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us that man was made out of the dust of the earth,' and 'as of dust thou art so to dust thou shalt return.' Now this opinion, if literally true, would necessitate the existence of alumina as one of the elements of organised structure, for no soil or earthy material capable of being employed by agriculturists can be found without alumina existing largely in its constitution, and clay cannot be found without it; therefore chemistry as loudly protests against accepting the Mosaic record in a strictly literal sense as geology, geography, astronomy, or any other of the physical sciences so absurdly dogmatised upon weekly from the pulpits, by those who have neglected the study of true science, but still profess to teach us that which is beyond all knowledge. "That man is not made out of the dust of the earth, but from organised material or vegetable matter properly digested and assimilated by other organised beings, chemical science everywhere proves to us incontestably, and the existence of no element in the composition of the human body, which does not also occur in the bodies of the mammalia and all the other classes into which the animal kingdom has been divided by natural historians, tends to prove by the chemical method the truth of that proposition which has been advanced by comparative anatomy:-That man is one with the beasts of the field;' whilst physiological psychology demonstrates that if man have a reasoning principle independent of its material envelope, and so far spiritual in its character as to be immaterial' in its principle, so the beasts which perish' must have mental powers of perception, sensation, thought, feelings, and emotions dependent upon some immaterial principle in like manner, or that we are in fact compelled to admit that thought is one of the many properties with which matter has been invested by the Beneficent Creator and Architect of the Universe.

"This spiritual principle of the whole animal kingdom has hitherto eluded the skill of the chemist as it has equally baffled the research of the anatomist; but in the same way that chemical logic will enable the chemist to demonstrate satisfactorily the existence of a material elementary principle, even before its isolation and production in the test-tube, so analogical reasoning proves the possibility and probability of such a spiritual principle as one of Nature's powers; for the same reason that chemistry has failed to detect and demonstrate the existence of this spiritual principle, whose proper domains are the realms of thought and the sphere of perception, so it has hitherto been unable to render any assistance to the elucidation of the diseases and derangements of the mental powers, dependent as they are upon the combined agency of spirit and matter. The true corporeal structure, so intimately connected with the phenomena of mind, may be, and has been, subjected to numerous investigations, by both the anatomist and the chemist, and even further submitted to microscopical analysis and investigation, without as yet giving any satisfactory evidences of change during many of those diseased conditions, which, also! too often afflict humanity."

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SAVAGE AFRICA.*

SOME three years ago, when that amiable traveller, M. Du Chaillu, was astonishing the London public with his wonderful adventures amongst the gorillas and the Fans of Equatorial Africa, a "young man about town" formed the Englishman-like resolution of visiting these scenes, and endeavour to reconcile the somewhat conflicting statements given by the "gorilla hunter." Before us, we have a goodly volume of some 587 pages as the result of this resolution. We, however, search in vain for any explanation of M. Du Chaillu's contradictions, as the subject is never once mentioned in the body of the work. In a note, however, we are told that the author is able to explain all M. Du Chaillu's contradictions, if he ever should be called on to do so. So far we find no fault, and we are glad that Mr. Reade has said nothing to wound the feelings of that brave traveller and explorer who was made by his injudicious friends, for their own glory, the lion of the season for 1861.

It is necessary to bear in mind Mr. Reade's object in visiting Africa. The fact is that his mission was to discover the truth; and, therefore, his testimony on any subject would consequently probably be of some considerable value. And here we think the author has made a name for himself, as one who has fearlessly spoken the truth respecting what he saw and heard. Nor is the work merely a reprint of the journal of a self-sufficient traveller: but Mr. Reade has exhibited no little literary skill in the composition of the volume before us.

We think, however, that the book would be greatly improved by the reduction of the number of chapters, and also of the sections of his subject. The work is divided into no less than thirty-eight chapters; at least one half too many. The author shows himself acquainted with what has been written upon the subject, and, indeed, occasionally we could wish he had not been so well acquainted with it; for we seem to recognise in more than one place anecdotes of former travellers. These, no doubt, add to the interest of the work; but they destroy the value of the volume as a book of original observation.

* Savage Africa: being the Narrative of a Tour in Equatorial, South-Western, and North-Western Africa; with notes on the Habits of the Gorilla; on the Existence of Unicorns and Tailed Men; on the Slave Trade; on the Origin, Character, and Capabilities of the Negro, and on the Future Civilisation of Western África. By W. Winwood Reade, F.A.S.L., etc. With Illustrations and a Map. Second Edition. London: Smith, Elder, and Co., 1864.

It is quite out of our power to give an analysis of the contents of this work, and we must refer our readers to its pages for many interesting descriptions of African life.

The following extract describes Sierra Leone civilisation :

"The Negro imitates the white man as the ape imitates the Negro. The result in both cases is a caricature. The rich Negro of Sierra Leone is dressed as if he had taken a bath in a rainbow; and his manners are so strained and pompous that a close imitation of them, even in the broadest farce, would be looked upon as a rough overacting of character. But, most comical of all, is the manner in which negroes identify themselves with the parent country. To hear them talk, you would think that their ancestors had come over with William the Conqueror; and that they even take to themselves all the glories of our history, the following anecdote will prove. The French consular agent having some time ago overstepped the limits of the land, a warrant was taken out against him. Holding the sable powers in great contempt, he armed himself with a pair of pistols, and defied them with the air of a brigand at the Victoria. 'Ah!' cried the two constables rapidly retreating, we no care for you, one dam FrenchI tink you forget we win Waterloo-eh?"

man.

"It is one of the chief peculiarities of the Sierra Leone Negro that he hates, with an intense and bitter hatred, this white man to whom he owes everything. This Christian feeling is propagated even by the native preachers, for one is said to have explained our origin from the pulpit in the following manner: 'My breddren, you see white man bad too much, ugly too much, no good. You want sabby how man like dat come to lib in the world. Well, I tell you. Adam and Eve, dey coloured people, very hansum; lib in one beautiful garden. Dere dey hab all things dat be good. Plantains, yams, sweet potatoes, foofoo palm-wine-he-igh, too much! Den dey hab two childrum, Cain and Abel. Cain no like Abel's palaver; one day he kill'm. Den God angry, and he say-Cain! Cain go hide himself; he tink him berry claber. Heigh-heigh! God say again-Cain, you tink I no see you, you bush-nigger-eh? Den Cain come out, and he say, 'Yes, massa, I lib here-what de matter, massa?' Den God say in one big voice like de tunder in de sky, 'Where'm broder Abel?' Den Cain turn white all ober with fear-dat de first white man, breddren."

This theory of the origin of the white and black man is about on a par with the teaching of Captain Speke to the benighted king of Uganda. When educated Englishmen can talk such nonsense, we

must not be too severe on the African.

The most unsatisfactory chapter in the book is that on "Liberia; its future and its resources:" a subject which is dismissed in less than three pages. We much regret this, as at this time a true description of Liberia from the pen of an unbiassed traveller would be of especial value. Mr. Reade says:

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