8 APRIL 1882, Page 25

On Board a Union Steamer. A Compilation. By Captain S.

P. Oliver. (W. H. Allen and Co.)—Here we have a curious combina- tion of the "grave and gay," the " grave " being, we think, by far the better and more readable of the two. The writer embarks at Southampton, relates his experiences of travel, gives us morsels of science, history, and fable, describes spots, more or less famous, at which steamers commonly touch, and adds specimens of comic literature, notably "A Novelette of the Rock," which may be very comic at St. Helena, where it was written, and where the standard of humour is, it is possible, not very high, but seems a trifle chill, not to say silly, here. Very much more welcome are such papers as the description of the Cape Observatory, the accounts of the famous wrecks, and the very interesting communication on the "sea serpent." 'The writer of this, Mr. S. V. Wood, thinks that the animals to which this unlucky name (always exciting a most unscientific ridicule) has been given are surviving individuals of the Zeuglodon Cetoides. Fossil specimens of this creature, which is, or was, a carnivorous cetacean, have been found seventy feet in length. Why a serpent, though, of course, a cetacean is very different from a serpent, of -seventy feet should be less possible, or probable, than a whale of the same magnitude, it is impossible to say. As to magnitude, indeed, if total bulk is to be considered, a serpent of two hundred feet would slot equal ouch wbalca as are not uncommonly found. We may corn.

mend this book as an interesting and appropriate companion for voyage.