New-York tribune., 1910-06-01
MISCELLANY.

A new portrait of Poe Is published in
the June number of THE Century Mag
azine." 1t is a miniature painted by
friend Of his. J. A McDougall. about
1916. Cleverly drawn. this souvenir of
the poet is nevertheless q little dtsap-
pointing II might be the portrait Of
neat and prosperous young clergyman,
rather than, that of the author Of The
Raven"
The Harpers publish new novel
called THE o'Flynn." by Mr.. Justin
Huntly Mccarthy. This is the romantic
piece which has recently been put upon
the stage In London by Sir Herbert Beer
bohm Tree. To him the book is de-
! dicated, in memory of q pleasant Jest
ice Muller: Detective" nuffeld e
Coz. is a collection Of FIVE stories intro
ducing a new type Of criminal hunter.
The purpose of the authors, Grace Isabel
Colbron and Augusta Groner, is eVi-
IDENTITY to gain a piquant effect by dint
of contrast. I5leir Austrian detective is
of the true lire Of Sherlock Holmes,
man who follows the scent Of murder
with the ardor OF q bloodhound, but he
is also possessed of a tender heart. and
it is a foible of his to try a given case
Cor himself before he makes up his mind
to give way TO the regularly appointed
Judge Thus he may hand criminal
over to the hanernan, but the very next
time he runs down a fugitive from jus
tice he may conclude TO give that in
dividual q chance TO escape. An odd
fish is Mr. Joe Muller, and il is not sur
: prising to observe the authorities Of
Vienna presently dispensing with his
services. We do not like him any the
! less FOR that. In making their detective
q merely human creature the authors
: only make him that much more sym
pathetic On the other hand, while the
| episodes in which he figures are well
/ enough invented, they are set forth
/ rather awkwardly, and even with some
prolixity. The stories do not move quite
/ briskly enough.
| At a dinner in London in celebration
OF Shakespeare birthday that eminent
authority on mental diseases, Sir James
! Crichton- Browne, proposed a toast TO
"'rhe Immortal Memory Of William
/ Shakespeare" Continuing, he said that
Il could be shown that Shakespeare
somehow attained 10 a singularly just
comprehension of several varieties of
mental arrangement; indeed, each new
discovery in brain function but con-
frmed the fidelity TO fact of the poets
etchings of insanity. He had himself
been in the way that madness lies, for
in writing the tragedies and the sonnets,
Shakespeare, II had been said, went near
to the edge Of the abyss and impeFilled
his own mental integrity. 1t would re-
oujre q whole series OF clinical lectures
! on Lear and Ophelia and Lady Macbeth
and Timon of Athens and Tom q Bed
lam and Christopher Sly to convey any
adequate notion Of Shakespeare's aston
ishing acquaintance with many phases
Of the mind diseased.
1T is now some dozen years since"
says the London Times "one after
noon. a group Of French mathematicians
were conversing together in the courts
of the Institut de France. after the Mon
day sitting of the Academic des Sci
ences. They were discussing the best
way to teach the young idea how to
shoot in the direction Of mathematical
genius. They were still at It when the
great Hermite came out OF the build
ing and stopped 10 Iieten TO their de-
bate.
"'Cultivez riuasination, messieurs,"
he said, tout est Ia. ST vous voulez des
! rnatheHaticiens, donnez vos enfants
lire. des contes de fees:'"
! The Fourhton aiGfn COMPANY is
bringing out Forne popular handbools on
modern religious problems, edited by the
Rev. A w. Vernon. The series OF
twenty volumes is 20 cover topics In Old
Testament and New Testament re-
eearch, in fundamental Christian con-
ceptions and IN practical church prob
lens. IN the last division a beginning
has been made with THE Church and
Labor" by Mr. Charles Stelzle, superln-
tendent or the department OF labor in
the Presbyterian Church in the bnited
! ftstcs Under New Testament subjects
! r,r Jsmes Mofst writes Oh Paul and
F. paulin4snl" and Professor r Crawford
/ E.tkiti "a The Earliest Sources for the
Iifs - Iesus nr RuFkitts conclu
SION - fhst n the f+oersl according 70
- Marx re get a. The sarieft ascer-