their fortunes. These notices constitute the most entertaining, but not the most instructive part of M. Figuier's volume, and constitute his history of transmutations supposed to be successful.

After due consideration of the number, and judicious estimation of the value of the services rendered by the Alchemists to the cause of science and the useful arts, there will be few who will challenge the justice of M. Figuier's remark. "It is only by the assistance of the numerous discoveries of the Alchemists that modern chemistry has been enabled to rise to the dignity of a science. Unquestionably these facts are unconnected by any common principle, and do not constitute a systematic whole. Consequently, they do not present the characteristics of a science; but they supply the elements indispensable to the creation of a scientific system. The powerful empire exercised over the minds of men for fifteen hundred years by the grand idea of the transmutation of metals was required for the accomplishment of those preparatory labours, whose achievement was needed as the large base for the erection of the monument of modern chemistry. Before attaining the conviction that the philosopher's stone was a pure chimera, it was necessary to pass in review all the facts accessible to observation; and when, after fifteen centuries of labour, the day came for the recognition of the error into which men had been betrayed, that very day it was manifest that chemistry was already constituted.

"Chemists of the current age! let us not censure too harshly the Hermetic philosophers: let us not renounce all respect for the ancient heritage they have bequeathed to us; insensate or sublime, they are our legitimate ancestors. If Alchemy failed to find the object of its search, it found what it did not seek. If it blundered in its long effort to find the philosopher's stone, it discovered chemistry; and this conquest is infinitely more precious than the vain arcanum so wildly pursued by the enthusiasm of our fathers."*

But, notwithstanding this éloge funèbre so tenderly pronounced over the remains of the Alchemists, their art has never been entirely renounced. We have already adduced the evidence of its persistence even among our contemporaries, and M. Figuier deems it necessary to complete his essay by devolving its fourth and concluding part. to the exposition and confutation of the Alchemy of the nineteenth century. This is the least satisfactory portion of his labours, which are throughout imperfect. He establishes by ample instances the fact of the continuance of Alchemical convictions and Alchemical pursuits, adding to the evidence already adduced by us several other testimonies. Thus, in 1837, an Alchemist of Thuringia preFiguier, pp. 84, 85.

sented to the Society of Industry of Saxe-Weimar, a tincture represented by him as competent to effect the transmutation of metals. About the same time a course of public lectures, at Munich, on the Hermetic Philosophy, was advertised by Prof. B.; the initial only is given. Another M. B., a professor in one of the provincial colleges of France, undertook the defence of this philosophy, in a Treatise on Chemistry, published at Paris in 1844. Alchemists are still to be found throughout Germany, in many parts of Italy, and in most of the large cities of France. M. Figuier speaks from personal knowledge of the coterie of Alchemists who were in the habit of assembling in the laboratory of M. L., at Paris, subsequent to 1840. The proof of the contemporary existence of Alchemy is more than sufficient, but the form which the author has adopted for the exhibition and refutation of the arguments by which the continued faith is maintained is unfavourable to an impartial examination of the subject, however piquant it may be.

M. Figuier has recourse to the dialogue for this purpose, and reports a real or imaginary discussion between himself, and a young adept whom he frequently met at the laboratory of M. L. This young Hermesian, unlike his colleagues, sustained his convictions by an appeal to the truths and most recent investigations of modern chemistry, instead of resting his faith entirely on the disappointed traditions and falsified hopes of the past. The triumph of the discussion of course devolves upon M. Figuier, but we cannot but think that the strength and the originality of the argument are on the side of the Alchemist. It is not easy to perceive what decisive reply can be made to the positions of the latter, who affirms the possibility rather than the reality of transmutation, after the fatal admission: "In the present state of our sciences the impossibility of transmuting the metals cannot be rigorously demonstrated; sundry circumstances oppose the rejection of the doctrine of Alchemy as an absurdity contradicted by facts."* The reasoning of M. Figuier proceeds almost entirely on the repetition of the former failures of the Alchemists; a style of objection which is wholly inconclusive, and which would have equally disproved the possibility of the daguerreotype, the magnetic telegraph, and many of the proudest of our modern scientific inventions. The reasoning of the apologist for Alchemy, though his argument appears weaker than it might have been made, is a dexterous adaptation of the principles, discoveries, and present difficulties of chemistry to the rehabilitation of the repudiated art. He very pointedly and justly reprobates the impatience and rapid experimentation of modern chemists, and • Figuier, p. 353.

alleges that by their summary method of procedure they would never have obtained such a result; as the light, porous, goldencoloured stone, shown by an Alchemist to Gassicourt, procured by exposing rain water for years to spontaneous evaporation, and collecting the iridescent film which was formed on its surface.* Does not iron become magnetic by being left undisturbed for years in one position and may not time and the undetected influences of nature effect other still more remarkable changes?

But it is not simply the insufficiency of the exposure that we censure in this graceful dialogue; it is still more its double indistinctness. The conclusion is inconclusive; and either argument is inconclusive also. At times we suspect that M. Figuier intended to produce this impression, and that his association with the Parisian Alchemists, whom he has depicted in terms singularly appropriate to their predecessors also, has infected him with a stronger inclination toward Alchemy than, as a man of science, he is willing to avow or has at least produced uncertainty in his mind on the subject.

Whether this conjecture, however, be just or unfounded, and whatever the defects of his argument may be, the dialogue is a notable exemplification of the rationality which may still be attached to Alchemical pursuits; and demonstrates the fact that chemistry has not answered or refuted Alchemy in a satisfactory manner. At the close of the conversation, the adept hands to his antagonist an ancient volume, which he begs him to read, directing his attention particularly to the motto on the title page, a venerated maxim of the Hermetic school:

Sege, lege, et relege, labora, ora, et invenies.

We would extend a similar recommendation to our readers, in regard to the argument of the youthful modern Alchemist, the pleasing volume of M. Figuier, and the whole history and doctrine of Alchemy, being equally assured that the mysteries of the Alchemists have not yet been duly appreciated, and that valuable practical fruits would be gathered from a thorough re-examination and an adequate criticism of their memorable labours and doctrines.

• Figuier, p. 349.

ART. VIII.-SHORT REVIEWS AND NOTICES OF BOOKS.

Ir is of greatest concernment in the Church and Commonwealth to have a vigilant eye how books demean themselves as well as men, and thereafter to confine, imprison, and do sharpest justice on them as malefactors; for books are not absolutely dead things, but do contain a potency of life in them to be as active as that soul was whose progeny they are.-MILTON.

(1.) "Emblems from Eden, by JAMES HAMILTON, D. D," (New-York: Carter & Brothers, 18mo., pp. 159,) is a series of illustrations of the Christian life, from the" vine," the " cedar," the " tree of life," &c., in the attractive style so characteristic of Dr. Hamilton.

(2.) “ Italian Sights and Papal Principles, seen through American Spectacles," (New-York: Harper & Brothers; 1856; 12mo., pp. 382,) is by the author (Mr. Jarvis) of the "Parisian Sights," noticed in our last number., There is more solid information in this work than in the former, especially with regard to the mummeries of Roman Catholic worship in its central seat. To learn how utterly Christianity is debased in the hands of the pope and his cardinals, who profess to be Christ's chief disciples on earth, one has only to read this graphic and entertaining book.

(3.) Memorials of Captain Hedley Vicars," (New-York: Carter & Brothers; 1856; pp. 300,) is a pleasant sketch of the life of a young English officer, who united the courage of the Christian with that of the soldier. Preserving his religious zeal and life through the temptations of the former part of the Crimean campaign, he fell at Sebastopol, March 22, 1855. This little biography deserves wide circulation, especially among young men.

(4.) "Recollections of the Table Talk of Samuel Rogers; to which is added Porsoniana." (New-York: D. Appleton & Co.; 12mo.; pp. 346.) Had the latter years of Rogers been attended, as Johnson's were, by such a shadow as Boswell, we should certainly have had a better collection of Rogersiana than Mr. Dyce has given us in this volume. Much of it is weak and worthless; but there are a few memoranda worthy of preservation, and the book, as a whole, though it adds nothing to Rogers's reputation, either as a poet or as a man, is pleasant and easy to read.

(5.) "The Faith by which we are Sanctified," by W. P. STRICKLAND, D. D., (New-York: 200 Mulberry-street; pp. 32,) is a sermon on Mark xi, 24, in which Dr. Strickland develops the meaning of the text very clearly, and points out the dangers to which a false interpretation of it must give rise.

(6.) "Vagabond Life in Mexico," by GABRIEL FERRY. (New-York: Harper & Brothers; 1856; pp. 344.) The title of this volume very well indicates its contents. It gives a graphic description of the monks, the leperos, the bandits, and the soldiers that infest that unhappy country.

(Phila

(7.) "Post-Biblical History of the Jews," by M. J. RAPHALL, M. D. delphia: Moss & Brothers; 1856; 2 vols., 12mo.) The aim of this work is to give, from the Jewish point of view, an account of the fortunes of the Jewish people, from the close of the Old Testament to the destruction of the second temple, (A. D. 70.) It is not intended so much for the learned as for the people; but yet it possesses a peculiar interest to all students of Biblical and even of general history, from the fact that it is the first history of the Jews written by a Jew qualified for the task, in the English tongue.

(8.) We have not had time to give so thorough an examination to "A Commentary on the Epistle to the Ephesians," by CHarles Hodge, D. D., (NewYork: R. Carter & Brothers; 1856; 8vo., pp. 398,) as the importance of the work demands. At present we can only note its appearance, remarking, simply, that it has much, even to a hasty glance, of the painstaking industry that marks the other commentaries of Dr. Hodge.

(9.) "Sight and Hearing: how Preserved and how Lost," by J. HENRY CLARK, M. D. (New-York: C. Scribner; 1856; 12mo., pp. 351.) This book is designed, not for the faculty, but for the people. It treats clearly and sensibly of the structure and functions of the eye and ear, of the various disorders to which they are incident, and of the modes of preventing and remedying such disorders. The work abounds in practical advice of great value as to the physical education of children, and as to the use and abuse of the organs of sight and hearing in mature life.

(10.) "Sketches and Adventures in Madeira, Portugal, and Spain." (NewYork: Harper & Brothers; 1856; 12mo., pp. 445.) The writer of this book is both skilled and practised in the art: he sees well, groups well, and describes well. An endless flow of spirits pervades his pages, and quickens the reader's interest to the end. But there is one drawback, sufficient to counterbalance all other good qualities: the immoral tone of many of the descriptive passages. Strange that a man of sense could so disfigure a good book.

(11.) "The Island of Cuba," by ALEXANDER HUMBOLDT, with Notes and a Preliminary Essay, by J. S. Thrasher. (New-York: Derby & Jackson; 1856; 12mo., pp. 397.) Humboldt's part of this work, the translation of which is made from a Spanish version, constitutes its chief value, though the notes and additional remarks of Mr. Thrasher, so far as they are confined to statements of fact, are also very useful. The general drift of the preliminary essay is to show the importance of Cuba to the United States, and to propagate the foolish fear and hatred of England, which seems to be the only stock in trade of a certain class of American politicians. But the good sense of the people, under the guidance of Providence, will finally, we trust, repudiate the filibusteros, with all their aiders and abettors.