826 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. II., No. 47. 



Ceylon. He begins by telling us that he is get- 

 ting to be an old man, and it is now or never 

 with him as regards a journey in the tropics ; 

 but when, in the next breath, he informs us that 

 his advanced years number eight and fort3-, we 

 are quite amused at his premature old age. 

 When he tells us, in the first chapter, how the 

 Berlin academy refused to give him any aid 

 on account of the challenge he had thrown to 

 it on evolutionarj' speculations, we laugh with 

 him. We see his amusement as he writes upon 

 seeing wild apes for the first time : ' ' Comparing 

 them with the dirty and naked begging priests 

 at our feet, they seemed to me a highly respect- 

 able ancestry for them. ' ' His German nation- 

 ality, too, is ever apparent. Now we see it 

 when he describes his German companions, or 

 more frequently when he delights in his allu- 

 sions to ' the indispensable black tail-coat and 

 white necktie ' of old England, or to the English 

 ' chimne3--pot ' (cylinderhut) , vihieh he consid- 

 ers, ' of ail head-coverings, the most hideous 

 and insufficient.' He enjoys telling of English 

 gluttony- as compared with German temper- 

 ance, of the Englishman's love for money with 

 his exorbitant prices, and finally' ends with the 

 terse statement, ' Unsonst ist in Indien uur der 

 tod.' But even his admiration for Germany 

 does not prevent him from giving tribute to 

 the facultj' which England has exhibited as a 

 colonizing power. 



The scientific results of the Ceylon jour- 

 ney are not apparent. He travelled quite 

 extensivelj' through the island, continuallj' 

 sweUing his collections, and finallj^ estab- 

 lished a rough laboratory at Belligam, where 

 he worked hard for six weeks, filling his 

 large cases with specimens from land and sea. 

 But beyond the statement that the fauna 

 of Cej-lon agrees closelj' with that of the 

 Philippine and Fiji group, the zoologist gets 

 little scientific knowledge. His account of the 

 botany of the island is more extensive ; but 

 even this is largely made up of artistic descrip- 

 tions of the magnificent vegetation which so 

 vividly impresses a traveller in the tropics. 

 That the journey' was made by Haeckel is, how- 

 ever, sufficient proof that it was more than a 

 pleasure-excursion. He brought back large 

 cases of specimens, of which he says little, but 

 which will, in years to come, undoubtedly be a 

 source of much valuable information to the 

 scientific world. 



The book is not intended to be a scientific 

 production, but rather a pleasant account of a 

 naturalist's travels ; and as such it is a success. 

 A book of travels is usually dry and uninterest- 

 ing after the first few chapters ; for, however 



interesting new places maj' be to the traveller, 

 to keep up a novelty in description soon be- 

 comes an impossibility. Haeckel has not (mi- 

 tirel3- overcome this dillicult^', but he introduces 

 variety in the shape of personal anecdotes and 

 observations. He is successful, too, in select- 

 ing most interesting points for description ; and 

 this, together with his boundless love for nature, 

 which is so evident in every line, makes the 

 closing chapters of liis book much less weari- 

 some than is usual with books of like nature. 

 He reserves his account of the people until 

 toward the end, and thus gives a series of bright 

 chapters as the close of his staj- at Belligam ; 

 and, bj' the continual introduction of people and 

 incidents, he succeeds in keeping the reader's 

 attention better than is customarj-. But, in 

 spite of all, the last chapters of the book will 

 invariably be glanced over in a hurried and 

 cursorj' manner. 



The translation by Clara Bell is on the whole 

 good, though she has evidently been hard 

 pressed to find expressions which will translate 

 Haeckel's superfluit3' of adjectives. In some 

 cases she seems to have been unable to find 

 English expressions which give anj- idea of the 

 German. One hardly gets the idea from the 

 phrase ' worthy and fair reader,' which is cou- 

 vej'ed by the German, ' Du, geneigter User, 

 und noch mehr,vererJiteleserin.' Though she 

 has not followed the German very closely in 

 her translation, j-et she has succeeded in con- 

 veying to the English reader a tolerably good 

 idea of Haeckel's flowing, free, and confidential 

 stj'le. The wonderful success of Haeckel's 

 writings has proved that his method of writing 

 and dealing with scientific subjects is a most 

 attractive one ; and this edition of his visit to 

 Cej-lon, partly- on account of the freedom of 

 the translation, but more largely because of the 

 nature of the subject treated, will give to the 

 English reader a better idea of his style of 

 writing than any other of his translated works. 



REMSEN'S THEORETICAL CHEMISTRY. 



Principles of theoretical chemistrij with special refer- 

 ence to the constitution of chemical compounds. By 

 Ik A Remsen. Revised edition. Philadelphia, 

 Henri, C. Lea's Son !j- Co., 1S83. 242 p. 12°. 



In preparing this new edition of his little 

 book upon 'Theoretical chemistry',' Professor 

 Remsen has extended quite materially the 

 second part, which treats of tlie constitution of 

 chemical compounds, and which forms its most 

 distinctive and attractive feature. Man}' of 

 the alterations, however, will hardlj' be re- 

 garded as improvements by those who believe 



