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    it If Gossip Report be not a liar , " which she mostly is ( see ViBGiii ) , then may we congratulate Dickens on his accession to the full and complete copyright of all his works ; so that both he and his children may now reckon on a handsome property . It is interesting to notice the rise and progress of the belief in literary property . There still remain many who * recognizing a property in mechanical inventions , refuse to recognize a property in inventions of a less tangible character . That the produce of a man ' s hands should be lawfully accounted his property is " plain common sense ";

    but that the produce of his brain should also be lawfully so accounted is thought preposterous . Nevertheless , that preposterous thought has made its way in the world , and now we are not only learning to respect literary property , but are rapidly advancing towards international copyright !

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    In Fraser s Magazine this month we see a new story , by the author of Alton Locke , announced for 1852 ; good news to the readers of Fraser , who generally provides us an entertaining number . December gives an amusing paper on Gastronomy and Civilization ; an eloquent and suggestive criticism on the poems of 1 S 51 ; and a good paper on The Races of Mankind , in which the unity of our race is advocated . This question of race is more far-reaching than will generally be thought . " For if , " as this writer observes , " the scientific inquiry should issue in the certainty or strong

    probability that the human race had several pairs of progenitors , and not one Adam and one Eve , the scientific result would admit of no explanation consistent with the truth of the Scripture narrative . " Perfectly true . On the other hand , if the unity of race be established , then it establishes in an overwhelming manner the Development Hypothesis by showing the immensity of the modifications known to be produceable by differences of climate and other external conditions . Take the six foot Patagonian and the pigmy Bosjesman—the Carib and the Caucasian—the grovelling " Wawa and a Shakspeake or a Goethe— the fair Circassian

    and the ebony African—see what modifications are manifest in the various races of man , and the main arguments against the Development Hypothesis of Lamarck and Geofi'kkv St . Hulaiiie fall to the ground . A pretty " fix " for theologians ! The other papers in 1 'rasar are also worth reading , especially that on the Use and Beauty of Words , and the continuation of the able History of the Hungarian War .

    luit this month has a good article against Homoeopathy , which friends and foes of that system will read with interest—none the less , we believe , because of some very lame arguments which cripple it . Considering , however , the nonsense usuall y written on this subject , we must prize the paper in Tait . There is too much of the common error of demonstrating the " impossibility" of a fact , when the thing needed is to ascertain if the 'act be a fact . So many things " ' t bo " and '" ivertheless " are " ! For ourselves , we are de ~ (; idodl y not Ilomoeopathists , but we take interest in

    ; i 'l the vigorous ettbitN made to get at the Truth ; llI 1 < l in the present ignorance of Pathology and ^ rganic ( 'heinistry—ignorance so profound that t ' 1 (> < writeiH on Homoeopathy , pro and con ., seem r « U'd y to miMpect it—every system of cure must be e inpyr Uutl , and to a great ; extent delusive . While 011 thin Hubject we will add a word we should Kindly huvo added to Mr . Kkuy ' h hitter , printed "lour "Open Council " ' ( No . H ( i , p . 10 «)( i ) , but ll ; it on principle we abstain from meddling with all lllt ' lottern that appear there . It is this . His oppollt ! ll << made the very common objection , that inas-( ih ih

    n ; increase of mi : mfif \ r irivi'xinrmiKnof nower . <» ; increase of quantity given increase of po v \ er , . n nnul , e doses were absurd : he replied to thatobl Ct - 'Uou . VYo Hhould add , that the phruae increase

    of power is delusively vague , and that , speaking in the sense in which the phrase is used here , it is false . Chemistry abounds with illustrations . Vlace water in a heated iron vessel , and the temperature will rise ; but if you increase the quantity of heat beyond four hundred degrees , and then place the water into it , the temperature of the water will not

    rise . Here increase of quantity paralyzes the power of raising the water ' s temperature . Directly the vessel cools to four hundred degrees , a new phenomenon is presented—the water explodes . Now , reasoning by analogy ( supported by fact , if the fact be so ) , we may conclude that whereas a certain increase of heat would not produce a rise in the temperature of water , for which a considerable

    decrease was necessary , so a patient may swallow a handful of globules without effect , yet be affected by one globule . We give this only as an illustration . What we want to see proved is the unequivocal fact that a globule will produce a given effect . If that be proved , we can quietly submit to its being " impossible . "

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    Tt is said by Goethe , in his wise sarcastic way , that it is easy enough to make laurel crowns , but the difficulty is to find a brow to wear them —• " Ein Kranz ist gar viel leichter binden , Als ihm ein wiirdig Haupt zu finden . " But in these last days a brow has been found—a new poet has been revealed to the world . A new Poet ? Yes ( and the word is pleasant to write ) , a

    new Poet : one who will hereafter present a brow to the world , upon whose calm breadth , the world will lovingly let fall a crown , unless he disappoint the promise of his youth—^ unless he , too , turn out one of those buds that never become flowers ! At present he is but one-and-twenty , and having spent the last half of his life in a counting-house , his experience is probably small ; but his faculty is rich ^ spontaneous .

    AlexanderSmith , of Glasgow , is the man . We hear of him through the columns of the Critic , where this week several " passages " from his unpublished poems are printed . As passages they are unquestionably very remarkable . They have the faults and exuberance of youth , but the contain striking images—as this of Night" Which like a sea Brcakcth for ever on a strand of stars . " He is fond , too fond of the stars ; but his love prompts him to new imagery—here is another" When the dark , dumb earth L ; iy on her back and watched the nlnmng stars . " The following strikes us as grand and pictorial" I seek the look of lame ! Poor Cool , ho tries Soiao lonely wand ' rer ' moug the desert sands liy kIkhUb to gain the notice- of the Sphynx , Staring right on -with calin . eternal eyes . " We have a dim remembrance of a passage like that somewhere in Hoiine , but cannot drag it into the light of clear recollection . We have oidy space for one more extract , and it shall be a whole sonnet . " Last night my cheek wan wetted with -warm tears , Kach worth a world . They fell from eyes divine . Last night a silken lip was pressed to mine , And at its touch fled all the barren years . And golden couched on a bosom white , Which came and went beneath ? ne like a sea . An Emperor I lay , in empire bright Lord of the beating heart I while ; tenderly Ijovo words wcro glutting my lovti-greudy ears ; Kind love I thank thee lor that happy night . Richer this chock for those warm team of thine , Than the vast midnight with its gleaming spheres : Leandar toiling throiu / h the midniyht brine , Kiwjdomless Antony were scarce my j > eers . " If our mood were critical , we Hhould make sad havoc of Home of thfi . se lines : " silken lip " and * ' golden couched " are the upholstery of love that Hhould have no place . The fourth line , it' it have a meaning , lias not expressed it . Tim comparison of his check to the vast midnight is more fanciful than agreeable . Uut what a glow and pulse in the rest ! Jlow like the burning love of ahoy , intoxicated with tlie newness and intensity of feeling ! It \ h not often that we aro { jjuilty of the crime of urging a man to publish poems ; but if Ai . kx andisk Smith's poems are at : iH equal to tho passages quoted in tho Critic , we Hhould decisively nay publiuh by all means !

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    HI'ENCKU ' M KUltOl'KAN TURKEY . Travels in lCuropvan Turkey in 1 H 50 . I 5 y Kiliimnri Sprueer , Kbq . 2 voln . Oolburn and Co . ( Second Notice . ) In returning to Mr . Spencer's admirable , and in many respects important , volumes , to cull more extracts , wt ! feel unusually embarrassed by the quantity which solicits us , and the scantiness of the space at disposal . We decide on something touching Hungary , on account of its act nut if *' :. Mr . Spencer gives a brief but striking survey of the Hungarian struggle , and then adds these- re / lections : — "Now that all in over , and the . sword of the Cy . nr and tho Kaiser , with the executioner , have laid low the brave race of the Magyar , tin ; reader may he desiroiiH to know by what Hy . slem of political casuistry the Austrian ( Cabinet could have acted with such baso perfidy towards the Hungarian people . It . inii ^ ht be ]) 1 ' (! nuiih : ( 1 that n ( Jovernment , whose , subjects aro composed of ho many nationalities , over which ( Ik ; Slavonians predominate in number a people whoso tendencies ironi an uflinity of race , lan ^ ua ^ e , religion , customs , and manners , aro more RusHiau thuu-( Jeminn , would rather have sought an alliance with the Hungarians by I ' m" the uumt valor > un and enterpriHing nationality in tho Austrian Umpire , in order to couiiterhalnnce and hold in check the iniluonce of bo powerful ii neighbour an Rukmu . Thia apparent

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    mtics are not the legislators , biit the judges and police f literature . They do not make laws—they interpret and ° rvr to enforce them . —Edinburgh Review . .

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    Dec . 6 , 1851 . ] & $$ tLeaJr * 1 % 1163

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    mantell ' s petrifactions and their teachings . Petrifactions and their Teachings ; or , the Handbook to the Qallery of Organic Remains of the British Museum . By-Gideon Algernon Mantell , LL . D . With numerous Illustrations . ( Bonn ' s Scientific Library . ) H . G . Bohn . Mr . Bohn should be ericouraged in his recent enlargement of the sphere of his Monthly Volumes , thus bringing excellent scientrfic works within the

    reach of those who can ill afford to pay for the more expensive . It is but a few weeks since we reviewed Stockhardt ' s Experimental Chemistry ; we have now an original work by Dr . Mantell , and a reprint of the Comparative Physiology by Agassiz and Gould , not to mention the various scientific works announced as in preparation . Let him continue in this direction , and we are persuaded that an ample sale will repay the venture .

    Petrifactions and their Teachings is a book of unquestionable usefulness , but we must sharply define its uses . From the title , or from a casual inspection of its pages , the reader would be apt to form a conception of it which a nearer examination would disappoint ; the amount of "Teachings " given with these " Petrifactions " being both small in quantity and insignificant in quality . The philosophy of the subject must be brought by the reader . Besides the absence of scientific generalization , we have to note the presence of an impertinent amount of scientific petulance . What have the fossil remains of former worlds to do with the

    small squabbles of scientific men ? What is the condition of thjit man ' s mind who shows us the great records of eras when this planet was no abode of man , and moves amidst these mysteries , thinking mainly of how Jones does not appreciate him , nor Smith make mention of his small discoveries ? It is always thus with commentators—a terrible race ! and Dr . Mantell , in this edition of Ancient Fragments , follows in the path of many a learned Doctor , and distracts our attention from his Author to himself . Although a searching criticism would find much that was objectionable , both in omission and commission , it would , however , also find much that was commendable in this volume . Its value is as a

    catalogue raisonnee of the organic remains which solicit study in our British Museum . To give it this special interest , Dr . Mantell has arranged it in the form of a Handbook . The specimens in each room of the Museum arc described in separate chapters , and a ground plan of the cases , with a Synopsis of their contents , are given in the first section of each division . Thus , to wander through tbe rooms with this volume in band , is to examine their contents in company with an accurately informed guide ; and for the first time these rooms will have an interest and significance to many of those who take the volume there .

    Its use is not , however , limited to that of a Handbook . It is intelligible and interesting in itself ; and the numerous illustrations , many of them of n superior kind , servo as substitutes for tin ; actual specimens . We specify the merits of Petrifactions and their Tmchivys , that ; no reader may be misled by the title , into tbe supposition of its being a work of philosophical character . It is a handbook , and it is more than that ; but it has nothing to do with philosophy .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 6, 1851, page 1163, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1912/page/15/