_Wealth_ the name and number of the Beast, 666, in the Book of
Revelation. [by John Taylor.[736]] London, 1844, 8vo.
Whether Junius or the Beast be the more difficult to identify, must be
referred to Mr. Taylor, the only person who has attempted both. His cogent
argument on the political secret is not unworthily matched in his treatment
of the theological riddle. He sees the solution in [Greek: euporia], which
occurs in the Acts of the Apostles as the word for wealth in one of its
most disgusting forms, and makes 666 in the most straightforward way. This
explanation has as good a chance as any other. The work contains a general
{353} attempt at explanation of the Apocalypse, and some history of opinion
on the subject. It has not the prolixity which is so common a fault of
apocalyptic commentators.
A practical Treatise on Eclipses ... with remarks on the anomalies of
the present Theory of the Tides. By T. Kerigan,[737] F.R.S. 1844, 8vo.
Containing also a refutation of the theory of the tides, and afterwards
increased by a supplement, "Additional facts and arguments against the
theory of the tides," in answer to a short notice in the _Athenaeum_
journal. Mr. Kerigan was a lieutenant in the Navy: he obtained admission to
the Royal Society just before the publication of his book.
A new theory of Gravitation. By Joseph Denison,[738] Esq. London, 1844,
12mo.
Commentaries on the Principia. By the author of 'A new theory of
Gravitation.' London, 1846, 8vo.
Honor to the speculator who can be put in his proper place by one sentence,
be that place where it may.
"But we have shown that the velocities are inversely as the square roots of
the mean distances from the sun; wherefore, by equality of ratios, the
forces of the sun's gravitation upon them are also inversely as the square
roots of their distances from the sun."