Book Reviews 



217 



"Travels in In an interesting volume divided into twelve books, 



THE Pyrenees ""^ V. C. Scott O'Connor, the author of several books 

 on the Far East, has given impressions of that little 

 known and little written about country of the Eastern Pyrenees, includ- 

 ing both the Pyrenees of France and of Spain. It is refreshing to renew 

 our historical knowledge of a country so saturated with associations of 

 Roman history from Hannibal's time, and on through the Middle Ages. 

 The author is a member of the French Alpine Club. A great love and 

 admiration for Mount Canigou, the predominating peak of this region, 

 are reflected in his book. Far from being a mountaineering book, how- 

 ever, it is rather a jotting down of impressions of dim old cathedrals 

 or graceful Catalan maidens in their native dances. Two beautiful col- 

 ored cuts of paintings, one of Mount Canigou, and excellent photo- 

 graphs on almost every page, add greatly to the interest of the book 

 and help to give us the feeling of contrast between Spain, the easy- 

 going and picturesque,, the country of the clerical school, the bad 

 roads and the mule, and France with its admirable system of educa- 

 tion, its efficient postoffice, electric trains and great highways. To 

 have such places as the RepubHc of Andora and Puigcerda made acces- 

 sible by railroads, as the author says they soon will be, ought to 

 bring to the Spanish new incentive and interest in life. L. F. O'C. 



"Club Alpino The Italian Alpine Club, organized in 1863, celebrated 

 lTALiANo"t its fiftieth anniversary during the past year. The 

 directorate has happily signalized the event by publish- 

 ing a quarto volume of 282 pages in which the achievements of the 

 Club during that period are portrayed with picture and pen. Being 

 printed on heavy glazed paper, the numerous beautiful illustrations are 

 very effective. It is interesting to meet, in the earlier chapters, fine 

 portraits of some of the famous Italian guides, like Jean Antoine Car- 

 rel. Chapters dealing with special activities of the Club have been 

 written by men who possess special fitness for the task. There is, for 

 instance, a chapter on Nomenclature (Toponomastica), and Hypso- 

 metry. Another deals with the botanical and geological studies which 

 were carried on under the auspices of the Club. One deals with "The 

 Development of Alpinism without a Guide in Italy." It may prove 

 suggestive to members of the Sierra Club to note how extremely varied 

 the activities are to which the membership of this club has devoted 

 itself. Winter sports, meteorology, museum expositions of alpine flora 

 and fauna, the establishment of refuges and building of trails, painting 

 and photography of alpine scenery, reforestation— all these interests 

 have their devotees in various sections of the Italian Alpine Club. We 

 congratulate our sister club on the fine record of its achievements. 



W. F. B. 



"Travels in the Pyrenees. By V. C. Scott O'Connor. Dodd, Mead & Co., New 

 York. With four colored plates and 158 other illustrations and a map. 348 pages. 

 Price $3.00 net. 



^L'Opera del Club Alpino Italiano, nel primo suo cinquantennio. Torino, 1913- 



