The publication of _The Works of Sir Thomas Browne_, vol. iii.,
containing "Urn Burial," "Christian Morals," "Miscellanies,"
"Correspondence," &c., edited by Simon Wilkins, completes this important
contribution to Bohn's _Antiquarian Library_. We could have wished that
it had not been included in this series, for we fear that circumstance
may deter many from purchasing it; and the writings of Browne may still
be read by all with interest and advantage, for, "of the esteem of
posterity," said Johnson, "he will not easily be deprived, while
learning shall have any reverence among men; for there is no science in
which he does not discover some skill; and scarce any kind of knowledge,
profane or sacred, abstruse or elegant, which he does not appear to have
cultivated with success;" and these writings, with Mr. Wilkins's notes,
may now be placed upon our shelves for fifteen shillings!
If, when speaking of the discovery of electro-magnetism by Professor
Oersted, Sir John Herschel did not hesitate to declare "that the
Electric Telegraph, and other wonders of modern science, were but mere
effervescences from the surface of this deep recondite discovery which
Oersted had liberated, and which was yet to burst with all its mighty
force upon the world," he paid only a just compliment to the merits of
the great physicist--and he really did no more--it is obvious that Mr.
Bohn, in giving as a new volume of his _Scientific Library_, a
translation of _The Soul in Nature, with Supplementary Contributions_,
by Hans Christian Oersted, has rendered a great service to scientific
men. And it would seem, moreover, from the dedication of the
translators, that in executing their labour they have been fulfilling
Oersted's own wish, that a true representation of his views of nature
should be presented to the English public.
BOOKS RECEIVED.--_The Honey Bee._ _Music, and the Art of Dress._ We have
thus, in two handsomely and legibly printed shilling numbers of Murray's
_Reading for the Rail_, three Essays from the Quarterly, which all who
have read them will be glad to read again, and which all will gladly
read who never read before.