BOOK REVIEWS. 



521 



The alphabetical arrangement is the same as that of the " Dictionary," 

 and is based upon the scientific names of the animals, plants, and minerals ; 

 the index at the end gives the European and vernacular names, [t thus 

 becomes an easy task to "run down " the information one is seeking, and 

 the marginal references and page headings are also of assistance in this 

 connection. At the end of the account of each product is given a list of 

 the works consulted, and this bibliography supplies references for making 

 more extended research. 



The vast area of India, which (including native States) is usually 

 given as 1,560,000 square miles, a territory larger than the European 

 Continent if we exclude Russia, necessarily has within its borders 

 climates and soil conditions of widely different characters. The com- 

 mercial products of such a large territory are likewise numerous and 

 varied, including not only the spontaneous products of Nature, but also 

 the results of human industry and labour. Considering its vast extent, 

 India is not rich in minerals, or her mineral wealth is not developed to 

 its full extent, consequently the greater part of the work is devoted to 

 descriptions of products derived from the vegetable kingdom. 



For students of economic botany it will, therefore, form an excellent 

 text-book, and planters and commercial men, both at home and abroad, 

 will find it an exceedingly valuable book of reference. To the general 

 reader its pages are not devoid of interest, especially those devoted to the 

 history and descriptions of the common articles of food and drink which 

 are derived from India. 



"Nature and Ornament. L Nature the Raw Material of Design." 

 By Lewis F. Day. 8vo., 126 pp. 87 figures (350 drawings). (B. T. 

 Batsford, London, 1908.) 5.9. net. 



Whatever the conditions and materials governing its use, and however 

 simple and abstract its expression, decorative art, from the severity of 

 the Greek fret to the luxuriance of Indian ornament, has almost 

 invariably received its inspiration from Nature. The student therefore 

 can hardly be too frequently urged to make a close study of natural 

 objects, with the view both of interpreting existing design and of 

 broadening the basis of future work by a deeper insight into the infinite 

 variety of line, form, shade and colour abounding in animal and plant 

 life. The author sets out with the purpose of showing " the development 

 of ornament from natural form and its constant relation to Nature," and 

 of deducing from " the practice of past masters something like guiding- 

 principles to help the student in making his own best use of natural form 

 in ornament " ; but the present volume is devoted almost exclusively to 

 the illustration of the variety and character of common forms of plant 

 life. Seeing that the purpose and value of the book lie in urging the 

 student to make his own drawings from nature, more than one-half is, we 

 think, an excessive proportion to have devoted to plant drawings . of no 

 intrinsic worth. A number of figures unnecessarily duplicated, and others 

 drawn from inferior specimens, might well be replaced by simple studies 

 of animal form, e.g. wing, egg, fish-scale, shell, horn, &c, which are of 

 constant recurrence in design. 



Successive chapters are devoted to the examination of trees, stalks, 



