former is used to express the original root developed from the egg, the latter being applied to adventitious roots wherever developed. Part II (Physiology) deals with the general facts of the physiology of the individual, namely, maintenance of form, nutrition, growth and movement. Reproduction is treated separately, under the headings "Vegetative" and "Sexual," in Part III. Part IV (Ecology) contains chapters dealing with forms of vegetation in relation to differ ent sets of conditions; Mesophytes, or the ordinary land plants with which dwellers in fertile temperate climates are acquainted, Xerophytes, or plants adapted to dry conditions; Hydrophytes, or those adapted to a more or less aquatic life. This part also comprises chapters on symbiosis, the relations of plants to animals, and the protection and distribution of spores and seeds. There are several useful appendices, including directions for a course of laboratory work, and for collecting and preserving material, with lists of apparatus, reagents, and reference books. An important feature of the volume is the great number of excellent figures, with an unusually full explanation in each case. The Real Hawaii.1 LIEUTENANT YOUNG'S book on Hawaii is an enlargement and revision of "The Boston at Hawaii," published by him soon after the close of President Cleveland's second term. During that administration, permission had vainly been sought from the Navy Department to publish the book, since it was an ardent defense of the acts of Minister Stevens and Captain Wiltse at the time Queen Liliuokalani was deposed, and a violent arraignment of Commissioner and Minister Blount. Lieutenant Young was Captain Wiltse's executive officer and was in command of the force landed from the Boston and thus prepared to testify from his own knowledge as to the purpose and effect of that landing of troops, the subject of such bitter controversy. Recently this reviewer had an opportunity to ask certain prominent and intelligent citi zens of Honolulu their opinion of this book. They replied that it was a true account, that all the white population felt as Lieutenant Young describes at the time of the revolu I The Real Hawaii. By Lucien Young, U. S. N. New York: Doubleday & McClure Company. 18:9. tion but that it now seemed to them a very bitter book. Time had softened the animosities aroused by the ex-Queen's arbitrary acts and the various factions were at peace again. Still, they said, the same emergency again would cause the whites of Hawaii to act in the same way. But Lieutenant Young certainly is bitter. His attacks on the morality of the Queen and all the royal family, yes, and on the Hawaiians generally, are strong to the verge of of fense. But in these the author speaks of things he has seen with his own eyes and affirms them on the honor of an officer and a gentleman. This is very different as an esti mate of Hawaiian character from that contained in Miss Craft's "Hawaii Nei," where a young girl tells of her observations and experiences. Truly the world is good or bad according to the spectacles through which we view it. Two Women in the Klondike.2 by Mrs. Mary E. Hitchcock, is a beautifully bound volume, and well illustrated by spirited and striking photographs of people and places connected with the narrative; but the written matter between the attractive covers is liable to be somewhat disappointing to the lover of a handsome book. Unfortunately for the success of Mrs. Hitchcock's literary aspirations, she has put her experiences in diary form, and evidently with very little alteration from the original draft, judged by her careless and oftentimes ungrammatical composition. A diary, especially one kept while the writer is on the wing, is likely to require some radical editing, and the journal under review shows a plentiful lack of this. The style suggests that of a schoolgirl, depending for its wit upon stock expressions which have an opposite effect on the reader from that presumably intended by the author. The pages are full of petty details which should have been condensed, or, still better, left out entirely; undue prominence is given to unimportant points, and the text is rife with gushing exclamations,-all of which render the book tiresome and lengthen it unneces sarily. As an instance, the use of such an expression as "Thanks be to the Lord!" called forth by the most trivial circumstance, robs the work of dignity and weakens the force of a like ejaculation in more 2 Two Women in the Klondike By Mary E. Hitchcock. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. 1899. serious passages. The conversational por tions of the book are strained and longdrawn-out, and owing to poor construction the reader often finds himself perplexed to identify the speakers. Another annoying feature of the work is the curtailing of proper names, the author seeming to find it necessary to generally omit all but the first letter of names directly bearing on the interest of the subject-matter. It is hardly probable that all of the persons thus designated have objected to the publication of their names in full; but even Miss Edith Van Buren, who is one of the " Two Women" who made this remarkable trip, and who naturally figures largely in the various situations narrated, is invariably referred to as "E" Such apparently unreasonable omissions have not only the effect of prudery on the part of the writer, but are exceedingly irritating to the reader interested in the Klondike and the people who have braved the hardships of the journey there. Despite its many glaring imperfections, Lowever, Two Women in the Klondike cannot but prove of value to readers who are eager for accurate information as to the country described therein, and the ways and means of reaching it. The journal throughout bears the stamp of truth and sincerity in all particulars. Both the book and the perilous journey that gave rise to it, were big undertakings and Mrs. Hitchcock evidently attacked the two with an equal fearlessness. It was a courageous act for these two women, accustomed to ease and luxury, to embark in an enterprise so tremendous as this Klondike expedition; but notwithstanding all the un avoidable casualties entailed, the prevailing tone of the narration is not such as to discourage others from following Mrs. Hitchcock's example, for with an engaging cheerfulness she has made small capital of annoyances and hardships-even physical suffering -and turns outward the bright side of all disagreeable happenings. MINER BRUCE'S latest book, Alaska,1 is brought out in similar dress to "Two Women in the Klondike," but its well class! fed arrangement is a gratifying contrast to the meandering construction of Mrs. Hitchcock's book. Alaska begins with a brief hisAlaska. By Miner Bruce. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1899. tory of the territory, based on the author's ten years' travel and experience therein, followed by chapters on an exhaustive range of subjects bearing on the topography of the country, the natives, commercial outputs, and so on. Mr. Bruce's style is direct and uncompromising in the extreme,-so much so, in fact, as to be wanting in literary ease and smoothness. The pithy paragraphs follow each other with a staccato effect which is apt to be trying to a nervous reader. Among other slight oddities of expression, it is surprising, in this day when American writers strive to simplify their orthography as much as possible, to note that Mr. Bruce affects the British terminations to words such as "honour," "labour," and others of like description. However, these mild jars to the sensibilities are offset by the undoubted merit of the work, for it is hard to open at any page that does not teem with good, solid, interesting information. The author has undeniably given us a desirable addition to the increasing literature on the subject of the wonderful northwestern corner of our country. THE Macmillan Company and Cornell University deserve the appreciation of classical scholars for their generous presentation to the public of such work as The Athenian Archons of the Third and Second Centuries Before Christ,2 one of the Cornell studies in Classical Philology by Professor William Scott Ferguson, A. M. This is a most profound study of technical history and is a credit to American scholarship. The fact that it is of no great practical use except to the historian or student makes it none the less valuable as a literary work, but the fact that the returns to the publishers in a financial sense cannot surely defray more than a fraction of the expense of production coupled with the beautiful form and press. work under which it is presented, proves that we have at last reached an era where at least one publisher and at least one university are willing to eliminate the question of expense in presenting to the world of letters the fruits of advanced scholarship. The writer recalls an instance in his oWD experience that illustrates this profundity of classical scholarship, which until the 2 The Athenian Archons of the Third and Second Centuries before Christ. By William Scott Ferguson, A. M. New York: The Macmillan Co. 1899. He present decade has rarely been found except among the scholars of Germany. had gone to the University of Leipzig in the autumn of 1873, to attend some courses of lectures upon the Roman poets and comparative philology. He was greatly disap pointed to find that seven lectures of an extended course upon Plautus had already been given, but when he presented himself at the eighth lecture and discovered that the learned professor had not yet finished his discussion of the middle name of the poet, he concluded that his loss was not serious. The study of Greek is surely a progressive subject and there are so many things which would be new to the student of thirty years ago, that we cannot refrain from the wish that Professor Ferguson will hasten to give to the world the results of his ripe scholarship upon that which concerns the heart and soul of that grandest of languages, and not its dry bones. THE first number of the first volume of The Yacht is before us, and its twenty-nine reading and illustrated pages are filled with matter highly interesting to the lover of aquatics. The editor, Mr. R. R. l'Hommedieu, is a well-known yachting reporter and a practical yachtsman. We welcome The facht to the field of Pacific Coast journalism. May she always have good water under her keel and breeze enough to go to windward. THE following "Reminiscence," elaborating "Cap'n Billy Bones, His Song," is graphic and powerful, and easily entitles the author to sail Mate with Robert Louis Stevenson and do honor to his Captain: ON BOARD THE DERELICT. A Reminiscence of Stevenson's "Treasure Island." Fifteen men on the dead man's chest Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum! Drink and the devil had done for the rest-- By fingers ten; All good dead men, Like break-o'-day in a boozing-kenYo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum! Fifteen men of a whole ship's list Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum! Dead and bedamned-and the rest gone whist! Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum! The skipper lay with his nob in gore, Where the scullion's axe his cheek had shore- And the scullion he was stabbed times four. And the soggy skies In up-staring eyes Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum! Aye, damn my eyes!- Their souls bound just the contra'wise- Fifteen men of 'em good and true Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum! Every man Jack could ha' sailed with Old Pew Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum! There was chest on chest full of Spanish gold, With a ton of plate in the middle hold, That had took the plum, And with lips struck dumb. While we shared all by the rule of thumb Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum! More was seen through the stern-light screen- Or some shuddering maid?..... And she took the bladeBy God! she was stuff for a plucky jade Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum! Fifteen men on the dead man's chestYo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum! Drink and the devil had done for the rest-Yo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum! We wrapped 'em all in a mains' tight, With twice ten turns of a hawser's bight, And we heaved 'em over and out of sightWith a yo-heave-ho! And a fare-you-well! And a sullen plunge In the sullen swell Ten fathom-lengths of the road to hellYo-ho-ho and a bottle of rum! Young E. Allison. |