XOTI'^S 



729 



liim nil tlio successful caroor wliich the ^NIu- 

 scuni li;i> enjoyed during liis difectorsliiji. 



Theke has come to hand a noteworthy 

 volume ou Decorative Tcj-/ i/c.v i by George 

 Leland Hunter. As an example of good 

 taste in book-making, it leaves little to lie 

 desired. Over its 458 pages are spr(>ad 

 many wonderful plates of color aiid numer 

 ous lemarkable half tones. Tlu' author takes 

 up the leailing modern textiles used in iionn' 

 decoration such as damasks, brocades, vel- 

 vets, laces, embroideries, carpets, rugs, taj)- 

 estries, wall papers, and toole<l leathers. 

 Under each will be found a brief statement 

 of the historic evolution resulting in the 

 present forms, a characterization of the tech- 

 niques by which the textiles may be recog- 

 nized, followed by a lengthy illustrated ac- 

 count of distinctive type textiles. Special 

 attention is given to prehistoric and primi- 

 tive textiles and their place in the history of 

 the textile art as a whole. The material for 

 these sections is taken from the American 

 Museum's collection. The publisher is the 

 J. B. Lippincott Company (Philadelphia and 

 London) and the printing was done on the 

 press of the Good Furnilure Magazine, our 

 one high-class household art publication. 



Ix a recent book - from the press of the .J. 

 B. Lippincott Company is told the interesting 

 story of the Virgin Islands from the time 

 of their discovery by Columbus in 1493 to 

 the present time. The volume is of particu- 

 lar interest to us since the United States 

 acquired (on March 31, 1917, at a price 

 paid to Denmark of $2.5,000,000) the im- 

 portant islands of St. Thomas, St. .John, 

 and St. Croix, together with a number 

 of adjacent rocky islets, formerly con- 

 stituting the Danish West Indies. The 

 acquisition of these islands increases the ter- 

 ritory of the Ignited States by 138 square 

 miles. Mr. de Booy spent the winter of 

 1916-1917 in the Virgin Islands engaged in 



1 Di-rnrative Textiles. An illustrated book on 

 coverings for furniture, walls and floors, including 

 damasks, brocades and velvets, tapestries, laces, 

 embroideries, chintzes, cretonnes, drapery and fur- 

 niture trimmings, wall papers, carpets and rugs, 

 tooled and illuminated leathers. By George Leland 

 Hunter. Published by the .1. B. Lippincott Com- 

 pany, Philadelphia and London, and the Dean- 

 Hicks Company, Grand Rapids; pp. 4.58, illustra- 

 tions 580. and 27 plates in color. 1918. 



■- y/(c Tirijin Is'ands. Our Xew Po»>ii'fi«io)ui. ami 

 the British Islands. By Theodoor de Booy and 

 John T. Faris. Published by the J. B. Lippincott 

 Company, j)]). 287, 5 maps, and 97 illustrations 

 from photographs. 



archu'ological investigations in the interest 

 of the Museum of the American Indian, 

 II eye Foundation, New York City. This 

 exjiedition and others to various parts of the 

 West Indies which he has conducted in the 

 interest of the same institution have brought 

 him in intimate contact with the people and 

 their home life. As the book owes its 

 origin to the exploration of caves and the ex- 

 cavation of kitchen-middens of the West 

 India Islands, we naturally find in it much 

 information concerning the aborigines. The 

 authors have not confined themselves to ob- 

 jects of interest in the larger towns, as is 

 often the case, but take the reader the length 

 and breadth of the islands. The tourist 

 will find all requisite information ; the busi- 

 ness man will find something of the activities 

 of the islands that may suggest investment; 

 the spirit of romance that has always hov- 

 ered over the islands has not been neglected ; 

 while accounts of the buccaneers, tradi- 

 tions of Black Beard, Blue Beard, and 

 others are included. The book is profusely 

 illustrated with photographs taken by Mr. 

 de Booy. 



Ix connection with the review in this issue 

 of the JouRXAL of Dr. Wissler's The Ameri- 

 can Indian we note a review of the book and 

 an appreciation of the author's work in the 

 American Indian Magazine. This magazine 

 is the official organ of the Society of Amer- 

 ican Indians. The society is exactly what 

 its name states — an organization of Indians 

 to promote the education and general prog- 

 ress of the race and to assist in defense 

 against incompetency and dilatory politics 

 in the administration of Indian affairs. 



The copy containing this review is a spe- 

 cial Sioux number. Early in his anthropo- 

 logical work Dr. Wissler went out among 

 the Sioux of South Dakota where he obtained 

 much of the material which now forms in 

 the American Museum the exhibition re- 

 lating to the Indians of the Plains. A num- 

 l)er of Sioux Indians (notably George Sword 

 and Thomas Tyon) actively assisted him in 

 the work, to whom both th6 Museum and Dr. 

 Wissler are greatly indebteil. 



The recent fire that swept over several 

 hundred square miles of ^linnesota forests, 

 destroying $100,000,000 worth of property 

 and killing more than one thousand persons, 

 is a matter to attract national attention even 



