Page:Works of Jules Verne - Parke - Vol 7.djvu/22

2 the World in Eighty Days." The "Floating City" was the direct result of the trip which the author actually made to America in 1867. He gives us a faithful picture of the natural and usual incidents of an ocean voyage of those days, enlivening these by introducing a romance aboard ship. The pictures of the "Great Eastern," are of course exaggerated, not so much in words themselves as in the impressions they convey. But the pictures of New York and of Niagara are the genuine imprint made upon the great writer by his visit here.

''In "The Blockade Runners" he again adopts a theme which is, at least nominally, American. In it he gives a very fair view of the British attitude toward our country during that tragic period of our suffering and trial.''

''"Dr. Ox's Experiment" was one of those prophetic scientific fantasies which leaped so frequently into the inspired mind of Verne. The remarkably vivifying and invigorating effects of pure oxygen, even upon the dying, have now become an established part of medical science. In 1874, when "Doctor Ox" was published, the knowledge of this gas was in its infancy. Verne tells us that the story was suggested by an actual experience of his own in Paris, in which he realized the effects "très interessante" of the potent gas. The story develops a spirit of mischievous exaggeration and burlesque very different from the author's usually serious and thoughtful attitude toward scientific marvels.''