194 
NATURE NOTES. 
contained in the same book, is that he never fired off a gun in 
his life. He was a generous supporter of scientific research, 
and did his utmost to encourage the study of Natural History 
and Science. 
W. G. Wheatcroft. 
FOUR BOOKS OF VERSE. 
Whether England is or is not at the present time a nest of singing birds is 
to some extent a matter of opinion. The ingenious writer who lately demon- 
strated that we had some seventy minor poets has much to answer for, but in the 
opinion of the verse-writers themselves he fell far short of the mark. There is a 
“Brotherhood of Poets,” known to the initiated as the “ B.O.P.,” who have a 
magazine entirely devoted to their effusions, embellished with portraits and 
biographical (or autobiographical) sketches of the authors ; yet with scarcely an 
exception, these are a long way outside Mr. H. D. Traill’s select seventy, who 
are themselves for the most part considerably below the summit of Olympus. 
A’^ot having the list by us, we are not sure how many of the writers whose 
books are now before us appear among the seventy, but we are certain that the 
“ B.O.P.” does not reckon any of them in its fraternity. One, indeed, does not 
claim for himself the poet’s laurel ; his crown is woven of flowers from many 
gardens, and with rare reticence, he does not contribute a single blossom. 
Mr. R. Maynard Leonard’s anthology. The Dog in British Poetry (David Nutt, 
jS. 6d.), is beautifully printed and tastefully bound, and, judging from the 
reviews we have seen, has given rise to an unusual diversity of opinion. .Some 
think an anthology of dogs in itself objectionable, if only because it is certain to 
be followed by a similar selection devoted to cats; others think it monotonous, 
and it certainly is not a book to read at a sitting. But it is also felt that the 
author has done his work well, and he certainly has brought together an extra- 
ordinary variety of verses, as various in style as they are unanimous in subject. 
The short preface is good, and the notes are excellent. 
“ It was never my intention,” says Mr. Leonard, “ to gather together a 
complete collection of even British poems about dogs.” \Ve do not quite 
understand in what sense the poems are supposed to be “ even,” but it is obvious 
that this remark disarms the critic who would complain of omissions ; who misses 
the dogs who “ delight to bark and bite” (which, indeed, is but a casual re- 
ference, though a familiar one), and the “faithful hound” who found the 
traveller. But when he adds his belief that he has “ overlooked no poem bear- 
ing directly on dogs that is of any’ great importance,” — the construction here is 
somewhat faulty, but it works out all right — he challenges contradiction, which 
we proceed to supply by asking why iNIatthew Arnold’s “ Geist’s Grave ” is 
omitted, while “ Kaiser Dead,” hardly so fine a poem, finds a place. Neverthe- 
less, in spite of the omission of poems we should have expected to find, and for 
which, it may be, the necessary permission to reprint could not be obtained, as 
well as of the inclusion of some which we could have spared, Mr. Leonard has 
given us an interesting as well as a beautiful volume, and Selbornians will do 
well to bear it in mind when Christmas comes round again. 
Lord de Tabley has brought together, in a handsome volume, many of the Poems, 
Dramatic and Lyrical (Elkin Mathews, ys. 6d.), which he published some years 
since, when he was the Hon. John Leicester Warren, a name by which he is 
better known in the two walks of literature and science, both frequented by 
him with diligence and success. Some new poems are added, but to those of us 
who remember them when they first appeared the old are better, and the selec- 
tion here given is of the best. 
For nearly twenty years Lord de Tabley has refrained from verse, although 
he has contributed to literature. There is much in this volume which will 
delight the nature lover, showing as it does the accuracy which characterised the 
author when he was one of the leading British botanists of the “ critical ” school. 
