i8o 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



This well known dictionary has been so 

 frequently and so thoroughly revised as to 

 be free from phases calling for unfavor- 

 able criticism. It is so generally acknowl- 

 edged a standard as to need no eulogy 

 of the reviewer. 



The old book keeps young. It renews 

 its vitality under the skillful guidance of 

 the publishers. It is indispensable for 

 school, office or study. In addition to 

 "spelling and defining," it is a vast store- 

 house of general (information. "Get the 

 Best" is a phrase, permissible for the pub- 

 lishers to freely use. 



Life of the Fields, the Open Air and Nature 

 near Loudon. By Richard Jefferies. 3 

 Volumes Cloth, Gilt Top. New York: 

 Thomas Y. Crowell & Co., Publishers, 



This is a dainty and charming set of 

 three books by the Englisn author who is 

 very dear to every naturalist. Poor, rich, 

 patient, happy, sorrowing, Richard Jeffer- 

 ies! We are glad to have these little vol- 

 umes in which we shall again revel in "The 

 Pageant of Summer," "Meadow Thoughts," 

 "Woodlands," "Flocks of Birds," and many 

 other interesting and well written chapters. 



The author does not speak didactically, — 

 he just gives us himself. Such as I am, 

 he unconsciously tells us he wants us to be. 

 And we are. Every bit of philosophy, of 

 nature and life, every little observation the 

 gifted author weaves into the very life of 

 the reader. 



The publishers have done well their part 

 in putting into so attractive form these 

 classics from prose-poet (or shall we say 

 poet-prose) of England. 



Days Off and Other Digressions:. .By Henry 

 Van Dvke. New York: Charles Scrib- 

 ner's Sons. 1908. 



Professor Van Dyke is fortunate above 

 the common lot of nature lovers, in having 

 the means and the leisure to indulge his 

 taste in woods and rivers in a fashion im- 

 possible to most of his readers. His read- 

 ers are fortunate in that his extraordinary 

 skill in handling words, gives to his pages 

 a glamor and a charm hardly less than that 

 of out-door nature itself. Professor Van 

 Dyke is a master of literary craftsmanship. 

 No one else writes his particular sort of 

 book quite so well as he. Whenever, 

 therefore, he comes to printing, the book is 

 bound to be, of its kind, the book of the 

 year. 



The present work Hits over a consider- 

 able range of topics. There are essays on 

 the general theory of days off; on novels; 

 on the art of stopping when one is through. 

 There are three capital short stories of 

 fisherman's luck, hunter's luck, and es- 

 pecially the luck of lovers. There are ac- 

 counts of delightful excursions down wild 

 and unfamiliar rivers in Maine, in out-of- 



the-way corners of England, and— of all 

 places— in New Jersey. In addition, just 

 by way of variety, there is a most amusing 

 and satirical parody of the writings of the 

 sympathetic school of nature lovers. 



Professor Van Dyke, however, is first of 

 all, the literary man, and next to that the 

 fisherman, and only after these the natural- 

 ist. His latest work, is in his own words, 

 a book of "pleasant and grateful memories, 

 little pictures and stories . . . opin- 

 ions and prejudices .... a book to 

 symbolize and illustrate the true inward- 

 ness of the day off." It does not "try to 

 prove anything, or convince anybody, or 

 convey any profitable instruction" — and it 

 is altogether charming. 



E. T. Brewster. 

 Andover, Mass. 



Leaf and Tendril: By John Burroughs. 

 Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Company. 



The author records in this book some 

 of his sharpest observations and most 

 thoughtful speculations. He is at his best. 

 The chapters, "The Art of Seeing Things" 

 and "Animal and Plant Intelligence," are 

 especially good. Among his sharpest ob- 

 servations are chimneys of cicadas, twining 

 of plants, peculiarity of rays of light, not 

 honeybees that puncture grapes, the human 

 expressions of stone walls, the curious in 

 nature, song of woodcock, anger at in- 

 animate objects, the cow that ate a "stuffed" 

 calf, frost forms and nature wins on both 

 sides. The controversial chapter, "Gay 

 Plumes and Dull," contains much food for 

 thought even if the reader doesn't agree 

 with him in all points. 



Here are some characteristic thoughts 

 from "The Divine Soil:" 



"One of the hardest lessons we have to 

 learn in this life, and one that many per- 

 sons never learn, is to see the divine, the 

 celestial, the pure, in the common, the near 

 at hand — to see that heaven lies about us 

 here in this world." 



"All that which in our limited view of 

 nature we call waste and delay — how can 

 such terms apply to the Infinite? Can we 

 ever speak truly of the Infinite in terms of 

 the finite? To be sure, we have no other 

 terms and can never have. Then let us 

 be silent and — reverent." 



The Common Ohjects of the Sea-Shore, In- 

 cluding Hints for an Aquarium. By 



Rev. J. G. Wood, M. A., F. L. S.. etc. 

 Author of the "Illustrated Natural His- 

 tory," etc. With illustrations by Sow- 

 erby. Fourteenth Edition. New York: 

 E. P. Dutton & Co. 



This little English work is popularly 

 written and contains many good sugges- 

 tions. Its chief fault is an endeavor to put 

 too many subjects into one book. The com- 

 mon objects are too many to do justice to 



