280 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. VII., No. 164 



stract of his account of the explorations, in which 

 many parties were occupied for a long period and 

 over a great extent of territory. Nor can more 

 than mention be made of the eleven plans, by dif- 

 ferent explorers, discussed in detail : viz., — 



1°. By Commodore Shufeldt and Mr. Fuertes, at Tehuan- 

 tepec, 280 kilometres, all to be excavated, and 140 

 locks. 



2°. By Childs, revised by Commandant Lull and Mr. Men- 

 ocal, at Nicaragua, 292 kilometres, 195 of wbich are to 

 be excavated, Lake Nicaragua and 21 locks. 



3°. By^Commandant Lull, at Panama, 72 kilometres, all to 

 be excavated, with 25 locks and a canal-bridge over 

 the Chagres River. 



4°. By Wyse, Reclus, and Sosa, at Panama, 75 kilometres, 

 all to be excavated, a sea-level canal, with or without 

 a tunnel, and now under construction. 



5°. By Wyse, Reclus. and de Lepinay, at Panama, 72 kilo- 

 metres, 50 of which are to be excavated, with 11 locks 

 and an artificial lake in valleys of Chagres and Rio 

 Grande. 



6°. By McDougal. Commandant Selfridge, Wyse, Reclus, 

 and Sosa, at San Bias, 53 kilometres, 42 of which are 

 to be excavated, level canal with tunnel of 15 kilo- 

 metres. 



7°. By Wyse, etc., at Darien, 125 kilometres, 74 of which 

 are to be excavated, level canal with tunnel of 17 kilo- 

 metres. 



8°. By Wyse, etc., at Darien, 235 kilometres, 128 of which 

 are to be excavated, with 22 locks and tunnel of 2 

 kilometres. 



9°. By Trautwine, Kennish, Michler, etc., at Choco, 210 

 kilometres, 90 of which are to be excavated, level 

 canal with 2 tunnels of 3 and 8 kilometres. 



10°. By Commandant Selfridge and Mr. Collins, at Choco, 

 290 kilometres, 50 of which are to be excavated, with 

 22 locks and tunnel of 6 kilometres. 



11°. By the same, the same, modified to 2 locks and tunnel 

 of 6 kilometres. 



It will be interesting to see how the author's 

 opinions of the past conduct of the work on the 

 canal, the present material and financial condi- 

 tion, and the future prospects for completion, 

 compare with the views of Mr. Rodrigues, al- 

 ready referred to. But in weighing the state- 

 ments it will be well to bear in mind that the 

 author has written this book, as he states in his 

 dedicatory letter, to establish the facts for his 

 family's sake, that he was the originator of the 

 plans and route adopted, and the negotiator of the 

 concessions obtained, — facts which otherwise 

 seemed likely to be obscured by the strong per- 

 sonality of de Lesseps. He desires also, by pre- 

 senting his original plans, to absolve himself from 

 blame for errors committed by others. He ac- 

 knowledges that between the session of the Paris 

 congress in 1879, and the organization of the 

 canal company in 1880, a coldness sprang up be- 

 tween M. de Lesseps and himself, and that his 

 appointment as director-general was withdrawn. 



He states, that, in order to have some official 

 acquainted with the business in hand, the place 

 of superior agent at the isthmus, with duties but 

 poorly defined, was given to his old friend and 



collaborator, M. Eeclus, who initiated the enter- 

 prise in January, 1881, began the clearing, the 

 final studies, the assembling of plant, buildings, 

 etc. , built a large landing at the north entrance, 

 and erected a general hospital at Panama, He 

 was succeeded in June, 1882, by M. Verbrugghe, 

 and later by M. Richier, under whom was begun 

 the first digging of the canal proper. This ad- 

 ministration was not a success ; and when, in 

 1883, M. Dingier was appointed director, he abol- 

 ished the office of superior agent. The oversight 

 of the work, already too negligent, became quite 

 inefficient ; and to-day, four years and a half from 

 the beginning, matters are in a bad shape. The 

 appointment of Engineer Hutin, first as sub- 

 director and then as chief engineer, is not suffi- 

 cient, despite the good-will which he brings to his 

 position, to remedy the evil already done. 



In October, 1885, the following was the state of 

 affairs : there has been moved a total of from 

 sixteen to seventeen million cubic metres of earth, 

 twelve millions only being from the canal proper, 

 and eighty-eight millions are still to be excavated. 

 Besides, there have been prepared buildings and 

 stables on an extravagant scale, farms and gardens 

 at great expense around headquarters, railroad 

 branches, field hospitals, and roads, three of 

 which he says are of but little use except for 

 pleasure-riding by idle employees. Considerable 

 labor has been expended on the Atlantic side. The 

 best organized works are at Emperador ; while 

 at Culebra, a very important section, as will be 

 seen by the profile, the reverse is the fact, and the 

 amount already excavated is far out of proportion 

 with the vast quantity which yet remains in place. 

 On the Pacific slope the work is less advanced. 

 He claims that at Culebra, by an injudicious de- 

 viation from his line, the management has in- 

 creased the depth of cut from eighty metres to 

 a hundred and nine metres. A vast quantity of 

 tools, machinery, and materials, has been col- 

 lected, and some fine workshops have been or- 

 ganized. Many of the excavators and dredges 

 have caused trouble, delays, and breakdowns, 

 while difficulties with the temporary tracks and 

 cars for moving earth are frequent. The question 

 of the protection of the canal from the dangerous 

 floods of the Chagres River by means of a dam 

 and large storage-reservoir has not been settled in 

 the last three years. What he thinks of the pres- 

 ent management may be inferred from his ex- 

 pression, une administration meticuleusement pa- 

 per assure. 



The company has received half of its capital 

 stork, a hundred and fifty million francs, besides 

 four hundred million, in round numbers, in obli- 

 gations of three different types. It has on hand 



