The Little Kingdom; or, the Servants of the Stomach. By
Jean Mace. Translated by a Lady. Two vols. (Saunders and Otley.)—Two charm- ing little volumes. It is hard to say whether instruction or amusement predominates in them, whether they are more fit for the young or for grown people. We do not advise any parent to place the book in the, hands of his or her boys or girls without reading it first, and though. this seems an equivocal compliment, and the phrase of putting a book in the hands of children is pedantic, we do not mean to be either pedants or lukewarm in our praise. The object of the book is to present young people who are willing to learn, or grown people who have neg- lected their studies, with a summary of anatomy and physiology. M. Jean Mace calls the bones, the muscles, the brain, the nerves, and the members generally the servants of the stomach, inasmuch as the. stomach is the centre of the human system. This is not the ascetic. view of the dignity of manhood ; "meats for the belly and the belly for meats, but God shall destroy both it and them." BA as we once. hearda preacher say, so long as we carry about with us this vile body of corruption, we mast submit to the laws by which it is governed. IL the body chooses to obey the stomach and makes the brain a secondary consideration, we must content ourselves with living under that likeness to a constitutional monarchy. Meanwhile M. Jean Mace has written a delightful guide to this government and constitution.
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