204 
NATURE 
[Fuly 2, 1885 
circle of readers. What has been needed is such an 
official summary of the whole work of the expedition as 
will convey to the general public a sufficiently clear and 
detailed account of the whole results of the voyage of the 
Challenger, and will enable the man of science to realise 
what has been done in other departments than his own 
special domain, 
Such a summary has now been prepared and published 
as the “ Narrative of the Cruise.” It is called a volume, 
though in reality it consists of two stout quartos, compris- 
ing altogether upwards of 1100 pages. The first thought 
that will naturally occur to any intelligent person who 
takes an interest in these subjects, and who hears that at 
last the official narrative of the Cha//enger expedition is 
issued, will be that this at least isa part of the publica- 
tions that he would like to possess, or at least would ex- 
pect to find readily accessible as an authoritative and con- 
venient record of what the expedition has done. His zeal 
Fic. 1.—The Peak of Fernando Noronha, sketched from the Deck of H.M.S. Chadlenger, September 3, 1873. 
for the acquisition of knowledge, however, may not im- | individuals that would gladly purchase it if the cost were 
probably be damped when he learns that the book will 
: within their means, but to whom the acquisition of the 
cost him 6/. 16s. 6d. Why such a prohibitory price should | whole series of Reports, or even a small proportion of them 
have been affixed to this work is one of those mysteries of | is impossible. 
The official rule has been, we believe, to 
Government publication which it is hopeless to understand | print off only 750 copies of each Report, to charge the 
or explain. 
There can be no question that this Narrative | whole cost of production upon that number, and then to 
volume is the one of the whole series most likely to sell. | destroy the copper plates and lithographic stones, so that 
There are, no doubt, hundreds of institutions and private 
on the supposition that the whole edition is sold, no loss 
