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NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS. 



Country Rambles ; being a Field Naturalist's and Country Lover s 

 Note Book for a Year. By W. Percival Westell. Illus- 

 trated with Photographs taken direct from Nature by J. T. 

 Newman, and from Drawings by Arthur Martin. Henry 

 J. Drane. 

 This is a book of lovely illustrations — in fact, we know of no 

 more charming collection of scenes in animal and country life — 

 and Messrs. Newman and Martin may well be congratulated on a 

 distinct success. 



As regards the text, much may well be skipped. The author, 

 in his preface, remarks, " There are some entries which may ap- 

 pear " trifling " ; whilst Mr. Aflalo observes, in his introduction, 

 " His style is throughout discursive." In other words, the letter- 

 press might well be pruned by the hand of a friend who possessed 

 the senses of humour and proportion. The charm of Gilbert 

 White, Knapp, and other similar and well-known writers, is in 

 the fact of their knowing what, as well as how, to observe ; while 

 in these days one is expected to be more or less original. In a 

 recent discussion in the press on the question, " Why men did 

 not go to Church," it was frequently adduced by correspondents 

 that ordinary sermons contained too many platitudes ; we believe 

 these are fatal to a sermon, and they are certainly destructive to 

 a book. Mr. Westell is evidently a real lover of nature, and his 

 enjoyment of the sights and sounds around him is to be envied 

 and followed ; his volume is a good guide to what may be looked 

 for each month in both plant and animal life. 



