ELIZABETH HALDANE

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22343, 5 March 1938, Page 20

ELIZABETH HALDANE

NO UNLIT LAMP From One (,'cntury to Another. The Reminiscences of Elizabeth Haldane. AJexader Maclehose and Co. ; 322 pp. (12s 6d net) I These reminiscences were pub- ■ lished shortly before Miss Haldane*s ■ recent death at the age of 75. Scot- ■ land has produced, in modern times, I few if any women more notable, ' especially in the field of public ser- ! vice, to which she brought energies, i intellect, and idealistic purpose, all i moderated by a presidential gift of ; practical wisdom. The sister \ worthily completed a quartet, of ; which the other three members I were her brothers. Lord Haldane of . Cloan, Professor J. S. Haldane, and Sir W. S. Haldane. She was a mem- ; ber of the Maternity Mortality Committee and the General Nursing • Council, had managed the Edinburgh , Royal Infirmary, and been vice-; I chairman of the Territorial Nurs- ' ing Service. She served as a mem- ! ber of the School Board and the i Scottish Universities Committee; ; she was a member of the 1912 Royal i Commission on the Civil Service, I and sat on both the national and I the Scottish committees under the j Insurance Act at that time. She ! acted also on the arbitration board under the Board of Trade; and in 1920, having been appointed by Lord Birkenhead to the committee which drew up the first list of women magistrates, she fulfilled one of the obligations of appointment by accepting nomination to the magistracy in Perth. Nobody who knows something of the Haldane family history will be surprised by her addiction to philosophy or her competence in it, which appeared in her translation of Hegel's "History," in her study of Descartes, and in the choice of Hegelian extracts which she published in ''The Wisdom and Religion of a German Philosopher." That she should also have written "Scots Gardens in Old Times" pleasantly illustrates the range of her mind and taste. These activities and interests, of course, govern the subject-matter of Miss Haldane's reminiscences, but neither autocratically nor with a heavy hand. The shrewd and humorous judge of character; the sensible woman who sees grand social changes in the disappearance of over-clothing and the rise of good cheap teashops and lunch-rooms; the observer who, acutely enough, traces greater public sobriety to the mechanisation of life; the clear thinker and direct talker who gets life into words—these control the manner of Miss Haldane's book. It is a full one, informative, stimulating, amusing. Above all it is the record of a woman who allowed none of her gifts to waste.

The scope of The Oxford Companion to Classical Literature (Oxford: Humphrey Milford, 468 pp. 8s 6d.) is best indicated by reference to the preface. Sir Paul Harvey, the compiler and editor, says that its aim is to present, in convenient form, information which the ordinary reader, not only of the literatures of Greece and Rome, but also of that large proportion of modern European literature which teems with classical allusions, may find useful. It endeavours to do two things: in the first place to bring together what he may wish to know about the evolution of classical literature, the principal authors, and their chief works; in the second place, to depict so much of the historical, political, social, and religious background as may help to make the classics understood. To this it is necessary only to add that a reviewer who has applied 20 specific tests has found every one of them satisfied. Whatever is wanted is easy to turn up and precisely provided. And the larger articles are a pleasure to read. I

| SHORTER NOTICES ♦ Ton Can't Do As Von Like. By F. E. Bailev. Collins. 252 pp. Heading for Trouble. By Renee Shann. j Collins. 252 *"\ ! Two romances. Both carry a heroine at last into happy love and marriage. Mr Bailey's heroine has an unhappy first choice and marriage to impede her, and she is too noble to jump selfishly over the obstacles. Miss Shann's heroine, is a young girl, whose troubles arise from her own unsophisticated humility and generosity when she finds a rival with prior claims between her and her young man. Blood on the* Sage. By Louis E. Legner. Ivor Nicholson and Watson Ltd. 252 pp. (3/6 net.) The Deuce of Diamonds. By Charles M. Martin. Ivor Nicholson and Watson Ltd. 252 pp. (3/6 net.) Lovers of Wild Western stories have by now learned to look for the entirely new and thoroughly good ones produced by these enterprising publishers at reprint price. The Coronation and Other Famous L.N.E.R. Trains. By Cecil J. AJlen. Ivor Nicholson and Watson. 116 pp. (Is net.) Mr Allen's book about the famous British expresses will be of interest to all train enthusiasts. The photographs illustrating it are of remarkably good quality. Trail of the Split Hoof. By Robert Ames Bennett. Collins. 251 pp. "Cuss me, will you? Take your medicine!" And "The drawn sixshooter again blared death." That was the -nd of Haines, driving a huge cattle herd up from the Mexican border. The story is that of a Texas Ranger's relentless pursuit of his friend's killer. Terriers. Their Training, Working:, and Management. Edited by A. Croxton Smith. Seelcy, Service and Co. Ltd. 90 pp. (3/6 net.) Each of some 16 terrier varieties is here treated by a recognised expert. The book is drawn from the j larger volume, prepared by the same editor, "Hounds and Dogs " j