THE BOOKMAN'S HARVEST.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19292, 3 April 1926, Page 7 (Supplement)

THE BOOKMAN'S HARVEST.

gleanings in the field.

K. R. G. Browne, author of " Following Ann" and " A Lady from the South," •whose humour is as light-hearted and bubbling as that of P. G. Wodehouse himself, is tho son of Gordon Browne, artist and illustrator, and grandson of Hallot Iv. Browne, so well known to an earlier'gene ration of Dickens lovers as the immortal " Phiz." In 1918, while in the army, he began by contributing war sketches to Punch and London Opinion. For a year be was assistant editor of " The Passing Show," but he now devotes himself entirely to writing, and his h.tcst book, not yet published, is to bo called The Disappearing Man." A series of books to be published by Jarrold's has the general t.tle cf " Theso ' Diversions." Each book will contain a long personal essay on ono of the pleasures and pursuits of the writer. The quality of the series may be judged by tho fact that tho first, on " Dreaming," by Walter de la Mare, is to bo followed by contributions from Robert Lvnd, Hugh Walpolo, James Agate, J. B. Priestley and Ililaire Belloc —a varied and delightful collection. + * ♦ * ♦ Laymen who imagine that the theory of ftrotectivo coloration was long ago estabished on an unassailable basis will bo surprised to find that a big volume has just been published under the title of " Camouflage in Nature," which reaffirms tho old theory. It appears that there exists a large body of scientists who are still sieptics on the point. "This mistrust," says the author, "has been sown, to a very large extent, by its official champions, inasmuch as they have ventured to insist tnat all coloration is to be regarded as possessing a protective lifeBaving value. * * » * » " This,, of course, is an absurd and untenable position. The flaming red of tho flamingo of the Bahamas, we have been gravely told, lias been tinted to match the sky at sunset, or sunrise, as the me may be. . . . What possible benefit can it be to a bin" to display a harmony of tone with tho rising or setting sun ? Tho heavens shine with a reflected glory for a few minutes, at most, at the beginning and end of the day; where can the poor things hide themselves during the hours of daylight"?*' » , • # * » By a curious irony F. C. Selous, tho noted big-game hunter, who always remained unconvinced by the theory of protective coloration, onco proved its validity l;i his own person. He escaped the charge of a wounded lion by the simple accident of his costume and his sun-browned face harmonising so perfectly with the tints of a huge ant-hill against which he was sitting that the enraged and keen-eyed beast vas unable to see him at the distance of a hundred yards. 4 « • • • " Memories at Random," by Henry S. Davenport, contains an amusing anecdote of Winston Churchill. Once, hunting with the Quorn, he came down wallop at a fence. Hounds ran on. Later on Alfred Brocklehurst shouted out to someone who stayed behind to render succour. " What was the dn-'nge ?" "He broke his collar-bone," was the reply. " Good Lord, is that all ? Pity it wasn't his—jaw!" * * » » t Walt Whitman somewhere distinguishes between loving " by allowance" and loving with a personal love, and it is certainly tho latter type of affection which her readers feel for the late Kate Douglas Wiggin, whose " Life" by her sister has just been published. Admirers of the gay " Penelope" series will agree with the English critic who describes the author as " one of the most successful of the 'Ambassadors between America and Great Britain. Her epitaph has been fitly, if too modestly, composed by herself in a letter to the husband she loved so well: " When my heart has ceased to beat. I should like to have lived so that you could slip these words under the coffin-lid that covers me." These are the words: What she had she gave gladly—hoping that it might somehow please or help those who had less. If it Was little, at feast she tried to multiply it and fructify it by use; but wero it little or much, she wanted to show her worthiness to possess by proving herself ■willing to serve.