the Conservation of Energy to phenomena of Origin. For we seem thus to be led to a theory of Correlative Origins; a theory, clearing the doctrine of Evolution of all those difficulties which arise from a too rigid theory of Sequential Origins; and a theory, having its verification, I believe, in the fact, not only of inorganic and of organic, but also of intellectual and social origins.

Again and again Mr. Fiske points out the newness of the phenomenon of Progress at that rate at which changes, that can be thus characterised, are observable in periods so short as millenniums, and latterly, even centuries. But how is the origin of this new cycle of Man's history to be explained? and how, more particularly, the passage out of the First Age of Civilisation into that Modern Age initiated by the revolutions which preceded the Christian era? To the solution of neither of these problems does Mr. Fiske appear to have here contributed anything of importance. And this, I venture to think, may be owing to his unquestioning acceptance of Mr. Spencer's philosophy as final, and of his Law of Progress as sufficient. Here, however, we have to deal, not with Mr. Spencer, but with Mr. Fiske. And I shall, therefore, only remark that the central defect of Mr. Spencer's "Synthetic," as of his disciple's "Cosmic" "Cosmic" philosophy, appears to me to be the conception of the internal element in Causation as

a passivity, rather than as a distinctly definable spontaneity, but conditioned spontaneity. And with this defect in Mr. Spencer's fundamental theory of Causation, it might, I think, beshown that all those more characteristic theories of his which have been attacked and repudiated by such thinkers as the late Mr. J. S. Mill and Professor Bain-his "Unknowable Reality," for instance, and "Universal Postulate "—are in the closest logical connexion. The statement also of Mr. Spencer's Law of Progress is also, I think, vitiated by what I venture to think his defective theory of Causation. And a law more immediately applicable than Mr. Spencer's to the concrete facts of History would appear to be required for the explanation, especially, of the later phenomena of the development of Thought and Civilisation.

I cannot, however, even hint my disagreement with certain of Mr. Spencer's principles without adding that I entirely agree with Mr. Fiske as to the general character of Mr. Spencer's presentation of the Evolutionphilosophy. "To no other theory of things yet devised by the art of man can we so well apply the enthusiatic exclamation of Giordano Bruno : 'Con questa filosofia l'anima s'aggrandisce, e mi si magnifica l'intelletto.' J. S. STUART GLENNIE.

SCIENCE NOTES.

PHYSIOLOGY.

On the Quantity of Oxygen which the Blood is capable of absorbing at different Pressures.—In a former series of experiments M. Bert determined the proportionate amount of oxygen contained in the arterial blood of animals exposed to a highly rarefied atmosphere, and ascertained that as the atmospheric pressure sinks, the proportion of oxygen in the blood sinks also at a very rapid rate. Now Fernet had proved long before that a great part of the oxygen in the blood was inde

pendent of the barometric pressure-that it was chemically bound to the red corpuscles; he did not extend his enquiry to pressures below 647 mm. found that his law held good even at a pressure of of mercury; Bert repeated his experiments and only 8 mm.—a pressure incompatible with life. How was the discrepancy between the results obtained by exposing living animals to a rarefied atmosphere, and those yielded by the exposure of their blood at a temperature of 16° C. to be reconciled? The experiments with defibrinated blood were repeated at a temperature of 40° C., the blood being agitated for half an hour with air at the required pressure; the results obtained were intermediate between those furnished by the living animals, and those obtained with blood at 16°. The difference still remaining may be explained by recollecting that no such intimate mixture of air with blood can take place in the lungs as in an experimental tube.

Defibrinated blood may be made to absorb large quantities of oxygen by agitation with air under high pressures; but this excess of oxygen is simply dissolved in the plasma and follows Dalton's law. The proportion of the gas absorbed by the blood of living animals under increased atmospheric pressure is decidedly smaller.

The following are the general conclusions to be drawn from M. Bert's experiments (Comptes Rendus, 22 Mars, 1875). By agitating defibrinated compound of oxygen and haemoglobin is obtained, blood with air at ordinary pressures, a definite the proportion of oxygen in which cannot be in creased by augmenting the atmospheric pressure. This compound resists dissociation at a temperature of 16° C. when exposed to a pressure of one-eighth of an atmosphere; but at the normal its temperature of mammalian blood it yields up oxygen in proportion as the atmospheric pressure is reduced.

The Temperature of the Human Body during Mountain Climbing.-Existing statements on this subject are of a very contradictory kind. Lortet, during two ascents of Mont Blanc, observed a very marked fall of temperature (from 36·3° C. to 32° C.) registered by a thermometer placed under the tongue. Allbutt and Borel, on the other hand, noticed a decided rise; the latter going so far as to assert that the rise is proportional to the amount of muscular exertion, and takes place during both ascent and descent, though greater during the former than during the latter. Calberla (Archiv der Heilkunde, 1875, No. 3) publishes a series of very careful observations made on himself and two guides during an ascent of Monte Rosa and one of the Matterhorn. The temperature was taken at intervals both in the axilla and in the rectum, with thermometers which had previously been compared with a standard instrument. The temperature of the atmosphere and the elevation (determined by an aneroid) were simultaneously recorded. As a result of these observations, it was found that the temperature of the body underwent but slight variations (never exceeding 1°C.); during the exertion of actual climbing it was always 2° to 3° C. higher than during repose; the instrument in the axilla always registering 1° to 2° C. less than that in the rectum.

Immunity of the Torpedo from the Effects of its own Shock. It is commonly believed that the torpedo is not appreciably affected by the powerful discharges of electricity with which it frightens its enemies or benumbs its prey. This belief has been put to the test of experiment by Steiner, working in the Laboratory of the Zoological Station at Naples (Reichert and Dubois Archiv, No. 6, 1874). It is difficult to see why the current generated in the electric organs of this fish should not be propagated through its own nerves and muscles as readily as through any other conductor. The first set of experiments was made on torpedoes removed from the water. It was found that although no sensible shock was communicated to the finger when in contact with any part of the surface except that immediately over

the electrical organs, a rheoscopic frog would twitch with every discharge, even when lying on the tail of the torpedo. On substituting a small living whole body, might be seen to twitch whenever a torpedo for the rheoscopic frog, its tail, or even its shock was drawn from the larger fish. Lastly, careful observation proved that the muscles of the discharging torpedo itself contracted simultaneously with each shock; the contraction was not very vigorous, and was less marked in proportion to the distance of the muscle from the electrical apparatus. These experiments were repeated on torpedoes while still submerged in their tank, and yielded exactly the same results. Living torpedoes were next subjected to a current from several Bunsen cells. The copper terminals of the battery were made to dip into opposite corners of the tank, and the circuit closed when the fish assumed a position between them. For purposes of comparison, frogs and a species of mullet were exposed to the same currents. It was found that as the latter increased in intensity, the frog was the first to exhibit muscular twitching, the mullet next, and the torpedo last; showing that the torpedo is less sensitive to electrical stimulation than either of the animals compared with it.

On Stimulation of the Cerebral Convolutions.March 20, 1875) states in a preliminary notice Soltmann (Centralblatt für die Med. Wissensch.,

that electrical stimulation of the cortical substance by any muscular movements; the motorial disof the brain in newly-born puppies is not followed charge not beginning to show itself till the ninth or twelfth day after birth. He also finds that the motor areas on the surface of the brain in young animals differ both in form and dimensions from those in adults of the same species.

The Effect of Electricity on Unstriped Muscle.Gruenhagen and Samkowy (Pflüger's Archiv, x. 4, 5) investigate the effect of electrical irritation on the sphincter iridis of the cat and rabbit after its removal from the eyeball. The main object of the enquiry was to throw light on the nature of the shortening caused by heat both in striped and in unstriped muscle. The shortening takes place slowly in the former variety, in marked contrast to the quick contraction which follows electrical, mechanical, and chemical stimulation; in the case of unstriped muscle, the reaction is equally slow, whatever the stimulus applied. It was inferred from the experiments that the shortening caused by heat (within certain definite limits of temperature) is a true contraction, analogous to that produced by electricity. Collateral results of some interest were obtained. When the sphincter iridis is fully under the influence of atropia, electrisation of the motor oculi nerve does not make the pupil contract; this may be due either to paralysis of the motor nerve-ends, or of the muscular fibres. Now, it was found that the sphincter iridis of the rabbit, after removal, could be made to contract by direct electrisation whether it had previously been atropinised or not. Hence we may conclude that the terminal fibres of the motor oculi are alone affected by the alkaloid. Again, it was noticed that above a certain temperature the sphincter iridis of the cat underwent The elongation was proportional to the intensity elongation instead of contraction when stimulated. kind; for when the stimulus ceased to operate, of the stimulus, and it was of a distinctly active

the muscular fibres returned to their former dimensions.

BOTANY.

A SMALL collection of dried plants from the interior of China received at Kew, from Dr. Shearer, contains many quite new and very interesting types, which will probably soon be published.

IN our last Botanical Notes we announced that a new Flora of Hertfordshire was in preparation, and erroneously attributed it to Dr. Alexander

Prior, whereas it is Mr. R. A. Pryor, of Hatfield, who is engaged upon this work.

We are glad to learn that a new building will probably be erected at Kew to receive the national botanical library and the immense collections of dried plants, at present deposited in a house which is too small and otherwise very inconvenient for purposes of study. The value of the collections at Kew to working botanists cannot be over-rated, and the admirable manner in which they are arranged is beyond all praise. There may be some difference of opinion as to the desirability of amalgamating the collections at Kew and the British Museum, but none as to the facilities and assistance afforded by the officers of both establishments to botanists in their researches. The only objection we can see to the maintenance of two collections is the possibility of the officers being rivals in the acquisition of additions to their respective establishments; but a proper understanding between them would remove this danger.

THE first volume of Dr. Hooker's Flora of India is the principal contribution to descriptive botany of the present year. This is a work that is greatly needed, as we possess none approaching completeness on the vegetation of the country that is probably richer in vegetable products than all the rest of our dependencies put together. The present volume contains comparatively little that is absolutely new-that is to say, descriptions of new genera and species; but its chief value is in being a compendium, so far as it goes, of all the plants known to grow in the country, written in English. It contains the polypetalous families from the Ranunculaceae to the end of the Sapindaceae, embracing descriptions of 442 genera and 2,250 species. Dr. Hooker's Student's Flora of the British Islands has been followed in the style and arrangement of the matter, which has caused a considerable saving of space, as compared with similar works. Several botanists have contributed to the present volume; but even with the united

labours of half a dozen contributors, the comple

tion of the work cannot be effected in less than as many years. The species number from 12,000 to 14,000, scattered over an area of 1,500,000 square miles, representing every variety of climate.

THREE or four of the last numbers of the Botanische Zeitung have been almost wholly occupied with an article of Celakovsky's, entitled Vergrünungsgeschichte der Eichen von Alliaria officinalis, or history of the development of phyllody in the ovules of the plant named. The morphological dignity or nature of the ovule is still a moot point with physiologists, who are by no means agreed as to the significance of the monstrous conditions and transformations of this organ observed occasionally in different plants. The most logical view seems to be that it is of the same nature in all plants, though the explanations offered for different teratological phenomena exhibited by the ovule would point to a diversity of origin and dignity. Celakovsky seeks to throw some light on this subject by a careful and minute study of the different phases of transformation or malformation observed in the ovules of a proliferous inflorescence of Alliaria officinalis. He objects to the assumption that because the ovule sometimes develops as a shoot, the nucleus is a bud. Through this long paper he describes and figures the various modifications he has found of the leafy transformations of the ovular coats and a "funicular appendage" and the presence of a bud. He endeavours to show that the ovular shoot is not a metamorphosed state of the nucleus, and says here we have an indisputable proof that the ovular shoot is not a transformation of the nucleus, and every explanation that the latter is anything more than an outgrowth or metablast must fail. In his investigations he believes he has found the nucleus present in the same ovule in which the bud is developed, and quite independent of it.

THE arrangement of the parts of a floral whorl with relation to each other and the parts of other whorls, has always been considered of some imPortance by botanists, but systematic researches into the origin and development of the organs are only of comparatively modern date. In illustrated

systematic works and botanical text-books it is now usual to give diagrams representing some of the principal types of arrangement, but no work has hitherto been published in which this subject is thoroughly worked out. Dr. Eichler, of Kiel, has, however, recently published the first part of a work entitled Blüthendiagramme, in which he illustrates the inflorescence and flowers of all the

monocotyledonous and dialypetalous dicotyledonous families of which he has been able to examine sufficient material. The actual and theoretical

diagrams of most of the different modifications of arrangement are given, and botanists will find it a very useful book; but in its German form it must remain unintelligible to many. The theoretical diagrams of many of the monocotyledonous families, such as the Gramineae, Cyperaceae, Centrolepideae, &c., are very interesting, and in all cases there are copious references to existing literature. To complete the symmetry of the flowers of some groups involves much labour, hence it is not surprising that there are many blanks, and that much diversity of opinion still prevails regarding the nature of some structures. The relative dignity, as it is termed, of the different organs of a flower is still a debateable point, and therefore many of the diagrams would require modification to suit different views.

66

MICROSCOPICAL NOTES.

A MICROSCOPICAL examination of atmospheric dust which fell in parts of Sweden and Norway on the night of March 29-30, 1875, has led M. Daubrée to believe that it proceeded from a volcanic eruption in Iceland, as it closely resembled the pumice powder from that country, and especially that of Hrafftnurhur. M. Nordenskiöld, telegraphing from Stockholm, said: Grey vitreous and fibrous powder fell here with snow on March 30: several grammes collected." M. Kjerulf sent to M. Daubrée a specimen of the same dust collected from the snow by Dr. Kars between Söndmöre and the valley of Romsdal in the west, and Tryssil, in the direction of Stockholm, in the east. The dust was found to be composed of fragmentary transparent grains, some colourless, others more or less brownish yellow. Most of them were finely striated, fibrous, and full of vesicles, round or elongated, the latter being most common. Few of these grains reached the dimension of millimètre in length, and many were only from to millimètres. M. Daubrée also recognised minute crystals of pyroxene and felspar. He reminded the French Academy of several instances of dust being conveyed by air-currents to great distances. Thus in February, 1863, sand, apparently from Sahara, fell in the western parts of the Canaries, transported thirty-two myriamètres; and more recently, ashes from the Chicago fire reached the Azores in four days, accompanied with an empyreumatic odour which made the inhabitants suppose that a great forest was in conflagration. In 1783 the dry fog, which covered most of Europe for three months, was occasioned by dust from an Iceland eruption. (Comptes Rendus, April 19, 1875.)

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FOLLOWING in the wake of Darwin, Sir J. Lubbock's interesting work on British Wild

Flowers in relation to Insects has given fresh

interest to the study of pollen grains, and Mr. Alfred Bennett, Lecturer on Botany at St. Thomas's Hospital, has contributed a valuable paper on the subject to the Popular Science Review for April. He observes that "in relation to their mode of pollination, flowers may be divided into two classes-the anemophilous,' in which the wind, and the entomophilous, in which insects are the carrier agent." The plants fertilised by

wind agency, he states, have dry and dusty pollen, usually spherical, and "never spiny, or marked with conspicuous furrows, or protuberances." In plants requiring insect intervention he observes several distinct contrivances for attaching the pollen to the legs and bodies of bees, flies, &c. "The most important of them are three:-Longitudinal furrows, varying in number from three to eight or nine, and even more; the clothing of the surface of the grains with spines, or other projec tions; and the connecting them together by means of viscid threads." Numerous drawings illustrate this paper.

vestigations on the Pathological Significance of DR. LEWIS, Staff surgeon, has continued his inNematode Haematozoa, (published in Calcutta, Government Printing Office). He traces Filaria sanguinis hominis in patients suffering from chy luria, elephantiasis, and other disorders. The editor of The Monthly Microscopical Journal (May, 1875), which contains a notice of these researches, observes that Dr. Lewis "has abundantly shown, if not the connexion of elephantiasis, at least the undoubted relation of chyluria to the presence of these parasitic nematodes."

To facilitate the microscopical examination of the eye in cases of disease, M. Monoyer has contrived a modification of Siebel's ophthalmoscope, so arranged with prisms, that three persons can make simultaneous observations. The apparatus is described in Comptes Rendus, April 12, 1875.

M. MARION, in a communication to the French Academy, describes a nemertian worm Drepanophorus spectabilis, as possessing "a vascular appacontaining elliptical, slightly flattened red globules, ratus which exhibits the surprising peculiarity of like those of human blood. Their largest diame ter is 0mm.01 When a portion of the

body of the worm is pressed, these corpuscles accumulate in certain parts of the circulatory system, and form a mass of an intense red colour. The movements of the globules can be followed by viewing the animal as a transparent object. They are put in motion by a colourless liquid, in which they float in a constant direction. The animal possesses a median dorsal vessel, and two lateral ones, situated on the ventral side. Below the nervous ganglions the dorsal vessel bifurcates, and anastomoses with the two lateral trunks, which follow the posterior margin of the superior ganglions, and are prolonged into a cephalic ansa. The dorsal canal gives rise to transverse ansae, regularly spaced. Each of these branches continues to the flank of the creature, then curves back towards the ventral surface and opens into the lateral vessel. There are, consequently, numerous capillary ramifications, exceptional amongst the nemertians, but recalling the arrangement described by M. Blanchard in Cerebratulus Liguricus." structure of the highly developed proboscis necessitates the establishment of a special genus for these nemertians ; and M. Marion adopts the name "Drephanophorus" proposed by Mr. Hubrecht (Comptes Rendus, April 5, 1875.)

The

A QUESTION of great interest to microscopists has just been brought before the Royal Microthe extreme angles of aperture usually given to scopical Society by Mr. Slack, who contends that the higher objectives are bad substitutes for better correction of spherical aberration. In proof of this opinion, he showed that a glass by Zeiss of Jena, &, with an angle of only 68°, would display the transverse ribs of Surirella gemma divided into beads, when the object was illuminated by Mr. Wenham's dark-ground reflex apparatus. Č and D eye-pieces were employed for this purpose, and the beads were quite distinct, though it was not pretended that they were as well shown as they could be with a higher power and larger angle. Zeiss's half-inch, the C of his catalogue, with 48° aperture, suffices to show the cross-beading of Plerosigma hippocampus with B and C eye-pieces and an achromatic condenser. A paper of Pro

MEETINGS OF SOCIETIES.
ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE (Tuesday,
April 27).

COLONEL A. LANE Fox, President, in the Chair. Mr. Francis Galton, F.R.S., contributed a note on the height and weight of boys aged fourteen in town and country schools. The results showed the comparative heights and weights of those boys who were fourteen on their last birthday in two groups of public schools-the one group of country schools and the other of town schools. It appeared that boys of fourteen in the country group were about 1 inches taller and 7 lb. heavier than those in the town group; also that the difference of height was due, in about equal degrees, to retardation and to total suppression of growth, and that the distribution of heights in both cases conformed well to the results of the "Law of Error."

The Rev. Joseph Mullens, D.D., read a paper on the Origin and Progress of the People of Madagascar. The Malagasy appeared to be a single race; no tribe was to be found secluded in any corner or in hill districts different from the people of the plains or in open provinces, such as is met with in India, Sumatra, and Borneo, nor is any portion of the people specially degraded. The Malagasy are divided into three tribes-the Betsimisarakas, the Sakalavas, and the Hovas, the

last largely predominating in numbers and influence. With regard to the origin of the people, the author rejected the theory of Craufurd and others who argued for their African descent. Their language and tribal customs suggested a very different origin, for there could hardly be a doubt that the Malay entered largely into the composition of the vocabulary and grammar, and continual researches into the Malay and Malagasy languages afford more and more evidence of their resemblances. The conclusion was that the Malagasy are a Malay people following Malay customs, some of them possessing Malay eyes, hair, and

bats.

FINE ART.

THE ROYAL ACADEMY EXHIBITION.

(First Notice.)

WE find in this gallery, as usual of late years, a conspicuous amount of skill and savoir faire, with a very moderate sprinkling of invention or aspiration. Large is the number of artists who can do what they try for, and who perform it with an amount of competence which could be completeness if it would, and which mostly stops short of that because an ordinary manual effort is the natural accompaniment of a still less intense mental endeavour; whereas the number of those who aim high, and work for permanence rather than for the eyes of exhibition haunters and the applause of a season, is small. This, indeed, is only natural: we may murmur at such a result, but we cannot be surprised at it. Great artists, lofty inventors, are never numerous; if we have a large number who perceive with acuteness, and realise with vigour, we must be unquerulous, though not exactly satisfied. Something like a new starting-point, nevertheless a fresh ideal of work germinating in one mind, and leading others onwards-would now be very desirable. We discern nothing that approaches nearer to this than the increasing domination which Mr. Millais exercises over various exhibitors; and this is an influence of style or manner of presentment, more than anything else. It can be descried in many quarters, and especially among the portrait-painters and the landscapists, and is no doubt, so far as it operates, an influence for good. The strongest and most masterly of our exhibiting artists is recognised as such by his colleagues, who would fain learn and re-apply his secret.

We propose to go through the collection, taking the works in classes according to general subjectmatter. And first of the oil pictures.

Sacred Subjects.-This is an extremely small section; it hardly counts for anything in the general aspect of the walls. The one example which stands prominently out is that by Mr.

We

Watts, named Dedicated to all the Churches. have here a Christian picture, broadened out, or (as one might say) shaded off, into a Humanitarian picture. Christ-not bearded, as in more recent art generally, but beardless, as in the earliest Christian symbols-is represented seated in the heaven on clouds, with an opening of golden light behind his head, which wears the crown of thorns. Below him, on the same clouds, are five infants-not winged cherubs, but human babes; we would understand them as indicating the feeble and unprotected, or, in the most enlarged sense, mankind; one of them is of a dark-skinned race, negro or Moorish. Christ extends his right hand, as in demonstration or appeal; the left hand points towards himself. Underneath comes a melancholy moorland, with a cottage-hut, and a little town with its steeple. In looking at the

picture, one's mind reverts principally to two texts, as furnishing probably the key-note to the general conception. "Whosoever, therefore, shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven; and whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.' The face of Jesus is worn and suffering-a face of personal sorrow, and of sympathy and comforting. This is another Christus Consolator, of a more abstract and undefined order than the picture, once familiar to every child, produced by Ary Scheffer. It would be a very suitable altar-piece for any place of worshipgorgeous cathedral, or unadorned conventicle: the lofty might find in it edification; and the lowly, worthy of its author's capacity and attainments, hope. In merely artistic respects, the picture is though it may not rank among his very best efforts. Mr. Poole chooses as his subject Ezekiel's Vision:-" And I looked, and behold a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire enfolding itself, and a brightness was about it; and out of the midst thereof as the colour of amber, came the likeness of four living creatures." Ezekiel the priest is along with eight of his countrymen, captives in the land of the Chaldeans; the visionary figures, and the living wheel within wheel, have not yet appeared; but the rolling mass of clouds glows and simmers to give them birth. The figures in this picture do not count tions from Michel Angelo, if not also from for very much; besides, we detect in them adapta

others.

The landscape is of bare and terrormoving rocks, scarped and scarred: two trees, dismal and tattered in leaf and branch, only enhance its lifeless desolation. The colour is finely compounded of blues and umbers; and the work as a whole is perhaps, for poetical invention, the fullest and highest which Mr. Poole has ever produced. Mr. Goodall contributes a very large picture of Rachel and her Flock, ably done in the pastoral oriental mode: an Arabian maiden crossing a sandy plain, with shallows of water. No harm comes of its being called by the painter, or accepted by the public, as illustrative of the Book of Genesis. Miss T. Thornycroft's Design from the Parable of the Ten Virgins is in a style not unrelated to that of Mr. Albert Moore, or of Mr. Poynter; not carried far, but with its fair share of grace and of artistic management. The figure of the sleeping damsel to the right, whose hands clasp her knees, is in especial a good piece of design. Mr. Bedford paints with propriety the humiliation of King David-" Nathan said to David, Thou art the Man." The royal criminal is here presented as decidedly aged; a point in which Mr. Bedford has been hardly true to biblical chronology, according to which, as we understand it, David was at this date about fifty-one years old. The merely pictorial demands or opportunities of his theme might have prompted the painter to adhere to this less advanced age. In departing from it, he has probably intended to reinforce the moral lesson: the hoary-headed adulterer and assassin

6

THE SALON OF 1875. .

Paris: May 3, 1875.

On leaving a Salon whose catalogue registers 3,862 numbers, corresponding to pictures, sculptures, drawings, etchings, lithographs, enamels, &c., &c., it is simply impossible to collect one's ideas with sufficient clearness to be able to deliver equitable judgments on such or such a performance, on this artist or on that. I, at least, find the task impossible. And such is the physical weariness of my eyes, legs, and brain, that even on the morrow I can still do no more than bring together a few general ideas.

And therefore I will confine myself to-day to these recollections of the Salon as a whole, feeling as I do that the critic gains in consideration by refusing to imitate the reporter. He is thus enabled to accept the entire responsibility of his opinions respecting persons and things.

It is pretty universally agreed that the general aspect of the present Salon is satisfactory. It is full of light. It is better painted. But there is one thing that kills it, that robs it of its character of activity and youth; and this is, above all, the contributions of those artists who have already obtained their reward, and are, therefore, allowed to pass free of duty. The majority of this privileged race consists of old folk who have only had one momentary success, the average of whose talent has always been moderate, and who abuse an imprudent article in the regulations by sending to the Salon the most old-fashioned and the most senile of productions. I insist on this observation, in order that those of your countrymen who come to Paris and are horrified by the large number of bad pictures, may take account of their origin, and not attribute them to the new generation.

That this new generation paints better than its fathers is an incontestable fact: but that it studies drawing less is equally incontestable. You are struck with this phenomenon when, after passing through the picture galleries, you descend to the garden and study the sculpture. Here, on the other hand, our school shows astonishing knowledge, brilliancy and vigour. This is because it is here necessary to have recourse to the human model, which, even with its individual imperfections, is a type of harmony that cannot be betrayed or wholly wrested from its nature; and because this necessity incessantly strengthens and upholds the education of the artist. Moreover, a man seldom lives by sculpture; and the character becomes nobler by reason of less constant relations with dealers, amateurs, and the administration, whose commands, caprices, and regulations require such constant submission from the painter. Finally, it is infinitely more difficult to draw out of a hard white block of marble an idea clear and speaking, tender or philosophical, than from a canvas, which offers all the fascination and all the resources of colour and chiaroscuro.

Our gallery of sculpture is this year all the finer because it contains the reproduction in marble or in bronze of works that met with success in previous years: the Gloria Victis of Mercié ; the Secret d'en haut of Moulin; the Young Mother teaching her Daughter to read of Delaplanche; the Retiarius of Noel; Romeo and Juliet, &c.

Among the most applauded of the new pieces is the monument raised by subscription to Regnault in the court of the Ecole des Beaux Arts. It is called Youth. It consists of a young girl clad in the ancient mode, naked to the loins, raising herself on tiptoe to hang a branch of golden laurel on a crumbling wall. I need scarcely tell you that this wall recalls the park of Buzenval, where Regnault died in the defence of Paris. This elegant and delicate monument is by M. Chapu.

The other piece is by M. Préault, the old romanticist sculptor. It is a statue of Jacques Cœur, intended for the town of Bourges. The silversmith of King Charles VII. is represented standing, and gazing at the horizon with an expression calm, energetic, and intelligent. The

spirit of the costume is admirably caught. The statue too, as is but rarely the case, is interesting on all sides; at the back of the figure is an anchor resting on bales of merchandise, which gives a wonderful completeness to the general decorative effect. It is a triumph for the aged master, Auguste Préault, whom the Academicians have dragged through the mud, and the public has with scarcely any exception misunderstood, and who has been producing for the last forty years compositions as picturesque as they are original.

This recalls my attention to the romantic movement. By a chance which death has invested with its own dignity, Corot, one of the last of the romantic school, is represented here by three pictures, two of which are of the first rank. They surpass all the other landscapes in the Salon, not only by the skilful and natural arrangement of the composition, by the grandeur of the massing, by the charm of the situation, by the healthy and gentle sentiments which the whole excites, but also by the truth of the verdure, the depth and brilliancy of the blue sky. One has to admit that whatever the young school gains in skilfulness of execution it loses in sentiment, in profound study, in emotion communicated to the spectator. The ravages of photography are as terrible and mysterious as the ravages of the Phylloxera.

Among the portrait-painters M. Fantin takes first rank with the portrait of Mr. Edwin Edwards and his wife, which is as notable for its painting as for its composition. It is to be hoped that at the first re-arrangement of the pictures, this remarkable work will be better placed. The attention of the public is particularly attracted by the portrait of Mdme. Pasca, a well-known actress. It is by M. Bonnat and represents the actress standing, in a white dress with border of black. And one is arrested by a Jeune Femme en rouge, seated in an arm-chair, by M. Jacquet.

MR. STEVENS.

His

MR. ALFRED GEORGE STEVENS, one of the greatest of decorative artists of these modern days, is dead; and the work which is hereafter to bear testimony to his skill-the Wellington monument in St. Paul's Cathedral-is left unfinished. Some years ago Mr. Stevens fell a victim to paralysis, and his end was hastened by heart-disease and bronchitis, to which he succumbed on May 1, at his residence 9 Eton Villas, Haverstock Hill. He was only fifty-seven years of age. Born at Blandford, Dorsetshire, in December 1817, he at eight years of age was busy painting portraits. His career being thus early marked out, his friends advised him to study the works of the old masters. For this purpose the Rev. Samuel Beste assisted him in a journey to Italy; and in the academies and galleries of Florence and Rome he diligently laboured-so diligently that he was almost a dead man to the friends he left at home, even Beste never hearing from him. It would appear that a definite course of work was suggested to him, for he has been heard to say, "I was sent to Italy to study Salvator Rosa, but I found him so bad that I would not copy him." It was during his residence in Rome that he was employed by Thorwaldsen, in whose studio he no doubt acquired considerable proficiency in the art of sculpture. About the year 1842, after a residence of nine years in Italy, he returned to England. Not seeing a course clearly open to him, he undertook various decorative works for architects and manufacturers. works for founders are very numerous. His fireplaces are unapproachable, whether in respect to the iron work or the sculptured mantelpieces and supports in which he framed them. But on this work, commonplace though it may seem, he could not help expending his rare invention and perfect manipulation. Probably the finest specimen of his ingenuity under this head is the mantelpiece in the dining-room of Dorchester House. It is a matchless, as indeed it is a priceless, work of art. Mr. Stevens assisted the late Professor Cockerell in the execution of many of his architectural works. Like a great many other men who have endeavoured to fulfil their mission in life, or rather to reach the level intended for them, he deserted, though at great personal inconvenience, the drudgery of his profession, and strove hard for the foremost position to which he had a right to aspire. Many were the competitions into which he entered, and the rejections which he experienced. He also prepared innumerable designs which were never executed. He designed gates (bronze) for the Geological Museum in Jermyn Street; models for the Memorial of the International Exhibition of 1851; designs for the decorations of the Houses of Parliament, including a fresco paint-painting of incidents from the life of Alfred the Great; a scheme of decorations for the readingroom of the British Museum; designs for Minton's pottery. But these are only a few of his unsuccessful works. Some of these designs will no doubt be brought to light when the contents of his studio are carefully gone over. Many of them have no doubt perished, for Mr. Stevens's bump of destructiveness was very largely developed. Referring to the British Museum, we are reminded that the young lion squatting on the top of the small iron supports of the railing outside that institution is from a model by Mr. Stevens. Numerous are the houses which he has either

Among historical paintings there is a superb composition by M. de Chavannes, a Family of Fishers in Prehistoric Times; a Dante and Virgil in the Liars' Circle, by Gustave Doré, executed with a brush more supple than is his wont; an immense canvas by M. Becker, Rizpah, Concubine of Saul, defending from the attacks of a vulture the gibbet on which hang the bodies of her seven children; a composition in the ancient style, by M. Alma Tadema, M. Gambord in the house of a Greek Painter. An excellent picture by M. T. P. Laurens, L'Interdit, a churchyard of the Middle Ages walled up by order of the clergy, and serving as charnel-house to corpses which had been refused burial.

M. Falguière, a sculptor, obtains considerable success with The Wrestlers, a very learned and fairly vigorous painting.

M. Manet is only represented by a single ing-Argenteuil-representing a boatman and his wife in a barge. The colouring is of very high quality, and the open air is well expressed. But, briefly, the official Salons are unfavourable to this style of painting, which is at once summary and energetic. M. Manet has committed an error of head of the group of artists which has tried to judgment in declining to place himself at the organise independent exhibitions.

I will also mention Le Rétameur, by M. Alphonse Legros; Women in a Church, by M. Lhermitte; a Portrait of an Old Lady, by M. Henner; Women bathing in a Park, a magnificent decorative subject, by M. Carolus Duran; Basque Tennis-players, by M. Gustave Colit; Intérieur de Charcuterie; Armour, by Vollon; Clocks, by a new exhibitor, M. Cauchois. But I must reserve all detailed notice for my second letter. I will end for the present with the comforting criticism that both the official successes, M. Cabanel and M. Bouguereau, are incomparably below the level of previous years. Raro antecedentem scelestum deseruit poena. PH. BURTY.

wholly or partially decorated. In Liverpool, in

America-in the latter case he had sent the whole house out in blocks to be fitted up on arrival at their destination, in London, and other cities, specimens of his workmanship are to be found. Dorchester House, Park Lane, contains the most superb of his house-decorations. Though not always happy in the business portion of his arrangements with Mr. Stevens-he could not get the embellishments of his house completed even by threats of legal proceedings-Mr. Holford is as much to be envied as would be the possessor of a gallery of undiscovered pictures by Turner.