Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-07-31
THE LIBRARY TABLE
BY the BOokIOeer.

New York Geological Society financed
by Henry u. Wilton, Harrison VIII
llarns and several others, and directed
by William Beebe. sailed from Brook
1yn February IL, 1895, and returned to
New York July 8g An account of the
expedition has been written by WIZ
liam Beebe I'm another Of his delightful
books, THE hreturus Adventure.
The Arcturus steamed a distance Of
more than 1880 miles, and visited
Coccs Island, the Galapagos and other
small islands. 1'he expedition brought
back ! 900 feet of motien.picture finn,
hundreds of eelored plates and pho.
tographs and "a host of treasures,
from the most microscopic beings
which contribute to the surface lu-
minescence of the sea to a giant devil
fish Weighing mere than a ton" Sew
eral unusual mechanical devices en-
abled DIR. Beebe and his fellow-sclen-
lists to observe marine life at much
closer quarters than IL possible by
ordinary means. One Of these. the
boom walk, DR.. Beebe describes as fol-
lows. II fashioned two 30.foot beams.
rugged cupboard on the pert side, one
slightly above the other and about
three feet apart. To these, by a
many-looped rope, / laced a duck
board walk, When swung at right
angles to the vessels side and firmly
guyed, | had a perfectly safe runway,
extending far out from the ship ana
over quiet water, beyond the foaming
wave thrown up by the passage of the
Arcturus on her course.
Searching for a name that should eX-
press the feeling of this position. we
hit upon the fourth dimension as most
appropriate. Another device was a
1lYNif nf fSttr u
"A waist high iron rail and fastened
astride the bow of the Arcturus.
Standing in this, with their legs just
above the reach of sharks, three
scientists at a time could play with
sporting dolphins or scoop up bucket
fuls of quaint sea folk. For diving
DR.. Beebe took along an apparatus
which he calls simple" and which he
describes in his chapter with Helmet
and Hose" 1t consisted of a tower
ing copper helmet with two glass win
dows. weighted flange to fit about the
neck and air-hose attachment. The
whole helmet weighed 60 pounds, and
was fitted over the head of the diver
by a colleague at the last moment.
The diver, in bathing suit, descended
n long metal ladder, carrying har-
poon and a Water-glasS, and was soon
seated on a beautiful coral rock at
the bottom of the ocean, having the
best sort Of fun. 1t was such superia-
tive fun for DR.. Beebe that his chief
concern was that he might not realize
to the full all new sensations and i'm
press them indelibly on memory.
Above and around his coral throne
swan all the inhabitants, from GO
bies to groupers. from shrimps to
sharks" crab tied to a small stone
and waved through the water would
always make of him a pied Piper OF
sorts, leading a host of fish which
followed in my train
One interesting chapter is on the
Sargasso Sea, with it's masses of
floating weed, some of which DIR.
Beebe transplanted to aquariums,
where he found that the older por-
tons soon died while new tips and
bladders continually sprouted. An
other chapter describes THE Birth of
Volcano" on Albemarle. one of the
Galapagos Islands, which the Arcturus
steamed a nights journey to see. on
arrival DR.. Beebe and a companion
were nearly gasSed at the heart of
one of the small craters by a deadly
invisible gas. Cocos Islands, lynn
between Panama and the Galapagos.
belonging to Costa RIGA and famous
as q resort of pirates and the deposit
tary of buried treasure, is the subject
of two chapters as thrilling as Steven
sons Treasure Island The burying
Of two large quantities of treasure on
CocoS is related, and then follows a
narrative of all the fruitleSs, despair
ing efforts made by many Adventures
in following the will-o'- the-wisp of this
pirate treasure. The treasure has not
yet been found, and so may still be a
fatal lure tor many more dreamerS.
Not the least interesting part of The
Arcturus Adventure is the log of
the Arcturus. which forms the last
chapter. The entries are full of hui
NOR as well as of substance For eX-
ample. "A friendly penguin was added
to the passenger list. Ice machine has
sprung leaks, so that ammonia fumes
make the engine room almost unliv
able. We are madly eating meat and
fruit to save It..
The "Old Man in the Corner" is the
sleuth chosen by Baroness ORGY to
unravel her Is mystery stories in the
volume "Unraveled Knots The Old
Man tells all the stories to a news
paper woman out for copy (the auIh or
of Course). and the reader is allowed
to hear them. He begins each story
in the same way-by narrating the
circumstances of crime, as they
came out in the newspapers. at the
coroner'S inquest or at Il trial. He
gives the solution arrived at by the
police, the judge, the jury. the public,
and then shows that all are wrong,
and himself offers the correct explana-
ton. Inductive reasoning from known
Go, &c, IS, hi anA ~, ~ o,. ~,.1e
Baroness Orczy has, like many other
writer's, initiated Sherlock Holmes,
and has substituted police. judge. jury
and public for Scotland Yard. But
why not? 1t is quite likely that Conan
Doyle initiated Poe's Monsieur Du-
PIN" and Poe may have obtained his
idea for Monsieur Dupin" from some
one else.
A psycho.analysis of Poe was due to
follow the numerous biographies of
the most abused and the most senti
over of American authors
Even Prof George e. Woodbury's
complete and scholarly biography
failed to explain Poe psychological.
ly, at least failed to fit him into
modern theories. Joseph Wood
Krutch, in his Edgar Allan Poe;
A Study in Genius holds that
Poe's complex soul is to be under
stood only on the theory that 1t built
up for itself certain defense mocha
nism." Mr.. Krutch believes that Poe
early developed sense of inferiority,
due to a repressed life, and that this
shows in the literary work of his first
period. To counterbalance this, he
imagined himself a Byronic hero. such
as he anDearS In his TlOeroS A hoIIt
1910 Poe began to fear insanity, and
as mental remedy imagined himself
as a clear thinker and inductive rea-
soner, a solver of mysteries and
crimes. The tales of ratiocination
were the result, such as THE Muir
ders in the Rue Morgue,' THE Mys-
terry of Marie Roget" and 1.-THE Pnr.