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ABSTRACT MR. HOVENDEN has set himself the modest task of overthrowing, in the space of about 300 pages, all existing physical tenets, and substituting in their place a remarkable theory of
his own. In this effort he has not succeeded, except, apparently, to his own complete satisfaction. In the first part of the book the author quotes freely from Maxwell and others, and
endeavours to prove that their reasoning is fallacious. His arguments only show that he does not understand what he quotes, and that he has not appreciated the most elementary principles of
the subject, such, for example, as the difference between mass and weight. Having, as he considers, sufficiently disposed of the views held by modern men of science, Mr. Hovenden proceeds to
the elucidation of his own theory. It is impossible to regard this part of the book seriously, Mr. Hovenden's deductions from experiments being altogether too extravagantly absurd. It
is interesting to note that his treatment of the subject is throughout entirely qualitative; we venture to think that in no single instance would Mr. Hovenden's explanations stand the
test of quantitative examination. If modern theory is to be disproved, it will not be by such writings as this. The least one can expect of its opponents is that they should properly
understand the fundamental conceptions involved, and this Mr. Hovenden cannot be said to have attempted to do. _What is Heat? and What is Electricity?_ By F. Hovenden. Pp. xvi + 329.
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