LITERARY.

Auckland Star, Volume XL, Issue 121, 22 May 1909, Page 12

LITERARY.

tn "Science Progress" for April, Mr. hn Hurray publishes some interesting tea on the relations of Charles Darwin th his publisher. It appears that the 3t edition of the "Origin of Species" tisisted of 1250 copies, but was sold t at the first offer made by the pubher to booksellers. Of the "Descent Man," three editions, numbering tother 0430 copies, were sold out during c rirst year. Subsequent books cominded an equally ready sale. Mr. Darn's relations with his publisher were roughout of the most amicable descrip>n. "The Expected Return of Hal Ley's >met" forms the subject of an iutertiiag article by Mr. A. C. D. Crommelin, A., F.RA.S.,"iri which the writer deribes the data by which the orbit- pi is comet was computed. "With regard its return next year, he believes that c comet will probably be visible with iall telescopes, and possibly the naked c, in January or February, and will ,ss the sun on May 17,, attaining its eatest splendour during the few days llowing that date. Dr. X. H. Alcock, riting. on "Chloroform in Use," deribes the results of its administration a large number of cases. From statist us compiled by Dr. Levy, it appears iat in a series of cases anaesthetised ith exactly two per cent of. vapour, the mc taken to induce anaesthesia varied ■tween six minutes and over twenty Lnutes, showing clearly the. amount of dividual variation. From an analysis the report to the Indian Government i indigo, performed in the University Leeds, Mr. H. H. Robinson. M.A., finds iat in 1901 the production of indigo India amounted to 9350 tons, valued . £3,5.70,000, and gave employment to 3,000 natives. Mr. Carl Snyder, in a i ought fid paper, endeavours to describe ie conditions obtaining at the earliest jpearance of life on the earth, and ys: "We are forced to the conclusion iat those conditions were probably not ■measurably' different from such as jtain now." The other subjects dealt ith in the present number are: "\ acne. Therapy in Theory and Practice," by . W. Carmalt Jones, M.A.. M.8.. Oxon.; soneric Change," by T. Martin Lowry, .Sc.; "The Thirst of Salted Water, or ie lons Overboard," by Henry Armiong, Ph.D., LL.D.. F.R.S.; "Sleeping ickness," by G-. D. Parker, M.8., Lond.; Palaeolithic Races and Their Modern epresentativea," by W. J. Sollas, D.Sc, .RiS.-; "The Problem of Phycnogons," by ,\ T. Caiman, D.Sc. The section deDted to reviews covers the principal ooks on science published during the aa/ter. "Priests of Progress,"' by G. Colmore, a novel with a purpose. It opens :iUS: —"Three men sat round the fire, moking. They were young men. bare- .• out of the period of studentship, beinning the world. Before one, long sue-?.-s: before, another, the straight labrious path of mediocrity; the life of he third was destined to be as the oice of one crying in the wilderness." he three men were young doctors on he threshold of their careers. One deoted himself to scientific research, and Itimately reached eminence in connacion with the investigations carried on t the Pasteur Institute, Paris. Anither, failing to establish a practice in removed to the country. The I'ird, by hard work and ability, made lie, way in the. London medical world, md then deliberately sacrificpd his posi■on by joining actively in the campaign igainst vivisection. The questionable nethods adopted by medical investigates in hospitals and laboratories in the Uleged cause of science {furnish the ■hief incidents of the story, and come n for the ivlinlc-heorted denunciation o\ he author. The case for and against .ivisection. and curative treatment by he injection of eera. is fully, and, on tiu ivhole, fairh- debated in ronversationa iisc«>*ions between. thi> i'hampiotia. oi the rival system?; and 'though thi feminine element plays a aiuinr. and no cerv attractive, part. David Lowther daughter of an eminent. London special ist. is an intprpfcting personality. Thi bcok is published by Stanley Paul am Company, Clifford's Inn, London.

"The Sword of the Lord, ,, "by Joseph Hocking (Caesell and Co.), deals with the religious and social condition of Germany in the times of Martin Luther. There ie, however, a considerable spice of adventure arising out of a mission entrusted to a young English squire named Brian Hamilton, "by Henry VIII. The task imposed upon this young Englishman by the King is that of bringing to England from Germany a lady of quality who has become heir to great estates, through her mother, who had married a German Count. This young lady's wealth, inheriting estates iv Germany as well a» England, had made her the subject of various matrimonial intrigues. She was held a virtual prisoner in the castle of her uncle, Count Karl of Eothenbuig, who was bent upon forcing her to marry a man she loathed. Hamilton, accompanied by a friend and a sturdy Cornish yeoman, makes his way to Germany, gains access to Rothenburg Castle, and devises varioue schemes for the accomplishment of his mission. He is followed by a young English nobleman named Dudley, who also has designe upon the lady"s fortune, and who stts himself to thwart Hamilton. A series of exciting experiences follow, in which the two young Englishmen shew themselves to \>e men of courage and resource. All Germany ie stirred at thf time by Luther's preaching-, and Hamilton is "brought into close personal contact with the German reformer, and his fortunes become closely identified witli the events that, intervened "between the nailing of Luther's theses on the dooi of the church at YYittenburg, and hi; forced seclusion after the Diet oi i-Worms. The author, as might be ex ! pec-ted from his other novels, depicts th( I condition of religion and morals in 1 Europe at tins period as in a deplorabl* condition. The divisions in Germany, an< the survivals of the feudal system, involving continual feuds between tin nobles, furnish the materials for ele .-nents of romance that enter into tin story. A series of detective stories, entitJec "The Adventures of Russell Howard," bj A. E. Jobson. appears among the recen shilling novels published by the N.S.W Bookstall Co. Howard is quite as adroit in his way, at criminal investigation a most of his prototypes, and the autho has devised for him a varied and com plex sphere of operations in Europe am America. The stories are well up to th average standard of this class of fiction Hitherto unpublished material ha been used in th? preparation of a fort! coming study of that interesting pei sonage, Mr. Samuel Pepys. The autho Mi. E. H. Moorhouse. has taken th famous diarist with seriousness and ha dwelt upon the work he accomplished fc i the Admiralty. He has entitled his boo i "Samuel Pepys. Administrator, Observe and Gossip."

Mr Frank- Richardson, emboldened by j his success with whisker nonsense, has issued another volume entitled "Bun- J kum," in which the old topic takes on various new phases. However, a safeguard to thqse who think this the.me played out, he has humorously affixed an asterisk to the stories in which whiskers figure conspicuously. It is precisely these stories that will not be skipped. The volume contains. 30 amusißg sketches, in which London society is presented in many aspects, especially on the lighter side." The" stories are racy, and will contribute to good digestion. The book, appears in Unwin's Colonial Library.

Tha horrors of convict life in Taenianiac under Governor Arthur have been depicted by several distinguished Australian writers, but the subject is far from being: exhausted. Roy Bridges is tho latest Australian writer who has taken it as, his theme, in "The Barb of an. Arrow," published among the N.SSW. Bpokatall Co.'s popular editions. Theiexperiences described are those which be'fel Richard. Stavely, who was transported for forgeryin 1829. It is a well-written story, andthere is an historical basis for many of the prison brutalities which it describes.

The "National Review" for April again ■ devotes a good deal of space to naval questions, which form the principal subiect of the editor's notes in. -'Episodes of the Month." and are alsa treated in a, special article by "Dreadnought." Sir Roland Blonnerhassett traces the-course of England's relations towards Russia in recent years, and Lord New.ton contributes a, well-informod article on. "The Outlook , for the Young Turks." From an article by. Lord'Willougbby de Broke, on "The Einanoial Aspects of Fox Hunting" we learn that if a man ia not to be oub of pocket aa M.T\H. he ought to hwe from his subscribers-a guarantee of £1000 a year, for every day in. the week, the hounds kennel. Two actual balance sheets-are given in support of this estimate) one-showing the actual -expenditure- om account of a pack, of- foxhounds huntingsfiVe times a week during the season was £6341. Life in Newnham College is described with a good d?al of humour by one who has experienced it. Mr Maurice Low's letter on American affairs deals chiefly with the inauguration of Mr Taft as President of the United States. A series of good short stories. puhlUhod tmder-the general title, "The New Chum." by Arthur H. Adams, has been issued in popular form by tbe X.S.W. Bookstall Company. A majority of the stories relate to life and scenes in Xew Zealand, but there excursions further afield, the most notable being a stirring tale, of the Boxer rebellion in China, entitled ''The Affair of the Lutai Forts," which is published for the first time.

Some amusing anecdotes of Archbishop Whately appear in the London "Telegraph." "We know him best," remarks the writer, "because he published books on logic and rhetoric, and, indeed, revived logical teaching in Oxford. , He was a rough, uproarious creature, an odd figure, with an eccentric personality of his own —a slovenly man, who, wheu he became an Archbishop of Dublin, would put a piece of sticking piaster on his leg in order to conceal a large hole in his archiepiscopal stockings. He was also a great eater. Once, when Whately, Whewell, and others were dining with Baden-Powell, Mrs. Powell had provided a dish of 18 plovers' eggs, to match the ; number of her guests. Unfortunately, the dish was placed in front of Whately, who, amid the vehemence of his talk, devoured 16 of the eggs successively. Mrs. Whately—so Mr. Tuokwcll tells us —used to cap this story by relating how. at a large ceremonial dinner in Dublin, she had ordered a dish nf ruffs and reeves, an nnusunl and very costly dainty. The ruffs and reeves, in a side, dish, were opposite to an Irish clergyman, who, liking tlu'ir looks, .-tuck his fork into one after another. The hostess in vain tried to prevent him, by tempting him with other delicacies, but she was met with the placid answer, ' No, thank you, ma'am; these little brrds will do well enough for me.' "

What purports to be the manuscript journal of a Cambridge undergraduate who visited Elba in 1314, and there saw Xapoleon, has been placed at the disposal of the London "Daily Mail," and a portion of it has in that paper been printed for the first time. Here 13 the young man's description of the exiled Emperor: j '•The first impre'sion on my mind was: I Can this be the great Napoleon? Is that graceless figure—so clumsy, so nnkW ard—the figure that awpd emperor and i kings? It is surely impossible, and that countenance: it is totally devoid of expression; it appears even, to indicate stupidity! Such was thp first impreerion, and, though f soon found reason to change my opinion concerning his countenance 1 still continue to think the figure of Napoleon very untnartial, clumsy, and" awkward. He looks about forty-five years of age, has a very large 'corporation,' and hie thighs are large, quite out. of proportion. He wore a cockhat low over his eyes, which in some measure contribute; to give him the stupid appearance at first sight. This hat is very high behind, low before. Its brownnese seemed to indicate that it had stood many a campaign. It 'bore a cockade of white and- red. He wore a great military coat faced -with red: the skirt? of it fhegan to slope off from as high as the stomach; above that it was close buttoned, and as his neck ie very short one could scarcely see Vila ■black stock. He had two shabby silver epaulets, a shabby star on his breast as commander of the Legion of Honour, arid the three small decorations of the orders of the Legion of Honour, Reunion, and Iron Crown. Under his coat appeared a red sash, the grand cord of Hie Legion Ho had a white waistcoat, white breeches and white glovos. His boots were old i-.nd shabby; hie silver ?-purs were fastened ■with black buckles. He rode a small Corsican Virown howe, with holsters in his saddle and a dirty bridle and bit Though his clothe? were old. hie per son looked clean and neat. He leans very forward in riding. "While he was talking to us his horse -uddenly lifted up hihind foot, and Kapoleon turned quickly round as if he were nervous. Hp tooV snuff only once during the twenty-twt minutes he talked with us; he took i( out of a email Wack box, on which were three cameos. His hand is particularly white, hi?'fingers small and tapering. Hi: ■ hair is black," and hangs down very Ion,! i in 'candle finds' I to use a term rnon expressivp than elegant) over hig eon collar. Yet i;< is clean looking. Hi > eyes are blue and small: eyebrows bind ■ and rather large: his nose and moutl • handsome and of moderate size: his chii , pot very pointed: his complexion palt i rather yellowish, and has much of tha i appearance which I might call dough? r >Tis forehead is and prorainen; c He spoke quickly and incessantly. Hi r voice is and iie speaks ra-the .abruptly.' .