The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1882-03-19
SOME NEW ROOKs.



raraphrl5e If no. IN N original the account
oi ar STAND con iuont situated IN the Atlantic
Ocean. wIi.n Plato got from hta ancestor So.
on. md which So'on IN turn heard from the
'lps If Egyptian rrio.tf. H. tl' legend u
Nusis " hiaor N inrtp C.r,ni1ly We must
answer Tho inqu~j in Va" negative II we ac-
opt tho ''ylilng opinion among ordl-
nary or even among learned men. But
h1uld the current verdict this most
,nDrstinR question he regarded as definite
and final. OF are there not rather mayy FiEu7 VI
doubt and reconsideration Does the some
what careless and disdainfu judgment by
which this problem has hitherto been disposed
IT deserve. after all more Difference than the
-1uplly hnsty and contemptuous ncrodulity
Nth which but century ago not only
he unlearned public, but even scholars.
stoned to the marvels which lerodotus
accounted about Egyptian increduity
Whioh troubled itself little to discriminate be-
tween the reports which the Greek historian
yet down az an eyewitness and those which he
WAS careful TO point out wore related on hear
rsy evidenced It's to win, so to speak, footing
In the forum Of opinion. to secure n prelimi
'sry Injunction against obstinate ncredulity.
and 10 obtain an order to show cause why the
proofs OF tho existence Of Atlantis should not
he investigated that Mr.. IaNAIIUs DoNNFLLy
has prepared the interesting argument now
printed by tho Harpers under the title Of Allan
as. the Anteiihpian World.
The question whether those immense strides
coward q perfected civilization which are ut
tested In the vestiges of the first Egyptian
lynasties. and which, as Mr. Donney well re-
marks. have not been equalled by any postorior
accomplishment did not require for their
achievement far greater lapse Of time than
that which parts us from the earliest historical
monuments. has already been answered by
modern science in the Affirmative. The special
inquiry. however. whether the locality OF
he Appropriated experiments and eN-
;eptionally favorable conditions requisite
or such an evolution should not be
sought in some Atantean region now
submerged. cannot be eXhaustivcly exam
med and conclusivuly settled until 1t has
oeen made the object OF peculiar attention on
the part OF the most eminent students in al
most every branch of physical research. We
must hear from the geologist. the zo0logist the
ootanist the archaoogist. and the philoogist.
We need the testimony of the rocks the re-
suits OF submarine exploration. the evidence
Of those cultivated plants which have
been so long the subject Of mans culture
and selection that their wild originals are lost
the indications suggested by the identity Of
species in the fauna Of the eastern American
and the western European shores the evil
dences supplied by craniology and the proofs
furnished By resemhlances in the customs re-
ligions. arts and languages OF the eastern and
western hemispheres When each OF these
Ipecifc lines OF investigation shall have
been essayed by competent persons and
with the particular object OF discover
ing what light may be thrown by their
researches on the existence Of an Atlantis
when all the convergent and cumulative evil
dence thus amassed shall have been verified
and digested-then 1t will be possible to pro-
nounce for or against the truth OF Plato's story
Meanwhile II is fitting we should appreciate
the Importance OF the inquiry. Trivial. indeed
would seem the outcome OF delving in Assyrian
earth mounds or of ransacking Pharaonic
tombs. compared with the immense expansion
Of human history. could we demonstrate a
groundwork Of fact for the tale recounted to
Scion by the Egyptian priests. For could
re believe that there existed eleven thou
and i've hundred years ago. on the
Island continent OF Atlantis. civili-
Iation advanced enough to have trans
planted the vestiges now unearthed In Egypt.
we should have to postuate far longer pre-
ceding epoch for the gradual evolution of such
arts and laws. and we could with Il sure hand
push back the authentic record Of human effort
and aspiration at least twenty thousand years.
We think. therefore. that Mr.. Donrelly deserves
:redit for his attempt to show the utility Of
such researches. and the feasibility OF such a
demonstration. BY drawing together into one
suggestive com pendulum 'all the hints offered
by the several departments OF physical science
and all the germs OF proof that lie in archieol-
ogy and phlology