PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

Otago Witness, Issue 2861, 13 January 1909, Page 34

PUBLICATIONS RECEIVED.

Mills, Dick, an* 1 Co.'s Otago, Southland, and South Canterbury Almanac and Directory for 1909 is to hand £rom the publishers. This old-established publication continues to be highly appreciated both in town and country, and. as it is brought up-to-date each year it constitutes a cheap and valuable work, of reference. The inclusion of a. diary renders it valuable for jotiting down events which may have to be looked up on soiwe future occasion. The provisions of tha Fencing, Land Transfer, Stomp Duty, and Licensing Acts are summarised. There awe concise I and carefully-prepared garden and farm I calendars, astronomical and other notes, ! commercial, educational, judicial, and 1 official directories, and much other useful information. We ha\e received from Messrs Watts an-1 Co. the Rationalist Press Association's Annual for 1909 (6d net). Th« 1 second issue is fully up to the standard of ' the first number. In addition to papers by Professor Cesare Lombroeo, Professor Lester Ward, and Mr George Brandes, there are specially notewoxthv contributions by Mr J. M. Eobartson, "M.P., Mr Alfred- W. Benn, Mr Jossph M'Cabe, Mr F. J. Gould, Dr C. Callaway, Mr Adams Gowaajs White, ! Mr W. B. Columbine, and Mr Chairiss E. Hooper. All of thesa vrriters supply articLes, mostly brief, on a variety of subjects which call for, and justify, soLid and> serious treatment. Messrs Watts amd Co. also , senid u 5 " a n?«,t booklet entitled " A Cate--1 chisin of Religion and the Social Life." (6d net). In this brochure, the aurtihor, Mr F. .1. Gould, stakes concisely the Po&itivist faith and the menage that the Com - tists claim to have for the amelioration of the lot of the democracy. Thoughtful students of social subjects will find amdfr that is of high value and suggest ivencss in tkjse pages. The Ti-3d for January, with its illustrated supplemisnt, contains a good deal of j criticism, more or lc~e acrid, and is theret fore interesting reading for those net oriticieed. The new Windsor Christmas number is a worthy successor to the splendid shillingsworths that have been given at the festive tune with this popular magazine for so many years past. It is packed with good things, and has a wonderful array of splendid short stories by front-rank novelists of the day — Rudyurd Kipling, Anthony Hope, Barry! I Pain. Edsn Phillpotts. Mrs Thurston, H. A. Vachell. and others. There are 15 beautiful coloured illustrations of varied subjects, anc! nearly 150 black-and-white pictures 1 , all by leading artists. Justus Miles Forman commences a n-ew serial story. " The Quest," andl Maurice Hewlett gives the opening chapters of another entitled, " Brazenhead in Milan." Interesting articles on th« " Women of the Bible," '• The Most Noble Order of tha Garter," " A Master of British Sport," etc., all by well-known writer*. Altogether, the Christmas Windsor-, 1906, can be -warmly recommended. The Review of Reviews for Australasia for January contains an unusually large amount of general reading in the shape of reviews of the leading magazines, but, in addition to this, the quantity and character of the other matter is exceedingly readable and interesting. The interviews deal with the Indian question, which is so much in prominence just now, and c eems likely to gain a settlement from the proclamation of the intentions 'of the British Government regarding the constitution; with Modern Politics and .Social Reform ; and the triumphs of I X'tio-B-cterui-e. by Professor Bottomley. I Tl'.e character sketch is of the Marquis of Ripon and is illustrated by several exce]lent photograph*. The History of the Month is dealt with in tha usual comprehensive fashion, and the whole forms a compendium which is most suitable far holiday digest.