will find the application of general principles to all the problems of sociology treated with a depth of philosophic insight and an abundance and aptness of illustration which I cannot pretend to equal. My ambition is of a humbler nature. I do not expect to set the Thames on fire, or to produce a revolution in modern thought; but I do hope that the views which I have endeavoured to express may do somewhat to make some readers more tolerant and charitable in their judgments, less bitter and one-sided in controversy; and that whatever truth there may be in my ideas will contribute to form a small part, neither more nor less than it deserves, of the great body of truth which is handed down from the present to succeeding generations, and which becomes, long after I am there to witness it, the inheritance of the human race in the course of its evolution. And now, before I take my final leave of the reader, let me for a few moments throw the reins on the neck of fancy, and suppose myself standing with that group of Parsees by the shore of the Indian Ocean, listening to its murmured rhythm, inhaling the balmy air, watching the silver crescent of the new moon, and musing on the wise sayings of the ancient sage; the sum of the reflections which I have tried to embody in the preceding pages would take form and crystallise in the following sonnet:— Hail! gracious Ormuzd, author of all good, Spirit of beauty, purity, and light; Teach me like thee to hate dark deeds of night, And battle ever with the hellish brood Of Ahriman, dread prince of evil mood— Father of lies, uncleanness, envious spite, Thefts, murders, sensual sins that shun the light, Unreason, ugliness, and fancies lewd— Grant me, bright Ormuzd, in thy ranks to stand, A valiant soldier faithful to the end; So when I leave this life’s familiar strand, Bound for the great Unknown, shall I commend My soul, if soul survive, into thy hand— Fearless of fate if thou thine aid will lend. INDEX. Abraham, 186. Accumulator, the electric, 63, 64. Acetic ether, 73, 74. Acids, 69, 70. Aerobes, 87, 88. Affinities, chemical, 51, 52, 55, 68; of Zoroastrianism and art, 212. Agriculture, 245. Ahriman, 4, 180, 202, 203, 265. Air, a cubic centimetre of, 20; pressure of, 24, 25. Aleutian Islands, 97. Alga, 95, 105; forests of the, 97. Algonquins, funeral custom, 149. Alizarine manufactured, 86. Alkalies, 69, 70. America, woman in, 111, 112; respect for law in, 235. Amœba, 76, 77, 82; propagation of the, 103, 104, 117. Amos, 187. Anemone, sea, 104. Angiosperms, 98. Animal life, 92, 93; Zoroaster enjoins kindness to, 207. Aquarium, 93; nature one huge, 101. Arnold, Matthew, 207; definition of the Deity by, 171. Aryan race, divisions of the, 199; religion of the, 200; language, 200.