The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-12-03
BOOKS Oh THE HOUR
THE LIRE OF JAMES DWIGHT DANA
a NOTABLE ADDITION. TO
BIOGRAPHY
TWO TIMELY NEW VOLUMES

Tomorrow in Cuba and the Eek
petition to the PhiIippfnes''
Books of Current Interest-~Chrfst
In Art" a Publication Suited to
the Holiday Time-"HistOrfc Side
Lights''-NOtes of the Magazines.
The Life of James Dwight Dana" by
Daniel c. Gilman Harper & Brothers,
New York.
Prof. James Dwight Dana, Of Yale col
tege, Explorer, MineroIogist, GeoIogist,
ZooIogist," as he is called, and rightly by
his bjographer, presents in his intellectual
I.fe the transition from the old intellect
uaI world to the new. He was the friend
of Agassiz. the contemporary of Darwin,
and shares with Prof.Asa Gray the honor
of having made science a home among
the frigtdtties Of New England. The
story Of such a mans life, if well told
Is Of more than personal tnterest-it is
ike the intellectual life story of the
whole generation, for here was man
W no had hurled at him all the anathemas
of the traditional theology, eager and
angry because the new thought was so
disturbing, and the man remains a per
sistent defender Of the new science, and
at the same time d devout believer in his
cid religion.
No man was better equipped, both by
attainments and by friendship, for the
task of writing the biography than Presi-
dent Gilman, and the excellence of his
work is chiefly seen in the almost wholly
tmpersonaI way in which he has accom-
plIshed his task There is no effort to
Of writing a fife of Dana. Greater men
than the author have been guilty of
such an offense-perhaps greater men
could not help it. Dr. Gilman is not
great man, he is at least a gentleman of
fine scholarship, wide knowledge Of af-
fairs, and an excellent man of letters
The spirit in which the work IS done is
sufficiently stated in these words: In
preparing the biography, which is per-
sonaI rather than scientific, the subject
Of it IS his own interpreter, and wher-
ever his language could be introduced
or that of his correspondents, have pre-
ferred to quote rather than to rewrite or
CCndeuse what they have said" The
work is therefore a mosaic of quotations
from articles and letters, with a melange
of incident and anecdote that the author
has skinfully joined into one pfcture-the
life story Of his former teacher and
friend-James Dwight Dana. A picture of
old Yale is presented in his college days,
which were laid in the Saurian age of
college life, as far back as the early thir-
ties. In all that melancholy business not
a single Whit Of the real intellectual
life of the modern world. Then he is
teacher on board an American man-of-
war for a year, making a cruise in the
Mediterranean. At thtrty-f1ve he became
an assistant to Prof Silliman. Later he
was appointed to the United States ex-
plOring expedition of 1888, which occu-
pied him until 1S42. These journeys to
South America and the Pacific islands
are Illuminated by Dana's own letters to
family and friends.
How ancient the world was In which
the man lived Is seen particularly IN the
chapter on his relations to re1igio-scten-
tific discussion. He went out to lecture
IN 1857 and talked, of the geologic ages.
At the close clergyman present asked
him questions and showed that there was
no such thing as death in the world until