teen, and as a result to enable such juveniles to "explain the reference to Chapman in the first sonnet" (to take one random example) in any adequate way would, however, one thinks, be a very miracle of teaching power. So it would to enable a child of such tender years to say "what are the chief characteristics of ballad poetry, and how far has Coleridge been successful in reproducing them." However, Miss Thomson assures us that these things are the outcome of practical experience in teaching this sort of thing; and we congratulate her on the result as heartily as we wish well to this little series of little books.

Palgrave's Golden Treasury of Songs and Lyrics. Book IV. By T. H. Fowler, M.A. 259 pp. (Macmillan.) 2s. 6d.To edit any part of the well-beloved "Golden Treasury" other than well would be a sort of crime against the gentle and gracious and cultured personality who was primarily responsible for its compilation; consequently Mr. Fowler has risen to the occasion and produced a most notable edition of the concluding portion of an evergreen work. Indeed, except for the use of upper forms and somewhat advanced students, this book may be found to be almost too fine in its scholarship and its tone of critical culture. At least, among the many very fine volumes of a splendid series of editions, this Fourth Book of the "Golden Treasury" claims for itself first rank if not a place apart; and Mr. Fowler deserves the highest praise for the manner in which his work has been done. The modesty of spirit which dreads lest "he may unconsciously be guilty of drawing away the attention of his readers from the text to his notes," so uncommon in editors, is in Mr. Fowler's case become something almost like reverence for the text itself, and certainly devotion to the intention and to the memory of Professor Palgrave. In this edition Mr. Fowler preserves the original preface to the "Golden Treasury"; and at the head of his notes prints the compiler's summary of the fourth book. About one hundred pages of his own notes follow, and in writing these Mr. Fowler ranges at will over the broad field of literature from Sophocles and Plato onwards. They present a most remarkable compendium of scholarship and literature with history and philosophy thrown in; and if one writes enthusiastically about this volume, it is because a careful examination of it discloses so many excellencies that, in spite of the editor's modesty, its wide acceptance is the only possible way of realising its deserts.

Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. By the Rev. Walter W. Skeat. New Edition. Post 8vo, xvi. +664 pp. (Clarendon Press.) 5s. 6d.—

Were man to live co-eval with the sun,
The patriarch-pupil would be learning still.

There is something humorous in the appearance of these lines on the title page of the new edition of Dr Skeat's well-known dictionary, for its arrangement is a striking illustration of the principle enunciated. The tantalising search in former editions for such a word as resuscitate, culminating in its discovery under the word cite, is now a thing of the past. The new dictionary (for it is practically new) is arranged alphabetically. Advantage has been taken of the advance in English lexicography since 1882 (when the first edition appeared) to incorporate the results of the most recent researches, and the book may now be considered thoroughly up to date. We have discovered one instance of what is surely a fault in any dictionary-on p. 579 we find Tutty, "a collyrium"; on looking for the etymology of the latter word, we found that it was not mentioned. But the work as a whole is excellent, and ought to be in every school library.

History of English Literature. By S. J. Mathew. 534 pp. (Macmillan.) 4s. 6d. This volume is a little disappoint

ing. Its five hundred odd pages are very closely packed with matter, and induce one at the first view to believe the author has done very solid and steady work, if not in the direction of acute literary criticism, yet in the attempt to present one more broad and effective outline of the development of his subject to the general public. To the very last there is no lack of evidence that the making of this one, among the many books of our generation, has been to Mr. Mathew both a toil and a delight; yet the impression is left when the last page is reached that the volume is singularly unedifying, and lacks any kind of originality. It is a compilation rather than a history, and it proceeds from start to finish upon such well-worn lines that, if nothing startling or stimulating be said by the way, the journey loses a little (at least) of its charm. It is undoubtedly difficult nowadays to write the history of English literature. Many able hands in the past have tried it, and done it well. The only real excuse for adding another history to the fairly large existing collection seems to be some absolute novelty of view, or fresh method of statement; otherwise a Professor of History, such as we understand Mr. Mathew is, or has been, had better try to write a history of anything else in the world except the literature of England. It is just the lack of novelty that is so painfully apparent in this volume. One cannot but wonder whether the author intended it to be used as a text-book; or whether it is the result of tying together a great number of studies in the literature of various periods; or whether it is actually the serious outcome of what he would have us believe are his genuine moods and moments of criticism. In any case, the result is incommensurate and inadequate to the pains the author must have taken to put together so much matter, or the profit that will accrue to a reader not gifted with unusual discrimination. The illustrations of the several authors and periods are the one sole outstanding merit of the book. Mr. Mathew does not treat his readers to hackneyed quotations or to those poems and selections which have not only grown venerable in such service, but already suffer from the contempt bred of familiarity; he gives them instead many tit-bits of an unaccustomed flavour. There is in this procedure an evidence of independent study and judgment which the jogtrot nature of much of the matter of the book does not otherwise show, and which Mr. Mathew's own personal criticisms hardly furnish. In dealing with a writer like Stevenson, for instance, he is quite crude and commonplace and unthoughtful, though by no means essentially wrong in his estimate. His notions of George Eliot and Charles Reade seem equally careless and offhand, and if occasionally his appreciations seem to strike a deeper vein of criticism they only result in being painfully wordy. The modern period of English, as dealt with by Mr. Mathew, is the most unsatisfactory portion of his work, which with so worthy a subject should either have been done much better or not have been done at all.

History.

Problems and Exercises in History.

Book B. 1399-1603.

It

By J. S. Lindsey. So pp. (Heffer & Sons, Cambridge.) 25. net. This book is best described by its own title-page. is "a revision term course containing sixty typical questions (thirty 'Junior' and thirty 'Senior') arranged in the form of twelve one-hour test papers, with full answers, hints and references; also hints on answering questions in history, notes and queries on teaching history, notable topics of the period, select list of books useful to the teacher and learner." We think it a book eminently serviceable to teachers who will know how to use it. But we should be sorry if it fell into the hands of those who would attempt to stretch their pupils on its Procrustean bed. We pity the children who should be expected even to write out the five answers" herein given in the course of an hour, much

64

less to produce such answers in that time. Such a book is for the practical teacher's library, not for use in the class room.

A History of Rome, for High Schools and Academies. By G. W. Botsford, Ph.D., Harvard. With maps and numerous illustrations. 396 pp. (New York: The Macmillan Co.) 6s. 6d. This book is written in a clear and interesting style, and is, we think, well adapted for the middle forms of schools, even for a first history book if the study should be late begun. It does not neglect or sneer at legends, nor does it enter into minute constitutional detail; but the main facts of the history are here. It has further the very great advantage of carrying the story down to the time of Charlemagne, and for that reason alone would be preferable to the ordinary school histories, which ignore the empire as if there were no such thing. At the end of each chapter is a short list of other books which will be found useful by the teacher or student. The pictures and maps are good; but we wish orographical maps were always to be found in a history. Here are none of them. Dr. Botsford is no second-hand historian; he has studied the authorities and formed his own conclusions, which sometimes differ from those accepted. In particular, he corrects Mommsen's account in one important point of constitution. Only experience can show whether the book is adapted for class use; but its simplicity and grasp of principles make us believe that it is so.

Famous Englishmen. (Book I., Alfred to Elizabeth.) By John Finnemore. xi.+217 PP. (A. & C. Black.)—Mr.

Finnemore has told, in simple language, the story of eight great fighters, Harold, Hereward, Edward III., the Black Prince, Henry V., Warwick, Drake and Raleigh; of nine non-fighters, Dunstan, Becket, Langton, Wycliffe, Chaucer, Caxton, Wolsey, More and Shakespeare; and of three who belong to both classes, Alfred, de Montfort, and Edward I., though even of the two last their fighting careers predominate. The first thought that occurs to us is, how much we owe to those who were not Englishmen, and who are, therefore, excluded, though the admission of de Montfort has inserted the thin end of the wedge of argument for their inclusion. How much would this book have gained as a medium for teaching English history if those wearisome medieval wars had been omitted with the spurious glories of Crecy and Agincourt, and room been thus made, we will not say for S. Francis or Bruce, but for Augustine, Canute, William I., Henry II., Grosseteste, Henry VIII. and Cranmer, who surely did more to shape our modern England than such advocates of lost causes as Hereward, Warwick or More. Within its self-appointed limits the book is fairly well done. "Troth" is surely "promise" rather than "truth." Simon's contributions to constitutional history are, as usual, exaggerated at the expense of Edward I., and we did not think that any sovereign after Mary Tudor was called Head of the Church. But the youngsters for whom this reader is devised will have time to unlearn these things in after years, and we would end with a word of commendation, viz., for the illustrations, whether photographic or other, with which the book is adorned.

Before the Great Pillage, with other Miscellanies. By Augustus Jessopp. x. + 260 pp. (T. Fisher Unwin.) 7s. 6d.We are afraid it cannot yet be regarded as an impertinence to recommend Dr. Jessopp's books to our readers. Yet the author of the "Coming of the Friars" (a volume of historical essays, which has more than reached its eighth edition) is one of the most delightful of guides to English history. All of that volume could well be read to our elder pupils, or even by them, with pleasure and profit. And now the Canon who calls himself a "shepherd of Arcady" has collected some further essays of his into another volume for our pleasure and edification. The book contains nine articles: "Parish Life in

No. 32, VOL. 3.]

England before the Great Pillage” (i.e., the disendowment of Edward VI's. reign) shews how the village church belonged to the village folk, and was in fact practically their own creation and daily delight. "The Parish Priest in England before the Reformation" speaks of the character and duties of the parish priests and of their endowments and how they lost them. "Robbing God" is a manly protest, based on history, against the use of this phrase to describe those who advocate disendowment. "The Cry of the Villages" is a pathetic and convincing appeal for something to be done for our rural population on the same principle as that of the technical institutes, &c., which flourish in the towns. "The Baptism of Clovis" is what our forefathers would have called an "occasional essay" apropos of the fifteenth centenary of that event lately celebrated in France. The remainder are described by Dr. Jessopp himself as "trifles which must apologise for themselves." Their subjects are tortoises, birds and moles, and may be regarded as dessert-and very good dessert too-to the feast which the Doctor has provided for us. We think we have discovered one or two misprints (at any rate, unless for "regard," p. 217, we read, "disregard," we fail to understand the sentence), and there are two sentences on which we might be inclined to inaugurate a controversy. Page 7 raises the question whether, spite of Prof. Freeman's powerful advocacy of the doctrine which he expressed epigrammatically by saying "we English are our selves, and not anybody else," the Roman origin of some of our institutions is not getting to be regarded as orthodox. At least, Dr. Jessopp says that the "geographical unit of the Conqueror's survey, namely, the Vil, was of Roman origin." But this we must leave to the experts. On page 92, there is a passing parallel, apropos of our Nonconformist friends, which, though literally true, implies something which they would regard as a misrepresentation. But we who know and, we will venture to say, love the Canon in his writings, can easily forgive him his prejudices, which are, at any rate, outspoken and kindly.

The Close of the Middle Ages. By R. Lodge, M.A. xi. +570 pp. (Rivingtons : "Periods of European History.") 6s. net. -We heartily welcome the appearance of this long-expected volume. The two hundred years here portrayed form a confessedly difficult period of European history, and, despite Prof. Lodge's modest disclaimer, we think he has accomplished his task most successfully. His twenty-two chapters are arranged more topically than chronologically, and the only defect of the book is the lack of a chronological table which would serve as a bird's-eye view, or as a key to the confusion which the period, though not the book, presents. Four chapters are given to German history, five to Italy, four to France, while others deal with the more or less outlying subjects of Switzerland, the Hanse towns and Scandinavia, the Hussite movement in Bohemia, Poland, Spain, the Eastern Empire, and the Renaissance. There are no fewer than nineteen genealogical tables to help us through the wilderness of Neapolitan and other dynastic struggles. There are four maps and, of course, an index and short bibliography. Prof. Lodge's remarks on French finance strike us as particularly fresh and enlightening. He represents the Emperor Charles IV. under new lights, regarding his services to the empire as more useful than his previous biographers have thought. But we specially recommend to our readers his treatment of the Franco-Burgundian struggle and its effects on English history. The teacher who reads and makes a note of this will find something to cheer him through that weary waste of civil strife which we call the Wars of the Roses. Indeed, though no chapter is specially devoted to English history, there is, on the other hand, no chapter which does not throw light on even those parts of our national story which forms the subject of our daily lessons. With this volume, the series of which it forms a part is so far

B B

complete that we have now a continuous history of Europe from 476 to 1815. The only remaining volume will carry on the story to our own days. We are exceedingly thankful for the series, and as we have already said, to Prof. Lodge. There is no longer any excuse for English-speaking teachers to be wholly ignorant of the history of Europe. The obligation lies on them to purchase these volumes, and then read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, so that they can supplement their teaching with intelligible comment.

ACONCAGUA.

From A. H. Keane's "South America" (Edward Stanford).

Geography.

Stanford's Compendium of Geography and Travel. South America. (Being Vol. I. of Central and South America.) xxii. +611 pp. 13 maps, 84 illustrations. By A. H. Keane, F.R.G.S. 15s. The large additions made to our knowledge of the geography of "Latin " America during the last quarter of a century have necessitated more than twice as many pages being given to it in the new issue of this well-known series as in the original single volume. (It should be noted that the

present volume excludes Guiana, which, with the West Indies and Central America, is dealt with in Vol. II.) Mr. Keane has a happy knack of securing the interest of the general reader without sacrificing anything of the accuracy necessary to the scientific treatment of his subject. But it is rather on purely professional grounds that we would draw attention to the merits of this book. The science of geography, in English schools, has yet to secure an adequate amount of recognition; and this will not be possible until the teachers themselves have

been taught. Now, we venture to say that, with the help of the very clear maps, the illustrations, and the author's lucid explanations, any teacher can make himself sufficiently master of the geographic principles illustrated in the case of this continent to be able to dispel once and for all the listless attitude of his pupils during the geography" period." The book is written with a distinctively educational purpose. In the introductory chapters (74 pp.) dealing with South America as a whole, advantage is taken of the physical and climatic contrasts that exist between South and North America to emphasise the difference of their development as conditioned by geographic environment. Amongst such differences the sections on the aborigines and their relations with the whites are especially suggestive. Turning to the chapters dealing with the separate states, the causal idea is equally prominent and equally serviceable. instance, the peculiar difficulties of the frontier questions in South America would at once impress themselves on a boy's mind if he were told that, a few years ago, the honour of including within its borders one of the highest, if not the highest, peaks in the Andes-Aconcagua-remained unsettled between the claims of Chili and Argentina. (We are able to reproduce the illustration of this mountain.) We have not space to enumerate more than a few of the important geographic principles that can be illustrated by the teacher who will take the trouble to read, or at least use for purposes of reference, this book. Some suggestive topics are: Why is not Paraguay a part of Brazil ?" "Why are the agricultural labourers leaving Chili in such large numbers?" "What is the old Pampean Sea?" "Where will

a tree divert the course of a river?"

66

For

The New Basis of Geography. By J. W. Redway, F. R.G.S. xii. + 225 pp. (New York: the Macmillan Company.) 4s. 6d. This book is intended as a manual for the guidance of the teacher with regard to the aspects in which he should regard geography. It is a sound, common-sense treatise, and rightly lays stress upon the conception of geography as the science of man's activities in relation to his environment. Professor Redway illustrates his points in a clear and convincing manner; as when, for instance, commenting upon the usual definition of a cape as "a point of land jutting into the sea," he says, "St. Roque can hardly be called a typical cape from a physiographic standpoint, but it is very much a cape from the view of the master mariner who sails along the South American coast." A most readable and suggestive book; treated along the lines laid down, the conception of geography as a science in England may result in such a consummation as (we are merely giving an instance) the ignoring of Derwentwater's loveliness and of Windermere's size, but the emphasising of Thirlmere's utility to Manchester.

South America. 77 pp. IS. An Elementary Geography of England and Wales. Illustrated. 202 pp. Is. 4d. By L. W. Lyde, M.A. (Black.) Mr. Lyde's books on geography have frequently been noticed in these columns, and the opportunity has always arisen of pointing out their many excellent characteristics. The volume on South America is drawn up on the same plan as the other text-books in the “School Geography” Series, and needs no further recommendation. The Reader is one of the best, if not the best, we have seen for young children, and is sure to be widely used in the lowest forms of our secondary schools. There is a misprint on the map on p. 38-Shale should be Swale.

Asia. (Macmillan's New Geography Readers.) Illustrated. 263 pp. Is. 6d. This is intended for more advanced pupils than Mr. Lyde's book, and the causal idea is more fully developed. On the whole, the author has succeeded in writing an interesting and instructive account of Asia, but the style is rather loose in places, and on p. 31 there is a confusion between heat and temperature.

Science and Technology.

Life by the Seashore: an Introduction to Natural History. By Marion Newbigin, D.Sc. (Lond.), with many illustrations by Florence Newbigin. (Swan Sonnenschein.) viii. +344 pp. 93 figs. 35. 6d. net. -For many years we have felt the need of a convenient introduction to the natural history of the shore, and we welcome this volume most heartily. There are some fine old books, such as Gosse's "Marine Zoology," but the best of them are scarce or too large to be carried about. Moreover, they tended to be too learned, just as more recent attempts to deal with the fauna of the shore have tended to be not learned enough. But Miss Newbigin, after years of careful study, has achieved in this volume a distinct success. The work is solid and yet interesting, with a wide biological outlook, and yet condescending to most useful identification-tables. It is one of the most serviceable and sensible of the many introductions to natural history, and it will be a great boon not only to teachers and puzzled parents, but to serious students. Those who have already given some attention to the subject will appreciate the author's accuracy and scientific restraint; those who are just beginning are to be envied in having so good a guide to start with. Most of the illustrations are admirable. It will be a bad sign of the state of natural history in Britain if this book does not sell in thousands.

Experimental Chemistry. Lyman C. Newell, Ph.D. xv. +397 PP. (Isbister & Co.) 5s.-The plan of this book is described by the author in his preface as a combination of the inductive and deductive methods. Experiments are given for performance by the pupil, and then syllabuses of class work follow. The latter are likely to prove of considerable use to the teacher, but it may be urged that, since the range of study covered by them is so wide, with the ordinary proportion of time allotted to practical work on the part of the student, he will get far ahead of his lectures. This will usually mean that the teacher omits a great deal. Together with details of experimental work and schemes for the teacher's lectures are given some "theoretical" work of the kind somewhat like that in the older-fashioned school-books. Atoms and molecules are mentioned on page 53, while the origin of the terms is not explained till we reach page 138, chap. ix. In this chapter an account is given of valency, molecular weights, and a very brief account of ionisation. It is difficult to believe that a student can make much out of the statement of Avogadro's law, and the grounds for belief in the law are very scantily described. The book is on a modern plan so far as

quantitative work is concerned, and for that reason may be consulted by teachers with much advantage; but with the other part of the book we must confess to a disagreement. A short course of testing for the various common metals is given, and a useful short bibliography, together with various tables, form an appendix.

Object Lessons for Rural Schools. By Vincent T. Murché. Book I. xix. +231 pp. Book II. xxi. +252 pp. (Macmillan.) 10s. 6d. each.-Mr. Murché knows exactly what teachers in elementary schools require in the way of notes for object lessons, and these two volumes, dealing with many of the subjects mentioned in the "Revised Instructions to Inspectors " as suitable for country schools, will be sure to prove of service. Teachers who are familiar with natural objects and phenomena do not need books of this kind to tell them what to say to their pupils, but there are many who have to teach things they know not themselves, and to these the volumes will be a storehouse of information-concisely expressed, and with a few exceptions sufficiently accurate for rudimentary instruction.

Curly Head and Dirty Puddle. The Crooked Oak-tree and The Life of a Dragon Fly. By Elisabeth Field and Emily Carter. In paper covers 3d. each. In cloth covers 6d. each. (Chapman & Hall.) These little volumes, which run to sixtyfour pages each, are intended either for school lesson-books or to be added to the school library. They are suitable only for quite young children. Some interesting facts in natural science are told in the form of a story. The authors have succeeded in being interesting enough, though we are inclined to think that the children of to-day are not imposed upon by making plants, animals, and inanimate objects talk. In books of this kind it is of great importance not to give wrong impressions, and some of the statements to be found here may do so; for instance, it is misleading to speak of root hairs as "little mouths." The abundance of coloured pictures will make the books favourites with most youngsters.

Outlines of Physiography: an introduction to the Study of the Earth. By A. J. Herbertson, Ph. D. viii. +312 pp. (Arnold.) 45. 6d. This attractive book reminds the reviewer of similar publications produced in America. The illustrations are numerous and good. There is no crowding and the chapters are short-that on the "Composition of the Atmosphere" only runs to one page, and that on "Oceanic Circulation" to two. We are disposed to think that Dr. Herbertson has striven too much after brevity, with the result that in some cases the reader will find it difficult to grasp his meaning-the paragraphs on Foucault's pendulum, for instance, would be much simplified by amplification. Some chapters have been introduced purely for examination purposes, and have little, if any, connection with the main subject. Chapter xxvi., on the composition of rocks, is an instance of this; the ordinary reader will not understand it, and even as a summary for more advanced students it is very incomplete. Dr. Herbertson is at his best when dealing with what used to be called "physical geography;" the astronomical and geological parts are not treated with the same ease and confidence. But the book may be recommended as an interesting introduction to ordinary natural phenomena.

Mathematics.

Non-Euclidean Geometry. By H. P. Manning, Ph.D. iv. + 96 pp. (Ginn & Co.) 35. 6d. In spite of its small compass and modest appearance, this is an extremely interesting and valuable work. So far as we can judge, Mr. Manning has succeeded in the very difficult task of presenting the elements of elliptic and hyperbolic geometry in a form which, without being logically unsound, is suited for the apprehension of the ordinary

mathematical student. The subject is developed as far as the elements of analytical geometry in the two systems considered, and the book concludes with a brief but sufficient historical note (in which, however, we miss the name of Arthur Buchheim). There is no longer any excuse for a teacher or student of geometry remaining ignorant of the fact that Euclid's postulate about parallels is not a necessary assumption, and that there are two other hypotheses equally legitimate.

Famous Geometrical Theorems and Problems. By W. W. Rupert, C. E. Parts I., II. 1-58 pp. (D. C. Heath & Co.) 6d. each. Chapter I. deals with the theorems presumably known to Thales; chapter II. with the theorem of Pythagoras; and chapter III. with the value of π. Mr. Rupert has consulted good authorities, and gives an account of his subject which is both attractive and trustworthy. The two letters from a circle-squarer to De Morgan (pp. 49-51) are extremely amusing. Messrs. Heath & Co. announce a series of mathematical monographs, of which these three chapters form the first two numbers. The idea is excellent, and the execution, so far, quite satisfactory.

Elementary Course. By (W. B. Clive.) 3s. 6d.

The Tutorial Algebra. Part I. R. Deakin, M.A. viii. + 444 pp. This is neither better nor worse than other text-books of its kind it will teach the student to do questions of the ordinary types, and give him abundant (too abundant) practice; but on matters of theory it is vague and inaccurate, although the author has evidently tried to appreciate the laws of algebra. As a sample of his failure, and his faults of composition, take this: "Suppose + 2 x - 3 or 2x + 3. Evidently the product will not be the same in either of these cases as in + 2 x + 3. Therefore we conclude that + 2 x 3 = 6 and - 2x + 3 - 2 x 3. This is different from the last two cases, and we conclude that 2 X 3 = +6. From these results we can infer the rule of signs." Simply to state the rule of signs would be far better than to preface it by sham inferences of this sort.

= - 6." "Again suppose

Mental Arithmetic for Schools and Training Colleges. By F. L. Grant, M.A., and A. M. Hill, M.A. viii. + 106 pp. (Longmans.) Is. 6d. The authors are experienced teachers, and show by their preface that they appreciate the real use of mental arithmetic. But they have had to consider the needs of candidates for the Teachers' Certificate Examination, and have thus been constrained to spoil a good book by the insertion of useless and artificial "tips." The style of the Teachers' Certificate Examination sadly wants amending. Here are some samples of questions recently set :- "Decimal of I pole equal to 2 yds. 2 ft. 3 in." "True discount on 770 guineas due 15 months hence at 4 °% per annum. "The price of .375 of a ton at .375 of a shilling per lb." To do such questions with speed and accuracy requires a large amount of drill; and the very students who learn to do them would go hopelessly wrong in forming, say, a rough estimate of 3-1416 ÷ (-07)2. The authors very properly call attention to the importance of mentally checking calculations so as to avoid gross errors: to be able to do this is far more useful than to acquire the power of working out mentally the exact product of 8467 and 297, as the unfortunate candidates were asked to do in 1894.

Miscellaneous.

The Movable Horse for Artists, Teachers and Students sent us by Messrs. Baillière, Tindall and Cox (price 1s. 67.) is, if we remember rightly, very much like one which appeared five or six years ago. It is of cardboard and the moveable joints admit

of any posture desired, and should in the hands of a capable teacher prove decidedly useful. The trouble is that it can be put into attitudes which are quite grotesque.

Playtime Poems. By Ellen Collett. 41 pp. The authoress takes pains to thank the proprietors of The Ladies' Field for permission to reprint some most extraordinarily childish verse; so childish, indeed, crude in form and thin in matter, as to make one wonder however it came to be printed at all. It does not pretend to be poetry, except on the title-page; and as verse even it won't do.

Schoolboys' Special Immorality. By Maurice C. Hime, M.A., LL.D. xiii. 115 PP. (Churchill.) IS. net. This is the

third edition of a valuable little booklet to which we have already (May, 1899) called attention. The present edition has been enlarged by some sixty-seven pages. We would earnestly commend Dr. Hime's temperate and experienced counsel to all those who have charge of young people.

Annotated Scotch Code, 1901. Edited by John Kerr, M.A,, LL.D. xxviii. + 290 pp. (Nelson.) Is. net.-We cordially recommend this skilfully prepared edition of the "Code" regulating the work in Scottish schools to all who are responsible for the administration of the public schools across the border. It is the work of the late Chief Inspector of schools and training colleges for Scotland, and it is almost unnecessary to add that it would be impossible to find a higher authority than Dr. Kerr.

Practical Book-keeping. Part II. Advanced. 226 pp. By Oldham & Holland. -The examples given of various accounts are valuable. Among these are "Contractors' accounts," "Limited Liability Companies' accounts," "Charitable Institutions' accounts," and others requiring specially-ruled books. The book would be very useful in the hands of a teacher, but it is not altogether so lucid as it might be, especially in the early chapters.

The Preceptors' Book-keeping. By T. C. Jackson. 173 pp. (Clive.) This book is intended to meet the requirements of students of book-keeping in evening schools, but the author has attempted to put too much information into the space allotted to him, with the result that many points which with fuller treatment might be made clear are left in obscurity, unless the teacher is at hand to explain. At the opening of the book he finds fault with the "orthodox" plan of writing treatises on book-keeping, forgetting that any plan is justified which makes the subject interesting and makes difficulties clear. The art of writing on any science consists in leading the uninitiated from the less to the more difficult by easy steps, but in this book the unfortunate student is plunged at once into "the ledger." There is a great deal of useful information in this work, and the examples worked together with the examination papers are valuable.

The Prayer Book Explained. Part I. By the Rev. Percival Jackson, M.A. 187 pp. (Pitt Press.) 2s. 6d. This valuable manual is marked on every page by the thorough-going scholarship and the completeness which characterises all the publications of the Cambridge University Press. As an explanation of the matter of the English Liturgy nothing so good has been published for a long time, and if the Second Part, which ought to be awaited eagerly, only comes up to this first division, perhaps the most useful of all text-books hitherto published will be in the hands of teachers. In praising the book thus highly, it is not necessary to lose sight of the fact that Mr. Jackson writes from the High Church standpoint, and that many of his positions will not commend themselves unreser