The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1875-04-17
Recent Publications.

| lister conspicuous in the annals OF New Eng
land theology, the life of conservative min
| lister as narrated by his radical son. DR.. Gan
| nett was trenchant upholder and defender of
| what has come TO be called conservative Uni.
| tarianism. His son-the author of this work
has passed beyond the confines of radical Uni
tarianism to the camp of Free Religion. The
situation is favorable for the production of
| an interesting volume. Those who were before
acquainted with the biographer's peculiar fe-
licity of expression and the delicacy of his
touch, and had been charmed by the "sweet-
ness and light" by which his occasional writ
| ings have been characterized, have awaited the
| appearance of this memoir with high expecta-
tions Nor will they be disappointed with this
| offering of filial devotion.
| A portion of the authors task, and labor
| for which he is singularly we'll fitted, would
naturally be to give some account Of the vari-
| GUS theological movements to which DIR. Can
| nett bore some relation. This part Of the work
| has been well performed. He not only des-
| cribes the rise and progress of New England
! Unitarianism, but also the movements that
| grew out of that or were associated with it, as
| parts of the wider movement which included
numerous topics of interest to the general
| reader.
| The Liberal Christian for March contains a
two-page review of this work from the hand of
Rev. DR.. Bellows, review that attracted so
| much attention that it is republished in the
Liberal Christian for March Goth. We cannot
| give better idea of the work and its subject
than is presented by Dr. Bellows. He says:
'It is impossible for persons holding Unitarian
| ism in its present uncrystallized form-as
an ever-shiftiDg, ever-forming and dissolving
view-different every year and in every stage
| of the individual holders studies and expert
| ence- to understand either the confidence,
| hopefulness, UNCONVENTIONAL ardor or costly
labors of a man like DIR. Gannett.
He was the last representative of the old Or
thodox spirit and method applied to the estab-
| lishment of Unitarian opinions
| The inapplcability of textual augmentation,
| as from verbally inspired documents, to the
| establishment of the cardinal views or tenden-
| cies of Untarianism is, if not formally estab.
| lished, too widely felt to have any successful
| advocacy Unitarianism has turned out to be
| an intellectual and moral revolt against not
| only Orthodox dogmas, but against the whole
method Of Orthodox augmentation in its
| search for truth"
''The biographer, in some learned and candid
| chapters scattered through his work. has given
| perhaps the best history yet accessible of the
| origin and progress of the ideas which first
| created and then disturbed and finally split the
| Unitarian body. Nowhere are the Transcen-
dental, the Parkerite, the anti-slavery move
/ ,,,onto in THAR nonnaotiop with TTnifaranisn,
| and its church developement more ably, frank
| ly and instructively described. We could only
wish that DR.. Gannett could himself have seen
| his som s biography of his sons father! Per-
haps nothing would have SO much tended to
reconcile him to his own failure in seeking to
| bind finished and unprogressive system of
| theology under the Unitarian name upon this
| generation. He would have seen that the stars
in their courses fought against Sisera, that it
| was not in man to do it, and that Providence
had other designs and better plans. There is,
| in the unaffected narrative of this work. an
argument for charity and agreement better and
| more convincing than any controversial dem
| onstration or any direct effort at harmony could
produce; healing argument, one that tends to
explain, as among necessary and providential
|
or perversities of opinions We do not believe
that the stiffest partisans of definite opinions
will remain unaffected by the simple, candid
history of growing convictions opposed to DR..
Gannett's opinions, recorded in this book, as it
unfolds the inner life of our own denomination
al struggles. 1t is the best and most successful
instrument yet forged to promote tenderness,
| fraternity and oneness of fellowship in our
body @. WB.
FUNGI: THEIR NATURE AND USES. By M. G.
Cooke. Edited by M. j. Berkeley. d. Appleton
& Co., New York. For sale by Bailey & Noyes.
The acquaintance of botanists with Cryptic
gamous plants is very slight when compared
with what is known of Phanerogamia. Sue
cessful study of the species of Cryptogamia re-
quires close attention and careful manipuls-
ton, and few have been willing to give their
lives to so arduous a task. The names of w.
S. Sullvant and L. Lesquereux deserve to be
mentioned for their valuable additions to scien-
tifc knowledge on this subject. having given to
the public the result of their joint labors under
the title of "Musci- i-Boreali-Americani,"
which introduced a new era in the study OF
American Muscology. Prot. Tuckerman has de,
voted himself to Lichenes, Prof. Harvey to AL
gae, and Rev. DR.. Curtis to Fungi. AS supple
mentary to these, comes this English work
which will be very welcome to- any enthusiast
on the subject of Cryptogamia, touching, as it
does, on the other orders, though devoted chief
ly to Fungi
The nature, structure, and classification Of
Fungi are discussed with minuteness and a
profusion of Latin names which would deter
the unscientific reader from attempting the
book, but which is admirably suited to students
''for whom it is intended" 1t contains more
than one hundred cuts, ,and also table of fami-
lies and orders, arranged after the plan OF
Gray's Analytical Key; the details necessary
for the Identification of known species are fully
stated; in fact, the work is textbook, as
much as Gray's Manual of Botany.
| AS to the geographical distribution of Fungi
the author says: ''No complete or satisfactory
account can be given. The cause of this diff
| Guilty lies in the fact that the Mycologic Flora
of so large portion of the world remains un
explored" Mr.. Cooke believes in the theory
that vast numbers of spores are suspended IL
the air, but doubts if their agency in causing
disease is SO great as sometimes supposed
''Facts," he says, generally seem to bear ou
| the opinion bnaU u gredG VI skill ulS
eases are aggravated by fungi; but it is no
proved that they produce epidemic diseases il
man or animals or that the dissemination O
their mutitudnous spores in the atmospher
has any appreciable influence on the health O
the human race" On the germinatiol
and growth of the spore, he says almost moth
ing is positively known. He gives full &C
count of the phosphorescence of fungi, citn
the experiments of several mycologsts to prov
that even the interior emits light, if the plan
is cut open and exposed to the air. He ais
speaks of the wonderful rapidity of growt
among fungi, mentioning as an example that
, Reticularia was seen running over iron fey
,, hours after it had been red hot
| The chief use of Fungi is for the table, ye
: the author says only few varieties are suita
bic for this purpose, many being virulent poi
sons. The habitat of Fungi is chiefly decayln
animal and vegetable matter, though some ar
true parasites, drawing their nourishment fror
living organisms, one in particular living o