Abstract
A BOOK of nearly two hundred octavo pages of close print, discussing the subject above mentioned, may, without exaggeration, be termed exhaustive. It should be at once added, however, that in his preface the author refers expressly to those of the fifteen chapters (viz. Nos. xiii and xiv) which contain the essential arguments in support of his views. Otherwise the reader should be prepared to find himself involved in the consideration of the behaviour of animals in relation to changes in the weather, or engaged in the study of the relative keenness of the special senses of the walrus. The effects of meteorological changes on animals are discussed in reference to the story, not of Polyphemus, but of Proteus, in the course of a general disquisition on the interpretation of Homeric myths, while the subject of the special senses appears in subtle connection with important questions raised by the peculiar cyclopian eye of Polyphemus. The author's enthusiasm and his desire to examine all sides of the question have led him to burden his work with a large amount of detail, which could have been largely avoided, without diminishing the value of the book, by the substitution of reference for quotation in exienso.
Polyphem ein Gorilla.
By Dr. Th. Zell. Pp. 184. (Berlin: W. Junk, 1901.) Price Mk. 2.50.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
D., W. Polyphem ein Gorilla . Nature 64, 467 (1901). https://doi.org/10.1038/064467a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/064467a0