NEW PUBLICATIONS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 23, 27 January 1912, Page 19

NEW PUBLICATIONS.

"Wild Flowers as thej; Grow." Photographed in colour direct from Nature -by■■ H. Ee6enbigh Corlce, F.R.P.S., with descriptive text by G. Clarke Nuttall, B.Sc. (Second Serie6.) ss. net. London : Caesell ,and Company, Ltd. (Whitcombe and Tombs A Science as well as art literature owes mucn to the new polychromic procesisetching, by which photograph* from Nature can be typographically - reproduced in the true colours, the "richeet and most delicate, hues and tints being automatically resolved into their . primaries, and re-combined v at press in three or four impressions. This has made possible the production at 'popular prices of charming books like this, in which thebrilliance and faithfulness of colouring to the 'originals mtust atrike every reader. The wild flowers of Britain are unrivalled in the world, and this book is the second gathering of twenty-five examples, the two forming a beautiful representative, rather than exhaustive, collection. Among those in the Second Collection are the snowdrops, cowslips, Wallflower, marsh marigold, wood sorrel, gorse, and woodruff. Each haa a full-pa|;e plate, in each cafle supplement"cd with' a diagram showing the anatomy of the flower, which is explained by Mr. Nuttall, • who gives special attention to 'the ! mechanism by which fertilisation and distribution of the seed is affected.. Besides which he discourses pleasantly on the wealth of quaint, monkish, medical, and popular lore that has accumulated roiind the flowers, brightening his text with loving touches from the poetp. A book of sound science and old-world-wisdom, bright with bloseoms from fieldand meadow, and fragrant with 'tlie' sweetness of poetic thought. "The Man of No Sorrows." By Coupon Kerriahan, (author of " God and the Ant," "The Child, the Wise Man, and the Devil," etc.). Witli illustrations by James Clarke. . Lpn- " don: Cassell and Company, Ltd. (Whitcomb'e and Tombs.) " Cassell'* Booklets " is the general title pf a series of charming little illustrated volumes in cloth published at one shilling net* Though only about a dozen volumes have appeared, there are four subdivisions— Nature books, great writers', travel, and ,the "Golden" series, in which Mr. Kerrtahan's book is included. The author is well known for his original detective stories, but has acquired a different reputation all his own by his apologues, in the form of mystical " visions,- whiuh have been translated into fourteen languages, and of which over aomiilion copies have b*en sold. Their themes are dating, but Mi". Kernahan is not one of the too familiar type of sensationalists t l who blunder in "where angels fear to tread." ''The Man. of No Sorrows" is a kind of sequel to the books named in the title-page,; it iha'y be read in half an ' hour, but it will probably leave a more lasting impression than many an elaborate arid profound philosophical; treatise. The author imagines a new Christ, jewelled and rose-crc-wned, who proclaims ah era in .which sorrow is abolished and pain is to have no 'place. The ministry of .suffering is not a new, theme, but the vivid imagination of the writer and his eloquent language have presented in the concrete ideas which are, oftener vaguely expressed as general principles. We shall not be surprised if this impressive "parable of Mr. -K«rnahan'e meets with wider appreciation than any of ita predecessors. and Pomander." A Novel. By Arthur Brebuer,. author of ,i 5 "John Saint." Edinburgh and London : William Blackwood and • ■ Sons. - s ' Mr. Brebner is one of the recent "discoveries" of a house that seldom goes astray in its judgments regarding the merits of new ' authors, and the lovers of good stirring romance of the vital type have already given a hearty welcome to the latest recruit. t The note struck in 1 the fitst sentence of "Patches and Pomander" rings harmoniously to the end. . "It was in they-ear 1658 that Simon Rutherford first came to live at the house on the moor, there to end his days in peace, and make, if possible, the 'amende honorable 1 to God. A desolate place and a melancholy. . . . ." No lay figures in tEis book, no inflated bombast, but sturdy fighters with memories of dark deeds of pirac^ in the past, men who seek the Elixir of Life, men who love 'fiercely and love whole-heartedly; women mercenary who love lightly, and a heroine as good as beautiful— the whole story suffused with the atmosphere of days long-departed. A' crafty plot for the overthrow of Charles 11., who figures in the story* is (interwoven with the plot -of this Mrst-rate novel. "Good ' Wives." By Louisa M. Alcott. Illustrated by M. V. Wheelhouse. London : G. Bell and Sons, Limited. One of the earlier volumes in the, dainty half-crown "Queen's Treasures" series was the late Louisa Alcott's "LittleWomen," which for more than a generation has held its ground against' all rivals among first favourites, and this has now been followed by its' sequel, "Good Wives,"- to which a new chaimhas been added by the graceful pjates arid fdecorations by M. V. Wheelhouse. "This choice series of standard favourites " has. won its way into such general, appreciation that it is enough "to 'note the appearance of a- new volume. ' ' • "lerne O'Neal ; An Irish Romance."' By Prances E. Cannon. London: Whit- ' comb© and Tombs. . A book apparently intended for young girls, by a writer whose intentions are good but whose expedience of life has been neither profound nor extensive enough to qualify her for the field of serious' fiction. ■ We can imagine her, with her swift but superficial observation, her fluent language, and really picturesque description, a delightful conversationalist and narrator of little episodes, but whose work does not bear the ordeal of "cold type." Her girls are silly, and their love-talk and. soliloquies are recorded at tiresome length ; the society folk are of two kinds — either with untold wealth or keeping up appearances on a. pittance. The story is incoherent and straggles over a wild field irf Ireland and England. One of tlie characters, a bright artd saucy Irish lass of seventeen, in whom the reader has begun to feel some interest, drowns herself one dark night for no imaginable reason save to supply the author with a startling "curtain" for Part 11. In Part IV. the writer engages her heroine in asocial mission in the East End of London, and shows real sympathy with the "submerged" working population ; but the subject is beyond her depth, and she seems to have been indebted to Walter Besant for the plan on . which lerne is supposed to have worked. The author is not without pi'omiso, - but will have to give much serious and patient study to her art if she- 33 to accomplish anything 'worth while- " The Geography of New Zealand : Historical, Physical, Political, and Commercial/ By P. Marshall, M.A., D.Sc, F.G.S. F.R.G.S., Professor of Geology, Otago University.' With contributions by P'otessor J. W. Gregory, D.Sc, F.H.S., A. Hamilton, and G. Hogben, M.A. Revised Edition. (4b 6d.) Wei' Tliigtbn': Whitdombe- and Tombs. Nowhere iv the world is there a land

of equal area which is such an objectlesson in geography as New Zealand, us 'it seems to contain within' its borders examples of every possible . process ex hibite-d in a world in, the making, and it is an admirable field 1 for study on the lines and in the spirit of the "nevv' geography." — "the science that deal& with tli© forms of relief of the earth's sur'ace and with the influence that there forms exercise on the action of all other phenomena." The publishers deserve credit for the manner in which this revised edition has been produced, with the manner m which they have seemed the" co-operation of the best authorities in the country,' and with the liLeralinttnner in<-whieh tlie book is illUstratedi The fine relief maps of the islands preceding the work supply an -admirable bask for the whole study, and the book, unlike old-fashioned school geographieft^ ii attractivo reading, 'as in ttie illuminating chapter on geysers. Regarding some of the more difficult geologic problems the authors are not wholly agreed, and are not dogmatic where varying solutions are suggested.