BRIEF MENTION.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19186, 31 May 1924, Page 4

BRIEF MENTION.

The elevation of Mr Ramsay MacDoiiald to tho high oflioo of Prime Minister of Great Britain has naturally invested himself and his family with widespread interest. In 1912, shortly after the death of his wife, Mr MacDonald wrote and published a Memoir, which ho entitled simply "Margaret Ethel MacDonald," and which was limited in circulation to a few friends and intimates. Owing to a growing demand the Memoir was several times roprmtetl, and it reached a fifth edition in 1920. Messrs George Allen and linwin have now issued the Memoir in popular form, at 5s in cloth and 2s 6d in paper covers, having as frontispiece a portrait of Mrs MacDonald taken with her baby in 1899. Apart from its subject the Memoir has much literary value, proving that the Prime Minister knows how to wield the pen as well as preach and speak «from a political platform. In a' preface to the fifth edition of the Memoir, Mr MacDonald says:— . Whilst reading the proofs for this edition some of the story which I have told seems old now. The war has given ar. unexpected ending to many things, ha. l blocked up somo roads upon which the reformer journeyed, and opened up others. The suffrage controversy has been settled. Labour policy has been altered, the Women's Labour League has been swallowed up in the women's section of the Labour Party. But the tale of faithful work and of creative spirit loses no virtue in spite of the fact that a stormy and revolutionary time has greatly changed the surface of things. So on issuing this Memoir anew I make no alterations. As a history of the movement during the years it covers, it can stand; as a story of a life I would fain hope that no changes in the wheel of political fortune will rob it of its inspiration and guidance for those who, in the springtime of life, seek how "to enjoy the good of all his labour that he taketh under the sun all the days of bis life which God giveth him; for it is his portion." Messrs Whitcombe and Tombs have issued a new edition of Miss Edith Howes's dainty illustrated booklet on "Stewart Island." Miss Howes, who has made a special study of this well-known holiday resort, describes in detail the beauties of the sea, the bush, the islets, and the birds, and concludes with an eloquent word picture of "Dawn in the Bush." As a gift to friends at a distance, this booklet, which forms one of a series, can scarcely be bettered. The price is Is 6d. "The Adder's Sting," by George Hawkier (Religious Tract Society; 2s W net), is "a doctor's story" told in verse and with a decided temperance flavour. The story is founded upon the proverb which says: "Look not thou upon the wine when it is red. ... At last it bitoth. like a serpent and stingeth like an adder." "Auction Bridge for Beginners," by A. C. B. (Stanley Paul; 2s 6d net), is a useful little manual which tells what is necessary for a person to know who desires to learn the game. When it is remembered that auction bridge ia only ten years _ old, and that it has completely ousted whist "from the position it had occupied for nearly 300 years,'" it will generally be conceded that "the present game is a very fine one. and deserves a long life." The value of the manual is increased by the inclusion of the revised laws of the eame The latest addition to Messrs Whitcombe and Tombs's series of "New Zealand Practical Handbooks" is Dr L. Cockayne's "Cultivation of New Zealand Plants" (4s 6d). The book is "the outcome of some thirtyfive years' personal experience in the cultivation of the wild plants" of the dominion—an experience largely gained by the growing of the native species. In all more than 800 New Zealand plants are dealt with, comprising nearly every plant worth cultivating. The descriptions, though brief, include mention of the habitat, or dwelling place, of most of the species. There are introductory chapters on the flora of the dominion generally, on procuring theplants, and on the best methods of cultivation. Trees, shrubs, veronicas, herbs, grasses, climbing plants, and ferns all have separate treatment, the plants in each class being arranged in alphabetical order, with differentiation in the case of those suitable for gardens, home, school grounds, and town planting. The book is comprehensive and complete, and the information conveyed should prove invaluable to all interested in New Zealand plants. There are a large number of illustrations.