BOOKS RECEIVED. 



20£ 



Cedar of Lebanon, whereas the North American Juniperus virginiana is 

 the tree from which the wood used in the manufacture of " Cedar-wood " 

 pencils is obtained. There are some rather glaring botanical misspellings, 

 such as at page 108, where the Elder is included as Tambascus instead of 

 Sambucus ; and forty feet must not be considered as the highest specimen 

 of the Hawthorn, there being a noble tree in the Royal Park at Green- 

 wich which towers to a height of about sixty feet. The illustrations are 

 generally good, though that of the Larch is by no means typical, and the 

 Thorn is hardly sufficiently dense. The novel chapter on " How to 

 distinguish Trees " will be useful to the amateur, and the descriptions are 

 from the pen of evidently a keen observer. Altogether the book is a 

 useful one of its kind, and is written with the air of one who knows her 

 subject-matter well. 



" Sweet Violets and Pansies." Edited by E. T. Cook. (George 

 Newnes, London.) 3s. 6d. 



Another excellent number of " The Country Life Library," and 

 though it is smaller than any of its predecessors it will be none the less 

 welcomed by those whose fancy runs on Violets and Pansies — especially 

 Pansies, for of the ninety-eight pages of which the book consists fifty-seven 

 are devoted to Pansies and so-called Violas, twenty-six to a description of 

 the many species of the genus Viola, and fifteen to Garden Violets ; but in 

 these fifteen pages there is a veritable mine of information on soil and 

 manures for Violets, on making the beds and raising and managing the 

 plants, and the best varieties are mentioned, both single and double, and 

 for both outdoors and in frames. The Pansies and Violas are treated of 

 at greater length, but not, in our opinion, with any greater utility. By 

 far the most interesting portion of the volume is the chapter on the 

 various species called " Violets of Mountain and Plain." Between forty 

 and fifty species are described, many of them coming from America. We 

 are deeply indebted to Mr. Cook for this chapter. 



" The Book of Herbs." By Lady Rosalind Northcote. (John Lane, 

 London.) 2s. 6d. 



A book which must have entailed a maximum of research with 

 probably a minimum of utility. That it must be full of interest to 

 anyone interested in the subject is undoubted, but who really wants to 

 know that " Dittander or Pepperwort grows wild in a few places in 

 England, but was once cultivated " ? It was sometimes used as " a sauce 

 or sallet to meate, but is too hot, bitter, and strong for everyone's taste." 

 These qualities have gained it the names of Poor Man's Pepper and, from 

 Tusser, Garden Ginger. It is so "hot and fiery sharpe " that it is said 

 to raise a blister on the hand of anyone who holds it for a while, and 

 therefore it was recommended " to take away the marks of burning with 

 fire or iron." And that is all we are told about Dittander or Pepperwort. 

 We do not for a moment suggest that there is any more to tell, for the 

 book all through shows signs of most diligent and widespread research ; 

 we only quote it as a sample, and a perfectly fair one, of what is told us of 

 multitudes of old-fashioned " herbs" which have long since gone out of 

 cultivation owing to their inutility, and we cannot fancy anyone but an 



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