BOOK REVIEWS. 



605 



ordinary adjectival value as frequently promoted to the glory of a 

 capital — so much so, indeed, that the lists of names resemble the 

 exercises in lesson-books in which the student is invited to note and 

 correct the errors. At last one feels it may be a pose of the author, 

 a pretence to a lack of orthodox botanical knowledge, a stooping to 

 conquer, to encourage the non-botanist, who is so unfairly considered 

 the only worthy companion to share in the joys of this book. 



Yet the eye of a botanical friend on the proofs, or a comparison 

 of the names with those in the Kew Hand-hsts of Shrubs and of 

 Herbaceous Plants, would have rendered the book delightful to all, 

 even to the driest of botanists. May there shortly appear a second 

 edition in which the species of Dianthus now appearing as Barbatus, 

 Deltoides, Graniticus, and Caesius will resume their customary small 

 letters; Daphne striata will no longer be declared identical with the 

 far more lovely and good-tempered plant D. Cneorum ; the charming 

 picture of Viola calcarata will no more stand on its head ; and justice 

 may be done on p. 172 to the excellent collections of native and local 

 plants shown in many botanic and public gardens, as, for instance, at 

 Cambridge and Cheltenham. Then one may laugh at that lifelike 

 character Baron Cow's Tail and the episode of the disappearing 

 Drops of Brandy ; be grateful for the recipe for beds of closely-packed 

 stones and soil as a substitute for the so-called moraine ; and delight in 

 the beautiful little prose poem on Eritrichium nanum at home ; without 

 shuddering at the slight put upon the memory of Caspar Wistar in the 

 word printed * wisteria.' 



One more pious hope : may there be a good index ! The sixteen 

 photographs that form the illustrations are by Mr. Reginald Malby, 

 and a sufficient guarantee for their excellence is embodied in the bare 

 statement. 



" M3^hs and Legends of Flowers, Trees, Fruits, and Plants, in 

 all Ages and in all Climes." By Charles M. Skinner, 8vo. 302 pp. 

 (Lippincott, Philadelphia and London, 1913.) 6s. net. 



The folk-lore of plants has been so well dealt with already that, 

 having such books as Folkard's and Friend's, one would think there 

 was no need for another on the subject. However, the American 

 book under notice is written in such a pleasant, light-hearted way, 

 that it gives the tales already told by the others in a very attractive 

 and cheerful form, and has a further claim to a space on the shelf 

 through containing several additional legends, especially those of 

 American and Japanese origin. 



Of the former a singularly charming one tells how the aged Peboan, 

 the Winter spirit, dying of age and cold, is visited by Segun, the beautiful 

 spirit of Summer, whose breath causes flowers to spring forth and the 

 shaking of whose hair brings warm, gentle rains. 



As Peboan dies his furs turn to frozen leaves, but Segun warms 

 them to life, and places. them in the earth as the lovely and sweetly 

 scented Trailing Arbutus, Epigeia repens, that the children may find 



