Dwellers on the Threshold; or, Magic and Magicians. By W.
H. Daven- port Adams. (John Maxwell and Co.)—This is a piece of book- making, but a good specimen of that sort of work. Admirers of " Zanoni" will know from whom Mr. Adams borrowed the title of his work, but he uses it to express the now well-recognized truth that the early students of the occult sciences were the progenitors of the modern savants, or, in the glowing words of our author, that "if not admitted within the penetralia of the Temple of Science, they were at least Dwellers on its Threshold." In plain words, chemistry and astronomy are the result of the discoveries of the alchemists and astronomers. Making allowances, however, for a little fine writing and for a claim set up in the preface to laborious researches of which the book affords no proof, it remains an amusing gossiping collection of stories about magic, magicians, secret societies, alchemy, astrology, sorcery, and other kindred topics, which almost every one likes to read about. It is far more amusing than most novels, and contains a vast quantity of curious, if not very useful, information. In short, it is a work in the manner of that school of which Dr. Doran is the recognized master.
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