5 APRIL 1884, Page 24

Lorenz Oken : a Biographical Sketch. By Alexander Ecker. 'Trans-

lated from the German by Alfred Tulk. (Began Paul and Co.)— Oken was a naturalist of eminence, who had the misfortune to be a keen politician of the Liberal sort, in days when Germany was less tolerant of Liberalism than it has since learnt to be. From 1807 to 1819 he was Professor at Jena, and was dismissed for an alleged libel. After eight years of unsettled work be was appointed Professor of Physiology at Munich ; this also he lost, in the space of two or three years. Finally, he found refuge in the freer air of Switzerland, and being appointed to a Chair in Zurich in 1833, remained there till his death, in August, 1851. By far the most interesting part of the volume is the collection of letters.