22 MAY 1875, Page 25

Skyward and Earthward. By Arthur Penrice. (S. Tinsley.)—The narrator with

his friends contrives to construct a balloon which has wonderful motive-power, and which also can be guided at will. With this machine the friends visit the moon, which they find to be very dull, and Mars, which they find to be equally agreeable. After this, the balloon is used in adventures which, though terrestrial, are scarcely less marvellous. The narrator is, indeed, a dens ex machine', interfering to protect the right and punish wrong-doers, and of course, saving the young lady whom he loves. Everybody marries the person whom he wants to marry, and has as much money as is good for him. It is un-

fortunate that all this does not make very lively reading. But it is quite true, what was said long ago, of such marvels,—increthilus