232 



KNOWLEDGE. 



[OCTOBEB 1, 1898. 



With Peary near the Pole. By Eivind Astrup, translated 

 by H. J. Bull. (Pearson, Ltd.) Illustrated. Although 

 M. Astrup died some time ago, no mention of the fact is 

 made in this translation, nor is the author's original 

 preface dated. These omissions are strange enough, but 

 that a translation of this book should be published a 

 month or two before the appearance of a full account of 

 the expeditions by their leader is still more remarkable. 

 Eivind Astrup accompanied Mr. Peary on his two 

 Greenland expeditions in 1891-2 and 1893-4, and this 

 book is a short account of these two expeditions. 

 By far the most interesting portion of the book is that 

 dealing with the remarkable and successful sledge journey 

 of 1892. Although by no means a practised writer, the 

 author describes this journey exceedingly well, the great 

 charm of the narrative being its simplicity. It will be 

 well to remind our readers of this journey, which was quite 

 as remarkable in its way as the crossing of the south of 

 (Greenland by Nansen, in 1885. Peary, Astrup, Gibson 

 and Cook, started on their journey across the inland ice 

 from MacCormick Bay, on the north-west of Greenland, 

 on May 14th, 1892. " On May 24th they reached Hum- 

 boldt Glacier, and here the party divided, Peary and Astrup 

 continuing the journey, and the other two returning to 

 winter quarters. On June 27th the two intrepid ex- 

 plorers reached the eighty-second degree of latitude, and 

 found themselves at the edge of the inland ice, while on 

 July 4th they arrived at the north-east coast, and so 

 practically proved that Greenland is an island and not a 

 continent stretching to the Pole as some have thought. 

 It was not until August 5th that, after innumerable hard- 

 ships and incessant toil, Peary and Astrup gained winter 

 quarters and comparative civilization. Besides the de- 

 scriptions of the expeditions and their equipments, the 

 book contains some valuable information on the customs, 

 dress, and language of the Esquimaux, and the manner in 

 which they live. This information is especially interesting, 

 since it refers to tribes about which very little is known. 

 The information, however, is scattered through the book, 

 and not being systematically arranged loses much of its 

 value. The translator has done his work well, and the 

 book well deserves reading. 



Cantor Lectures on Gutta-Percho . By Dr. Eugene Obach. 

 (Wm. Trounce.) Illustrated. Gutta-percha is not, some 

 may think, a very entertaining subject for a course of 

 lectures, but a different opinion may be formed by a 

 perusal of the Society of Arts' course of three lectures 

 delivered by Dr. Obach nearly a year ago. The plant was 

 subordinated to useful purposes by Sir Wm. Hooker and 

 Dr. Siemens in the year 1847, and the Society of Arts 

 deemed it fitting to celebrate the jubilee of its introduction 

 into commerce by a course of lectures, which are embodied 

 here, and suitably illustrated with photographs and diagrams 

 of the processes employed in preparing the raw material 

 for the market and its subsequent manufacture into various 

 useful articles. The history, geographical distribution, 

 botanical structure, and cultivation of the gutta-percha 

 tree form the subject of the first lecture, while the second 

 and third deal with the processes for cleaning, hardening, 

 and so on. Among the many uses to which gutta-percha 

 has been put, that for making ice-boats, as in the case of 

 Lady Franklin when in search of her husband in 1850, 

 seems to us most curious. A useful series of tables is 

 appended at the end of the volume, giving analyses, imports 

 and exports, and so on ; indeed, we know of no work 

 where so much and varied information, in an equivalent 

 space, may be found on gutta-percha as in Dr. Obach's 

 lectures here reproduced in convenient form for reference. 



The Wonderful Century : Its Swxesses ami its Failures, 

 By Alfred Russel Wallace. (London : Swan, Sonnen- 

 schein k Co.) 7s. Gd. That this book is from Dr. 

 Wallace's pen is guarantee sufficient that it is interesting 

 and well worth reading. In the hands of such an author 

 we expect that the subject will be dealt with in a fascina- 

 ting and invigorating style, and we are not disappointed. 

 As Dr. Wallace himself says, he has produced an appre- 

 ciation of the century rather than its history. But the 

 book is by no means full of jubilant expressions relating 

 to the many wonderful successes of the last hundred years ; 

 more than half the volume is concerned with what the 

 author regards as its failures. Among these the questions 

 of vaccination, phrenology and spirituahsm are discussed, 

 the first named occupying a very considerable portion of 

 the entire volume. The author has strong views on 

 these subjects, and does not hesitate to express his opinions 

 in vigorous language. This makes it advisable to offer a 

 word or two of caution to readers who propose to study the 

 book under notice. It by no means follows that because an 

 author has attained pre-eminence in any one department of 

 scientific knowledge, as Dr. Wallace has done in the realm 

 of natural history, he is thereby qualified to give a final 

 opinion on every controversial question which may arise 

 out of the advances that science has made. There are 

 many who are not prepared to accept Dr. Wallace as a 

 judge upon such matters as the value of vaccination, or 

 the claims of phrenology to be regarded as a science ; and 

 while admiring his manly English and his clear expression 

 of what he thinks, we must point out that his conclusions 

 are considered erroneous by numbers of equally eminent 

 men of science. Doubtless many of Dr. Wallace's sen- 

 tences will find their way into phrenologists' advertise- 

 ments and the pamphlets of anti-vaccinators, but that does 

 not constitute them deliberate expressions of the present 

 state of scientific opinion. Dr. Wallace himself must 

 recognize that he has no more right to decide these 

 questions than an eminent chemist would have to pass 

 judgment in matters of pure biology. If this is borne in 

 mind the reader will derive both pleasure and profit from 

 the perusal of Dr. Wallace's work. 



Essays on Museums and othfr Sulject-s connected nth 

 Natural History. By Sir William Henry Flower, k.c.b., 

 etc. (Macmillan.) Illustrated. 123. net. We have to 

 thank Sir William Flower for republishing these essays in 

 book form. The earliest of them was written in 1870, and 

 notwithstanding the great advance in scientific knowledge 

 since that date, all these essays, with the exception of a 

 few minor detaOs, have stood the test of time, and are aa 

 interesting and instructive to-day as they were when first 

 penned. The book opens with seven chapters on museums, a 

 subject with which the author is, of course, eminently fitted 

 to deal. If anyone requires advice as to how to build, plan, 

 and fill a museum to the best advantage, or should anyone be 

 at all hazy as to the true value of a museum, let him read 

 these chapters. The last forms a brief history of Hunter's 

 wonderful collection, now the museum of the Royal College 

 of Surgeons. The next section of the book, devoted to 

 biology, contains eight essays on various subjects. The 

 chapter on whales, past and present, and their probable 

 origin, is especially interesting. The chapters in the 

 section dealing with anthropology, that much neglected 

 science, should be read by everyone. The concluding 

 chapters are biographical sketches of Prof. Rolleston, Sir 

 Richard Owen, and Prof. Huxley, and an eulogium on 

 Charles Darwin. The book is a mine of information of a 

 very varied character conveyed in simple but eloquent 

 language, and our only criticism is that an index would 

 have rendered it more useful. 



