LITERARY.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 70, 21 March 1908, Page 10

LITERARY.

In the "National Review" for February M. Jules Delafosse gives a lucid account of the sequence of events which developed .the present situation in Morocco. He shows the tortuous policy pursued by Germany in order to secure a footing in that country-; its early success culminating in the downfall of 11. Delcasse, and its ultimate defeat through the action of the Powers in supporting the claim of France to precedence, in dealing with the Sultan. The Right Hon. J. H. Campbell, ex-Attorney-General for Ireland, denounces Mr. Birrell's administration of Irish affairs, and dec-lares that the cessation of cattle-driving was secured by his intimation, in a speffeh at Southampton, that it would imperil the Irish University I scheme. Mr. H. W. Wilson discourses at length on the Two-Power standard in naval affairs, and calculates tuat to maintain this in the face of the German naval programme Britain will have to spend £45,000,000 to £50.000,000 a year for many years on the Navy. Mr. James -T. Hill, president of the Great Northern Railway, U.S.A.. in an article entitled "The Future of the United States," estimates that within twenty years 125,000.000 people, and before the middle of the century 200,000,000 must find room and food and employment in the United States, and he considers it to be an urgent duty devolving on the Government to encourage closer settlement of the land. Among other notable articles is Mr. J. L. Garvin'a criticism of Lord Cromer's declaration in favour of Free Trade. '"CasselFs Magazine" for March contains five complete stories, written by Jaques Futrelle, Fred. M. White, Gee. Ellbar, Mabel C. Urch, L. J. Beeston, Mrs. Harold Gorst, Mrs. Clement Shorter, and Anne Warner, and a good variety of special articles well illustrated, among which Mr. R. C. Lehmann's amusing sketches of the House of Commons deserve special mention. 3lr. R. C'aton Woodville's account of a recent visit to Montenegro is also full of interesting facts regarding that mountainous little principality. Mr. Geo. Tumbull describes the course of preparation necessary to attain the highest honours in the profession of dentistry. He states that to secure the L.D.S.. M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P.. involves six years of study and an outlay of about £400. As to emoluments he says: "A dentist is not doing well either in London or the country if he is making less than £-l') oto £000 a year. Very usual incomes are £1000. £2000, and £3000.

The "Girl's Re.-.lm" for February open 3 with a reproduction of Henrietta Rae's famous picture Ophelia, in the Liverpool Gallery. An article. "Babies of the Zoo," is illustrated by some excellent photos, of animals. "A Dressing l"p Ball" offers some suggestive costumes'for such social functions, and there are many stories and articles of feminine interest, and a sjood budget of fact and fiction for young people.

The '"Young Man's Magazine" for March contains an article by the Rev. P. C. Durward on Professor Masson: and a contribution by the Rev. N. A. Davis entitled "On the" Wallaby in the Never Never." Louis Jensen gives an interesting account of a --i=it paid to the Mosgiel woollen mills. The other contributions are well written and mainly on New Zealand tonics.

Fitchett's "New Idea" for March announces an enlargement ot the size nex--month, with ail increase of the price to sixpence. A large number of new features are. to be introduced. The current issue contains the usual variety of articles by Australian authors, specially intended to interest, women.

Mr. Hall Cainc has left London for Egypt. The principal object of his visit is to gather further material for a new novel and a- new play. "To help mc to write a novel and a play which I navn been trying to work upon for some time," he said, "1 am going back to Egypt for a little more study of that fascinating. and inexhaustible country, which i≤, I think, at this moment more important to the nations in general and to England in particular than any other part of thq world." Mr. Came, who visited Egypt! last year, will be away three or four months, dividing his time between Cairo, the centre of Lord Cromer's administration, and Khartoum, the scene of Gordon's martyrdom. Mr. Anthony Hope, the novelist, made some candid confessions in a lecture on "The Modern Novel," , which he delivered to the '"Tuesday Society." '"We novelists," he said, "have to walk warily— there are far too many of us, and wo write far too much. And more —there are far too many people who read us. You will read in the newspapers of a 'plague of novels' —that may be, but there are a great many newspapers too. We are a suspected class," continued Mr. Hope, "our trade is a dangerous one, and one day I think they will take away our license and give us no compensation." The old novels were long—bnt the modern reader was a lazy reader. "There' are in many books question marks at the end—a theory is propounded—a problem is left unsolved. Plato said 'The multitude is no philosopher'—to-day the modern multitude is trying to be. and the modern novelist has to write accordingly."

The February "Windsor" contains a very interesting paper entitled ""Brain and Body." The contributor says:—"The world for ages did not know that the brain had anything special to do, and least of all that it had everything to do with the mind. On that account the brain is never mentioned in the Bible, and the great physiologist «nd philosopher Aristotle, when he carefully examined the brain, concluded that its only I business was to cool the blood for the heart! Every other important organ of the body does something visible, either in its action or secretion; but the quiet brain has kept its greatest secrets so well, even down to our own day. that most educated people are still ignorant of the significant discoveries that recently have revealed its particular connexion with certain mental operations. Indeed, although Gaien. about a hundred and sixty years after Christ, demonstrated that the brain is the bodily seat of the conscious mind, yet so little advance was made for seventeen hundred years after him that when I graduated in medicine not one of the great teachers of the day was aware of any specific relations of the human brain to processes of thought. They all taughMhat the brain in its relation to mind was one orcan, acting as a unit in all mental operations. just as the lungs, in which each air-cell does what all the other air-cells do. Hencß, it was the whole brain that saw, or heard, or felt, or thought."' The February "Windsor" is an excellent number. Sir Gilberi Parker, M.P., contributes the third complete story in the new series, in which he has quite recaptured the fascination of his former Canadian themes.