considered as a concession to the views of the majority of the French
Academy. _La Bete Humaine_ exhausted the details of railway life.
_L'Argent_ treats of financial scandals and panics. _La Debacle_,
1892, is a realistic picture of the desperate struggles of the
Franco-Prussian war. _Le Docteur Pascal_, 1893, a story of the
emotions, wound up the series. Through it all runs the thread of
heredity and environment in their influence on human character.

But Zola's work was not finished. A series of three romances on cities
showed a continuance of power. They are _Lourdes_, _Rome_, and
_Paris_. After the books on the three cities Zola planned a sort of
tetralogy, intended to sum up his social philosophy, which he called
the "Four Gospels." _Feconditie_ is a tract against race suicide. The
others of this series are entitled _Travail_, _Verite_ and _Justice_,
the latter projected but not begun.

The attitude which Zola took in reference to the wretched Dreyfus
scandal will add greatly to his fame as a man of courage and a lover
of truth. From this filthy mess of perjury and forgery Zola's
intrepidity and devotion to justice arise clear and white as a lily
from a cesspool.

Several of Zola's books have been dramatized.

Zola died suddenly at his home in Paris, in September, 1902. He
received a public funeral, Anatole France delivering an oration at the
grave. There is every indication that Zola's great reputation as an
artist and philosopher will increase with the passing of the years.

C. C. STARKWEATHER.