CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE.

us.

SCIENCE.

Of all the forms of radiation perhaps that which conveys to us the impression of light is of the most general interest. Very great progress has been made in the artificial production of light; we have only to compare the incandescent light, for instance, with the tallow candles which so many of us can still remember as the general source of domestic light in order to realise the great improvement that has taken place. Important, however, as the advance has been it is insignificant as compared with the future which lies before It has long been known that over 99 per cent. of the radiant energy in even a fairly economical source of artificial light, such as an Argand gas-burner flame, is wasted as far as the production of light is concerned. Some forms of the electric light are economical; but none of them can compare, as regards efficiency, with some natural sources of luminous energy. The glowworm and firefly produce a considerable amount of light with so little accompanying heat that the latter cannot be detected by ordinary means. A very interesting paper on these forms of natural light was published some years ago by Messrs. S. P. Langley and F. W. Very and has now been reprinted, with additional notes, by the Smithsonian Institution. The researches described in this paper are of such extreme delicacy and accuracy that it is scarcely surprising that they have not since been repeated. It is only by means of the bolometer that such measurements of temperature can be carried out, involving, as they do, variations so slight as 400000 of one degree centigrade. By carefully comparing the luminous surface of the insect Pyrophorus noctilucus, with adjoining areas of the body at the same time, it was found that the insect's light was unaccompanied by any measurable heat. Compared with a candle flame the light emitted by the insect showed about one four-hundredth part of the energy which is expended in the candle flame. It is to be hoped that these researches will be continued, especially with reference to the chemical nature of the compounds to which the emission of light is due.

1

1 On the Cheapest Form of Light. By S. P. Langley and F. W. Very. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, vol. xli. No. 1258. Washington: Smithsonian Institution.

1901.

The considerable increase in facilities for travelling which has taken place in late years has greatly augmented the number of those who visit and examine ancient historical localities. To those who may be visiting Rome we can recommend a handbook on one of the most interesting sections of that ancient city, the Palatine Hill.1 The author, Count Haugwitz, has collected a number of historical records bearing upon this part of Rome, which add much to the interest of the work. The most recent excavations are described and illustrated, and good views are given not only of the buildings as they now exist, but also as they are supposed to have stood when inhabited by the Caesars. Much yet remains to be done before we can form a complete picture of the Palatine Hill as it existed in ancient times. For instance, the cave in which Romulus and Remus were said to have been nurtured is supposed to be situated on the south-western declivity; but this is still covered by 90 feet of rubbish. It is to be hoped that further excavations in this direction will be undertaken in the near future.

HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.

THE third edition of Dr. T. H. Dyer's History of Modern Europe 2 gives the reader a complete history of Europe from the capture of Constantinople down to 1900. The immense field covered by this valuable work has necessarily rendered the task of the historian one of great labour and difficulty. Dr. Dyer, in the preface to his work as it originally appeared, said that its design was "to give a general view of European history during the last four centuries." Mr. Arthur Hassall, the able editor of Dr. Dyer's work, has revised the entire book, omitting some passages, and entirely recasting others. Since the original publication of the work, a remarkable advance has been made in our knowledge of European history after the fall of Constantinople, and an enormous mass of new material, bearing especially on the Napoleonic period, has appeared. The two volumes before us contain a full and comprehensive history of events in Europe from 1453 down to 1585. The chapters dealing with the Turkish conquests and with the relations of France and England in the fifteenth century are specially interesting. While the impartiality of Dr. Dyer, as a whole, must be acknowledged, it appears to us that he takes a somewhat narrow view of the character 1 Der Palatin. Seine Geschichte und seine Ruinen von Eberhard Graf Haugwitz. Rome: Loescher & Co. 1901.

2 A History of Modern Europe from the Fall of Constantinople. By Thomas Henry Dyer, LL.D. Third Edition. Revised and continued to the end of the nineteenth century by Arthur Hassall, M.A. Vols. i. and ii. London: George Bell & Sons,

of the Reformation. Protestantism, as well as Catholicism, had a tendency to magnify doctrinal controversies and to ignore the far more important questions of conduct and sincerity. The Reformers were, nearly all of them, only too ready to persecute those who held antagonistic opinions to their own. Luther, for instance, was most envenomed in his attacks on Zwingli. The shocking absence of all principle on the part of European sovereigns during the struggle between the leaders of the Reformation and the Papacy is one of the things most calculated to disgust the modern supporters of free thought. In reality, mankind owes more to Voltaire and Rousseau than to either Luther or Calvin. The Reformers as well as the followers of Loyola forgot the truth that:

"In faith and hope most men will disagree,
But all mankind's concern is charity."

The account of the religious wars in France in the second volume,
though long, is scarcely satisfactory. The most lucid and thorough
portion of the work is that which shows the progress of the Turks
in Europe. In the masterly introduction the entire organisation of
the Ottoman Empire is described in a style which forcibly reminds
us of Gibbon. The impression made on a disinterested reader by
the exploits of the great Sultans is that they and their followers had
the advantage of being perfectly sincere in the attempt to propa-
gate their faith with the sword as compared with the Christian
monarchs who believed in little or nothing save their own aggran-
disement. The Crusades, viewed by the rigid light of historical
criticism, were very far from being wars of enthusiasm, for the
motives of the Crusaders were often of the meanest kind.
We can
easily understand Thackeray's preference of Saladdin to the "brutal,
beef-eating Richard." In fact, a cynic to whom all religions were
equally indifferent might be inclined to regret that the Turks did not
conquer Europe. Appalling as the prospect might seem to feeble
minds, one good result would have followed, that social pharisaism
and religious hypocrisy would probably be now wiped out instead of
rotting, as they largely do, the very core of European society.

Signor Arturo Galanti has written an excellent book on Albania.1 The Albanians are a brave race, and have had a distinguished history. The chapters on the origin of the Albanians show that they are of Thraco-Illyric stock. They have always been passionate lovers of freedom and intensely warlike. The account given of John Castriot, the valiant Albanian prince, is almost as fascinating as the pages of romance.

Never was there more interest taken in China than there is at

the present time. M. Maurice Courant's work, En Chine,2 will be

1 L'Albania. By Arturo Galanti. Roma: Societá Editrice Dante Alighieri. 2 En Chine: Maurs et Institutions, Hommes et Faits. Par Maurice Courant. Paris: Felix Alcan, Editeur, Ancienne Librairie. Germer, Baillière et Cie.

eagerly read. M. Courant was formerly interpreter to the French Legation at Pekin, and has been a lecturer at the University of Lyons. He understands Chinese life thoroughly, and his picture of it is not unfavourable. The Chinese are a strange people, intensely conservative, but by no means uncivilised. In their family life, ancestor worship plays a prominent part. Female children are regarded as of much less importance than male children. In China there are innumerable secret societies of the most curious description. Even the beggars of China have a strong organisation. The government of the country is weak, while the various societies are powerful. This explains much of the anarchy that prevailed in China during the recent disturbances which caused so much excitement throughout Europe. The volume deserves careful study, as it throws light on an interesting subject.

BELLES LETTRES.

MR. LOUIS BECKE possesses much of the magic which fascinates the readers of Robert Louis Stevenson, but he lacks Stevenson's perfection of style. In fact, he writes in a somewhat uncouth fashion. But he knows his subject thoroughly, and the result is that his stories are marvellously-sometimes painfully-lifelike. In Tessa and The Trader's Wife1 he gives us two capital tales of adventure. The villainy of Chard, the supercargo in Tessa, seems rather exaggerated. However, it is not easy to form an abstract idea of the possibilities of rascality on the high seas. The Trader's Wife is a startling story of a husband's vengeance on an unfaithful wife. We scarcely expect the sympathies of every leader to be on the side of the husband. In fact, he seems to us to be at heart a

perfect savage. The book is not, perhaps, the most favourable specimen of Mr. Becke's talent as a writer of fiction. He is not, in the highest sense of the word, an artist, but he has vigour and grip of reality and this is something in an age of ridiculously unreal novels like the works of Mr. Hall Caine, Mr. Rider Haggard, and Miss Marie Corelli.

Sporting Sorrows 2 is the title given by Mr. Fox Russell to an amusing little volume chiefly consisting of sketches, which originally appeared in the pages of Punch. The first sketch, "The Sorrows of a Fisherman," is rather an obvious piece of artificial humour. Mr. Russell holds up Scotchmen to ridicule; but the Scot is more canny than ridiculous in real life. The closing sketch, entitled "A President of Oceania," presents us with a really clever picture of a

1 Tessa. The Trader's Wife. By Louis Becke. London: T. Fisher Unwin. 2 Sporting Sorrows. By Fox Russell. Bristol: J. W. Arrowsmith.

Yankee "bossing" a beautiful island in the Pacific.

The author

rather overdoes the "'Murrican" accent. If the reader is, however, not over critical, he will enjoy Mr. Fox Russell's fun.

POETRY.

MR. ALEISTER CROWLEY1 is a poet who is apparently under the obsession of an esoteric view of life and human destiny. He endeavours to grapple with the dark problems which exercised the imagination of John Ford. He views the sexual problem from the standpoint of an unconventional student of human nature. His creed is a singular mixture of belief in Osiris and in Christ. The principal poem in his new volume is a powerful dramatic sketch ending in something like a tragic farce. The love of a man for his own mother, not according to a moral but a sexual standard, is not quite a novel idea, but Mr. Crowley handles the subject in a revolting fashion, which the Greek poets avoided, owing to their keen artistic sensibility. Some passages in this drama are really very fine; and The Fatal Force " is also a dramatic poem of singular power, though the subject is equally horrible. There is scarcely a poem in the entire volume free from morbidity; and yet it is impossible to deny that Mr. Crowley has a claim to recognition as a true poet. Most men who have thought deeply on life's problems recognise that the current religion of nearly all their fellow men is an idle mockery. The relations of men and women, as well as the constitution of states and families, are based largely on organised lies. We cannot shrink from looking behind the veil, and asking ourselves—What is life at best? Is it materialism and obscenity? or is it a sickening comedy in which nobody cares whether the consequences of his actions are injurious to others or not? Mr. Crowley seems to hold that the world is reeking with rottenness-and he is, to a great extent, right. His poems, "Mors Janua Amoris" and "The Whore in Heaven," will horrify the votaries of Mrs. Grundy. At the same time, these daring verses contain a large share of elementary truth. But we live in a hypocritical age, and apparently the author of these extraordinary poems realises the fact, for his volume is "privately printed." The epilogue, “A Death in Sicily," is really a magnificent poem-pagan in its intensity and vividness of colouring; but the prudes who think nakedness impurity and who abjectly fear death will denounce this really gifted poet as "immoral."

1 The Mother's Tragedy and Other Poems. By Aleister Crowley, Privately printed.

1901.