing approximately the expansion of liquids. K is named the "determinator of expansion." It is a coefficient characterising each liquid, just as each liquid has a specific gravity, boiling point, &c. The author states that the above expression, although many liquids deviate slightly from it, is sufficient in the majority of physicochemical investigations.-Researches on secondary and tertiary azo-compounds, by R. Meldola, No. 2. The author describes, in continuation of his former researches, the action of diazotised paranitraniline upon tertiary monamines. In the case of dimethylaniline the resulting product is paranitrobenzenazodimethylaniline. This, on reduction with ammonium sulphide, furnishes an amido-compound, which is a most delicate test for nitrous acid. The nitro-azo compounds of the meta-series could not be reduced by ammonium sulphide without complete decomposition. The author concludes that the B-naphthylamine compounds of para- and meta-nitrodiazo-benzene do not contain an amido-group, as they yield with nitrous acid nitroso derivatives.-Note on the nitrogenous matters in grass and ensilage from grass, by E. Kinch. The author has determined the and in the ensilage made from the grass. In the grass 9 per cent. albuminoid and non-albuminoid nitrogen in a sample of grass of the nitrogen was non-albuminoid; in the ensilage 55 per cent. of the nitrogen was non-albuminoid. The albuminoids were determined by the phenol, the copper hydrate, the mercuric hydrate, and the lead hydrate methods. The author points out the importance of this serious diminution in the albuminoids, with reference to the food-value of ensilage.-On the influence by L. T. Wright. The author finds that more gas is obtained of the temperature of distillation on the composition of coal-gas, at high temperatures, but that it contains more hydrogen and less hydrocarbons. Physical Society, February 9.-Prof. R. B. Clifton, president, in the chair.-Annual General Meeting.-The motion to make past presidents permanent vice-presidents was carried, and the articles of the Society altered accordingly.-Prof. Clifton read a report on the business of the past year, which showed that steady work had been done by the Society. Dr. Atkinson read the balance-sheet, showing a flourishing condition of the Society. A proposal to adopt certain letters to indicate membership of the Society when placed behind the name was, on the motion of Prof. G. Forbes, supported by Prof. Adams, Prof. McLeod, and others, held in abeyance for the present. The officers and Council for the ensuing year were then elected, and were as follows:-President: Prof. F. Guthrie, F.R.S.; Vice-Presidents: Profs. R. B. Clifton, F.R.S., W. E. Ayrton, F.R.S., W. Chandler Roberts, F.R.S., Dr. J. Hopkinson, F.R.S., Lord Rayleigh, F.R.S.; Secretaries: Prof. A. W. Reinold, M.A., Mr. W. Baily, M.A.; Treasurer: Dr. E. Atkinson; Demonstrator: Prof. F. Guthrie; other Members of Council: Mr. Shelford Bidwell, M.A., LL.B., Mr. C. W. Cooke, Prof. F. Fuller, Mr. R. T. Glazebrooke, F. R.S., Mr. R. J. Lecky, F.R.A.S., Prof. H. McLeod, F.R.S., Dr. Hugo Müller, F.R.S., Prof. J. Perry, Prof. S. P. Thompson. Honorary Member, Prof. H. A. Rowland. F'rof. Clifton then resigned the chair to Prof. Guthrie, whose zeal for the Society he warmly praised. Prof. Guthrie expressed his high appreciation of the courtesy and kindness of the retiring President while in the chair. Mr. W. Lant Carpenter proposed a vote of thanks to the Lords of the Committee of Council on Education; Mr. Whipple moved the cordial thanks of the meeting to Prof. Clifton; Mr. Griffith and Prof. Adams proposed a vote of thanks to the secretaries, demonstrator, and treasurer; Prof. G. C. Foster proposed a vote of thanks to the auditors.-The meeting was then resolved into an ordinary one, and the Secretary read a paper by Dr. O. J. Lodge and J. W. Clark on the phenomena exhibited by dusty air in the neighbourhood of strongly. illuminated bodies, which we hope to print next week. Mineralogical Society, February 12.-Rev. Prof. Bonney, F.R.S., president, in the chair.-Messrs. T. Vaughan Hughes and W. Semmons were elected members, and the Grand Duke of Leuchtenberg, M. E. Bertrand, and Prof. von Lang, corresponding members.-The following papers were read :-Note on a case of replacement of the quartz constituent of a granite by fluor spar, by the President.-On an arsenical copper ore, "garbyite," from Montana, U.S.A., by Mr. W. Semmons.-On an altered siderite from Alston Moor, by Dr. C. O. Trechmann. -Notes on a picrite (Palæopicrite) and other rocks from Gipps Land, and a serpentine from Tasmania, by the President.-Prof. Judd, on invitation by the President, submitted some slides of dust from the volcano of Krakatoa, which were exhibited under the microscope, and explained the principal features noticeable in these deposits -The President exhibited some slides of dust from Cotopaxi, which had fallen on Chimborazo at the time that Mr. Edward Whymper was ascending the latter mountain. SYDNEY Royal Society of New South Wales, December 5, 1883. -Hon. Prof. Smith, C. M.G., president, in the chair.-Three new members were elected and seventy-eight donations received. -A paper on additions to the census of the genera of plants hitherto known as indigenous to Australia, by Baron Ferd. von Müller, K.C.M.G., F.R.S., was read.-Prof. Smith exhibited Stroh's apparatus for producing attraction and repulsion by vibrations of air.--The following specimens from the Solomon Islands, collected by Dr. H. B. Guppy of H.M.S. Lark, were exhibited and described by Prof. Liversidge, F. R.S.-I. White flint from Ulana or Contrariété Island. 2. Flints, including chips and cores, from Ugi, also a large flint tomahawk weighing about four pounds. The flints possess all the characteristics of those from the chalk of Europe, and cannot by mere inspection be distinguished from them. Prof. Liversidge remarked that some years ago Mr. Brown, the Wesleyan missionary, brought from New Britain a soft white limestone which was quite undistinguishable from chalk, not only physically but chemically, and pointed out that this discovery of flints afforded another very strong proof of the probable presence of true chalk of Cretaceous age in the South Sea Islands. 3. Samples of water from the fresh-water lake of Wailava in the Island of Santa Anna. 4. Water from the boiling spring in the Island of Simbo; temperature 212°. 5. Water condensed from one of the fumaroles in the Solfatara on the south-west point of Simbo, at an elevation of about 300 feet above the sea. 6. Water condensed from one of the fumaroles on the summit of the South Hill in the Island of Simbo, elevated about 1100 feet above the sea. 7. Two kinds of fruits ejected from the crops of pigeons shot on a small island off the south coast of St. Christoval. BERLIN Physical Society, January 25.-Dr. Kayser spoke on the results of an investigation, recently published by Prof. Bunsen of Heidelberg, into the condensation of carbonic acid on smooth glass surfaces, results which did not coincide with those of other physicists, the speaker among the rest. Prof. Bunsen had found that the condensation of carbonic acid was a continuous process which could not be regarded as finished even after a period of three years. According to the views hitherto entertained, the process referred to came to a conclusion in a very short time. Dr. Kayser was of opinion that the diverging result of Prof. Bunsen's examination was to be explained on the ground that in his experiments he made use of an absorbing vessel stoppered by a greased glass cock. Carbonic acid appeared, however, to diffuse itself thoroughly through fat, as had been proved by an experiment set in operation some weeks ago. Two cruciform glass vessels were set up, one arm of which, directed downwards, passed into a capillary tube dipped in quicksilver, while the three other arms were closed up in one vessel by greased glass plates and hermetically sealed in the other. Both were filled with carbonic acid. In the grease-stoppered vessel the volume of carbonic acid showed a slow progressive diminution, but in the other vessel it continued unaffected. Anything like condensation of the carbonic acid was here quite out of the question, though on the other hand there was clearly a case of osmose through the grease, a subject which Dr. Kayser would further prosecute.-Prof. Vogel exhibited instantaneous photographs of various animals in motion-horses, cows, dogs, and stagswhich had been executed by Mr. Muybridge in San Francisco. Prof. Vogel having explained the mode of their production, directed attention to particular pictures completely at variance with the representations of animals in motion hitherto customary among artists. When, however, whole series of these figures, which were occasionally very curious, were viewed through the stroboscope, it was recognised how true to nature these representations were.-Prof. Neesen laid before the Society two new apparatus-one a call-apparatus for telegraphic purposes, constructed by Herr Abakanowicz, which, from the small number of its vibrations, would exercise no disturbing influence or neighbouring conductors; the other an electro-magnetic tuningfork constructed by Herr König, in which the quicksilver contact common in other instruments of the kind was replaced by a metallic contact.-Dr. Aron communicated a practical experi ment he had made on an old frictional electrical machine. By the application of cacao-butter as grease for the amalgam, he elicited from an old machine, which was no longer able to be charged, beautiful sparks of four inches long, and he recom mended this fat for trial, particularly in the case of old electrical machines. VIENNA Imperial Academy of Sciences, December 20, 1883.-F von Hoehnel, on the mode of occurrence of some vegetable raw materials in stem plants.-F. Strohmer, on quantitative deter mination of pure aqueous solutions of glycerine by means of their refractive index.—Ê. Lippmann, on the action of organic hyperoxides on organic compounds (sealed packet).-V. Hilber, on a recent land-snail found in the loess from China (second paper).—C. Auer von Welsbach, on the earths of the gadolinite of Ytterby (on a modification of spectral analysis).—A. Arcte on cerite and its breaking up to cerium, lanthan, and didymitt compounds.-E. Stefan, on the calculation of the coefficient of induction of wire coils. January 3, 1884.-R. Andreasch, contribution to a knowledg of allyl urea.-R. Rumpf, on the andesin in the lignite of Trifai (Styria).-A. Wassmutt, on the heat produced by magnetism.L. Fodor-Mayerhofer, contribution to the theory of the varying vertical sun-dial.-H. Zukal, studies on lichens.-M. Kretschy, researches on kynurinic acid.-S. von Wroblewski, on the use of boiling oxygen as a freezing mixture, on the temperature obtained thereby, and on the solidification of nitrogen. January 10.-F. Hoehnel, on wood-tissue with a story-like structure.-T. Wolfberger and F. Strohmer, on a generally applicable method of analytical determination of acidity by weight (sealed packet). THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 1884 THE GERMAN CHOLERA COMMISSION R. KOCH, as chief of the German Cholera Commis DR. sion, has just issued his fifth report. When we commented on his first report, which was transmitted from Alexandria on September 17, 1883, we drew special attention to the discovery by that expert of certain bacilli which were found to swarm in the discharges and coatings of the intestines of cholera patients, which were certainly not due to post-mortem changes, and which were absent from the intestines of bodies dead from diseases other than cholera. Dr. Koch believed that these bacilli, which much resembled those found in cases of glanders, stood in some special relation to the operation of cholera, but he was not prepared to say whether invasion of the bacteria was the primary cause of cholera, or whether it was merely an effect of the cholera infection. At that time the epidemic in Egypt had reached its decline, the period which of all others is the least satisfactory for etiological investigation; and hence, apart from some further record confirming the existence of the same bacilli in other cholera bodies which had since been examined, the reports which Dr. Koch has transmitted to his Government between his first one and the one now under consideration have not dealt with any scientific discovery. But since November last the Commission have pursued their investigations in India, the city of Calcutta having been decided on as the head-quarters of their mission of inquiry; and it is to the results there obtained that Dr. Koch's last report relates. In the meantime, however, Dr. Straus had reported on behalf of the French Commission, and had expressed his belief that the bacilli discovered by Dr. Koch did not bear the relation to cholera which the German Commission attributed to them; and that, unlike Dr. Koch, who had found nothing noteworthy in the blood of cholera patients, he had discovered in that fluid a definite micro-organism, which he believed he had succeeded in cultivating in the laboratory. At this stage the subject is again taken up by Dr. Koch, who now gives an account of the further labours of his Commission. Under conditions of the most favourable sort, experiments have been renewed in Calcutta with an unbroken series of cholera patients and cholera bodies, and at the outset it is stated that microscopical examination has in all cases confirmed the existence, both in the choleraic discharges and in the cholera intestines, of the same bacilli as those which had been found in Egypt. And further, that which had not been possible in Alexandria, namely, the isolation and cultivation in pure media of these special bacilli, is stated to have been successful in Calcutta, with the result that they have been found to exhibit under cultivation certain characteristic peculiarities as to shape and mode of growth which enable the Commission to distinguish them with certainty from other bacilli. The Commission, too, have sought, as far as possible, to exclude sources of error, and hence they have subjected the bodies of patients dying from diseases other than cholera to careful micropathological examination, with the result that they are able to say that it has not been possible to find bacilli VOL. XXIX.-No. 748 similar to the cholera bacilli in any of the bodies of persons who had died of pneumonia, dysentery, phthisis, and kidney disease. Nor has it been possible to detect these bacilli in the intestinal contents of animals and in other substances commonly abounding with bacteria. The inoculation of the lower animals with cholera discharges and other cholera material had, in Egypt, led only to negative results; and even if nothing further had been adduced as to this, we should in no way have reregarded failure in this respect as invalidating any inferences that may be drawn by Dr. Koch and his fellowworkers as to the speciality of this bacillus, because it has been found impossible to transmit many of the specific infectious diseases of man to any other animal. We now learn, however, that several experiments made on animals have given results which allow of the hope of further success. Reviewing their more recent work, in this and other respects, the Commission are evidently hopeful of establishing an etiological relation between the bacilli in question and the cholera process, and this quite irrespective of success being attained in the reproduction of the disease in the lower animals. A telegram of more recent date than the report itself announces that Drs. Koch, Fischer, and Gaffky have discovered the same bacillus in a water-tank. If this be confirmed, it will be of value as proving that water, which, when polluted with excreta, has so often been alleged to be one of the principal means of conveying the cholera poison, is a medium favourable to the transmission of the "germ" from person to person, and the announcement comes aptly in connection with a report in which the German Commission announce that a diminution in the annual mortality from cholera in Calcutta from 10'1 per 1000 inhabitants before 1870, to 3 per 1000 since that date, is regarded by nearly all the physicians in that city as being solely due to the introduction of a water-supply of excellent quality. Referring to the report of the French Commission, Dr. Koch declines to accept the conclusions of Dr. Straus as to the existence in the blood of organisms which are peculiar to cholera, and he expresses the belief that the alleged organisms are nothing but certain small, roundish blood-plates, which, not absent even in health, undergo a peculiar increase in the case of cholera patients, and which were referred to as far back as 1872 by Dr. D. Cunningham in his "Microscopical and Physiological Researches into the Nature of the Agents producing Cholera." Whilst desiring to follow in the steps of Dr. Koch in observing an attitude of caution as to the meaning of the researches of the German Commission, we cannot but feel that the tendency of the reports as yet issued is favourable to the doctrine that cholera is associated with a specific organic contagion. A connection has already been established between specific disease on the one hand, and the staff-shaped bacilli of splenic fever, the spirillum of relapsing fever, and the microzymes of vaccinia and of sheep-pox on the other; and though it may still be doubtful whether these bodies should be regarded as actual generators of the diseases with which they are associated, or as mere carriers of infection, yet the advance which is being made is in the direction of the doctrine of the particulate nature of contagion. We may have to wait before there is sufficient evidence to warrant the application of this doc T trine to the case of cholera, but we can congratulate Dr. Koch on the result of his labours so far, and at the same time trust that the example set us in this instance by the German nation may not be thrown away upon the people of this country, who, whilst having a higher interest than any other in ascertaining the real nature of cholera, allowed the opportunity of the Egyptian epidemic to pass by without attempting any scientific investigation as to its causes. SCHOPENHAUER The World as Will and Idea. AS By Arthur Schopenhauer. by R. B. Haldane, M.A., (London: Trübner and S the Kantian leaven works, philosophy shows less and less of an inclination to quit what Kant described as the fruitful bathos of experience. No doubt many a structure is still reared around us, "pinnacled dim in the intense inane," but that is simply because philosophy, more than any special department of knowledge, is exposed to the inroads of the uninstructed. But here, as elsewhere, the honest inquirer will find a consensus of competent opinion which estimates these piles at their true value. Serious workers pass by on the other side without controversy, lest perchance they should be as those on whom the tower of Siloam fell. On the other hand, only confusion of thought can lead people to identify philosophy with science, and to suppose that, when they have reckoned over the list of the sciences, they may erect a stone to the great god Terminus. For, though the matter of philosophy is the same as that of the sciences (and not, according to the current myth, a spider-like product of intestinal origin), yet the point of view from which the common material is regarded is ab initio different. Science, in its whole extent (including psychology), deals with the world of objects, whereas the first task of philosophy is to remind scientific men of the abstraction which they have been making-- and for their own purposes rightly making—by showing them that the world of objects is unintelligible without a subject to which it is referred. Having rectified this fundamental abstraction, philosophy proceeds, as theory of knowledge, to a critical analysis of the conceptions on which, as ultimate presuppositions or working hypotheses, the different sciences are based. The notion of the atom and of infinite space may be mentioned as two of the earliest cases where such criticism is required. The result of such a criticism is to show that no science can say of its "facts" that they are absolutely true, because they cannot be stated except in terms of the conceptions or hypotheses which are assumed by the particular science. But conceptions such as those of space or atom are found to dissolve in self-contradiction when taken as a statement of the ultimate nature of the real. It follows, therefore, that they must be regarded as only a provisional or partial account of things. The account they give is one which may require to be superseded by―or rather, which inevitably merges itself in-a less abstract statement of the same facts. In the new statement, the same "facts" appear differently, because no longer separated from other aspects that belong to the full reality of the known world. For the philosopher is essentially what Plato in a happy moment styled him, σvvoπTikós, the man who insists on seeing things together; and philosophy, in her office as critic of the sciences, aims at harmonising the notions on which they respectively rest, and thereby reaching a statement of the nature of the real which may claim to overcome the abstractness of the several provisional stages represented by the different sciences. Judged by this standard, it is to be feared, Schopenhauer's philosophy will be found wanting. Its interest is undoubtedly, in the main, more literary than scientific; and in his central dogma of a metempirical or transphenomenal Will, Schopenhauer shows himself quite the traditional " metaphysician." Taken as literature, high praise must be awarded to the style of his productions, which is very different from that of his heavy-footed countrymen generally. Pessimism was lately much in fashion, and Buddhism is still highly esteemed. The philosophic father of these things is tolerably sure, therefore, of an interested audience; and "the general reader" will find rich pasture in the aphoristic wisdom of the man of the world, his keen and often cynical psychological analysis, and his genuine appreciation of art, especially of music, which was almost the one redeeming feature in an otherwise ignoble character. Mr. Haldane and Mr. Kemp have done their work so well, that those who are drawn to the book by the literary reputation of the original will not have their enjoyment marred by the intrusion of foreign idioms, clumsy constructions, and the general lameness of the translation style. All praise must also be given to the clearness and accuracy with which they have rendered the philosophical terminology of the work. But the translators would probably hardly have undertaken the task, had they not believed that there was more of value in Schopenhauer than what has just been allowed him. And, in point of fact, it is perfectly possible to divide Schopenhauer's work into two parts. The world presents itself to him under the twofold aspect of “Will and Idea." "The world as Idea" is the phenomenal world, the world of science, while Will-one mighty unconscious desire or force is the inner or noumenal reality of which the phenomenal world is the outward expression. I appear to others, and to myself, as an organised body—that is, as an object or complex of ideas; but I also know myself, Schopenhauer says, on the inner side as Will. He next denudes this Will of the characteristics which belong to it in the conscious life, ignoring at the same time the other features which, equally with Will, go to constitute that life, and then, with a superb sweep of anthropomorphism, declares that Will, as an impersonal force, is the essence of all phenomena— the steam that drives the world. In support of this thesis, he fastens on obscure facts like those of instinct; and, though he scouts at the " Bridgewater Treatises," he argues from teleology in an exactly similar sense. But as no scientific reader is likely to be led away by Schopenhauer's reasoning here, it is needless to enter into any formal refutation of his positions. It is more to the purpose to draw attention to the side of the book which, though not so distinctly Schopenhauerian, and probably not so attractive reading as the collection of brilliant analogies on which his system is built, contains an acute |