Evening star., 1934-02-14
NEW BOOKS
AT RANDOM
Margaret CermoHd.

AAAb~0 Ny &AANAoAANA s~~6A
a Frontispiece by Lynd Ward. New
York: Farrar g. Rinehart, Inc.
Here Is q strange tale Of evil and
horror. purported to be the product Of
q medical student and revealing q
series OF appalling crimes committed
upon human beings In the name of
science.
Everything about the book is strange.
It's author is unknown. The post
office from which the manuscript ac-
tually began its journey to a publish
ing house is also shrouded in mystery.
The publishers announce that it was
received from q reputable literary
agent who claims to have no knowl-
edge as to its authorship, and also that
royalties will be reserved for his &C.
count If he should wish to reveal him.
self and give satisfactory proofs of his
identity. The manuscript was shipped
in two installments, the first of which
/ was postmarked Chicago and the last
New Orleans. IT is, OF course, possible
! that both sections went through q
readdressing service.
The first part of the story was &C.
companied by the following explana-
ton by the author:
During the past year I have been
drawn unwillingly into a series Of
grim events-and I have no assurance
that their sequence is ended. The
climax could yet be my own death.
This is one reason for writing, but
there are others. Sometimes the i'm
partial application Of just laws can
work a particular injustice. 1 happen
to be possessed of knowledge that
ought to convict any one OF three
persons Of capital crime; yet am
morally convinced that all are in
nocent. This makes me reluctant to
divulge what !, and / alone, have
| learnt.
"Yet to conceal it, even briefly. NAV
mean that 1t will die with me; and
since its partial discovery might work
greater injustice, I intend to write
down all know. Then, as chance
has put me in the way of information
which I neither desired nor sought,
shall let chance decide whether It Is
to be known to the world as well.
That seems the only fair way. I in
tend to describe these happenings in
| the strict order of their occurrence,
starting with the first significant eve
ming, a year ago tonight. Even
| though later events at times have
erased the seeming Importance Of
earlier ones, I shall try to show every
thing as it first appeared, for it may
be that some item which I have
thought trivial may be vital knowl-
edge to another investigator. .
I shall alter the names Of all persons,
places and institutions, and refer to
| the climate as that of Maine, with
| which I am familiar. There will be
plenty OF references through which
any one who is interested can locate
the real town and school about which
I am writing.
IF at any time IL seems unlikely
that I can complete the story, I shall
mail what is done to a literary agent
who knows nothing of me. Perhaps
this Will be considered a clever hoax
to interest publisher; but even If
that prevents publication, the manu-
script is not likely to be destroyed, so
some day the truth will out. If 1t
comes too late to affect persons now
living. that may be for the best"
Well, there it is. to take or leave.
Just as one pleaSeS. The story con-
tains convincing proof that the author
Is genuine medical student. Mr.
Latng, in his predatory note. gives
credit to Thomas Painter and Ger
trude Mcclure, a teacher and a stu
dent Of morphology, for verifying all
technical references, and to himself
goes the credit for the title of the
book and for all Subtitles and foot
notes, as the original had no chapters
or divisions into parts.
The narrative begins with a series
| OF blood-freeZing events occurring
during the twenty-four hours pre-
ceding the mysterious disappear
ance of Gideon Wyck, M. D., in
structor, surgeon and scientist in
the State college of surgery in the
f1ctitius village Of Altonville, Me. A
man who has lost an arm in an acci-
dent and who has not fully recovered
from the effects of the amputatiou
suffers in the middle Of the night
from seizure of delirium. A demon
Is tearing his heart out through his
manned arm, and he insists that only
DR.. Wyck can drive the demon away
The physician arrives, talks to the
terrified man about Beelzebub ano
sneers at the sufferers demand that
his blood be returned to him. Later
events reveal the fact that Mike Con-
nell has been almost drained of his
blood for TRANSMISSION into the veins
OF others by Wyck, who is believed By
some members of the community tc
be an incarnation of the devil.
| DR.. Wyck is known to be q student
Of demonology as well as 9 researcher
into the science of the abnormal in
human anatomy. Both his knowledge
and his extraordinary library are OF
invaluable service to DR.. Manfred
Alling, president Of the college. who
is writing a work which he is pleased
to call "a Short Sketch for History
of Concomitant Variations in Morpho-
genesis and Psychogenesis," though il
is planned to I'LL at least six sturdy
quartos. Alling Is himself deformed
which undoubtedly accounts for his
interest in the subject. He and Wyck
are the most brilliant workers in this
field.
In the midst Of q series Of grue.
some events DR.. Wyck disappears
and though it Is months later that
his cadaver Is found, embalmed, ir
the vault Of the dissecting room, the
horrors continue. Wyck has beer
murdered, and an investigation Il
begun by the community officials, but
months drag by without solution.
It is in his capacity as secretary Il
the president of the college that the
author of this book comes into the
knowledge that criminal experiments
, of an appalling nature have beer
) practiced in cold blood upon human
> beings for the purpose Of promoting
the sciences of morphogenesis anC
. pSychogenesis.
It Is q tale Of weird incantations II
a remote hillside laboratory, con.
Quoted by q man crazed by cancer o
tha brain imnnSinQ a state of hYU-