FewofthosewhofindpleasureinfrequentingbookstorescanhavefailedtocomeacrossoneormoreoftheprofuselyillustratedvolumesinwhichM。LouisFiguierhassoughttorenderdryscienceentertainingtothemultitude。Andofthosewhomayhavecasuallyturnedovertheirpages，thereareprobablynone，competenttoformanopinion，whohavenotspeedilyperceivedthatthesepretentiousbooksbelongtotheclassofpestsandunmitigatednuisancesinliterature。Antiquatedviews，utterlackofcomprehensionofthesubjectstreated，andshamelessunscrupulousnessastoaccuracyofstatement，arefaultsbutillatonedforbysensationalpicturesofthe“dragonsoftheprimethattareeachotherintheirslime，“oroftheNewton-likebrowandsilkencurlsofthatprimitivemanincontrastwithwhomthesaiddragonshavebeenlikenedto“mellowmusic。“

　　Nevertheless，thesortofscientificreputationwhichthesediscreditableperformanceshavegainedforM。Figuieramonganuncriticalpublicissuchastojustifyusindevotingafewparagraphstoabook[13]which，onitsownmerits，isunworthyofanynoticewhatever。“TheTo-morrowofDeath“——ifoneweretoputhistrustinthetranslator’sprefatorynote——discussesagravequestionupon“purelyscientificmethods。“Wearegladtoseethisremark，becauseitshowswhatnotionsmaybeentertainedbypersonsofaverageintelligencewithreferenceto“scientificmethods。“Those——andtheyaremany——whovaguelythinkthatscienceissomethingdifferentfromcommon-sense，andthatanybookisscientificwhichtalksaboutperiheliaandasymptotesandcetacea，willfindtheirvaguenotionsherewellcorroborated。

　　Quitedifferentwillbetheimpressionmadeuponthose——andtheyareyettoofew——whohavelearnedthatthemethodofscienceisthecommon-sensemethodofcautiouslyweighingevidenceandwithholdingjudgmentwhereevidenceisnotforthcoming。Iftalkingaboutremoteanddifficultsubjectssufficetomakeonescientific，thenisM。Figuierscientifictoaquiteterribledegree。Hewritesaboutthestarryheavensasifhehadbeenpresentatthehourofcreation，orhadatleastaccompaniedtheArabianprophetonhisfamousnight-journey。Norishisknowledgeofphysiologyandotherabstrusesciencesatalllessremarkable。

　　Butthesethingswillceasetosurpriseuswhenwelearnthesources，hithertosuspectedonlyinmythology，fromwhichfavouredmortalscanobtainaknowledgeofwhatisgoingonoutsideofourplanet。

　　[13]TheTo-morrowofDeath；or，TheFutureLifeaccordingtoScience。ByLouisFiguier。TranslatedfromtheFrenchbyS。R。

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