Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-05-13

but by whatever names they are called
these periods serve to evoke occasional ex-
pressions of the national love and appre-
citation of flowers and plants The fesi-
walls and celebrations are not confined to
flowers. A twig, bamboo branch. a bunch
of leaves or of grass will serve as a type.
The author of the book has prepared the
following calendar as expressing the mod
ern Japanese range of nature worship: jan
uary. pine: February. plum: March. peach;
April, cherry: May, wistaria: June, iris'
July, morning glory: August lotus; Sep
TENDER, seven grasses OCTOBER, maple
Novem Der. chrysanthemum; December. ca
mellia. The houses are decorated Win
these growthS throughout each month, ana
or special occasions the people engage IN
festivals al the parks or other places OIL
resort or in the extensive private gardehS.
Mr.. Clement adds to the attractiVeness OF
the book by quoting the poetry appropriate
to each of the months and the flower fes-
rivals.
BELCHAMBER By Howard Overing
Sturgis, author of Tim" &c. Lon
don: Archibald Constable * Co. New
York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Wash
ington: Woodward & Lothrop.
The Belcharlber family derived its title
from a dubious incident in its history. ana
produced a long line of questionable char
acters despite or perhaps because of the
fact that they were representatives, of the
titled classes of England. The last of the
house to date is the Belchamber of the
story, weak but. strange to say, a moral
young man. The novel deals with his de-
velupment and his marriage to the daughter
of a noble house. whose mother is an in
triguante of type fairly common in Eng
land today. Belchamber, whose familiar
name is SANITY" is grossly deceived by his
wife before and after marriage. but rises
manfully to the requirements OF his posi-
ton as head of the great house. He con-
nniv low hA
bears. not his own, and determines to keep
him as his heir. despite the fact that there
by he is defrauding his brothers children
of their rights. The situation thus created
is intensely dramatic, and in the play of
characters the author has scored a distinct
success not exceeded in recent literature.
"Belchamber'' is u disagreeable story. 1t
deals with sordid conditions. with selfish.
grasping, immoral, calculating people,
among whom poor SANITY" shines
pure spirit despite his weaknesses of flesh
and spirit. But. despite these unpleasant
qualities, it is a tale to hold the attention
and to arouse the Imagination, and to point
to conditions in the higher social life of Eng
land that cry for correction. Furthermore.
it is written in style which stamps its
producer as one of the leaders of modern
fiction writers.
THE YOUNG FOLKS CYCLOPAEDIA
OF NATURAL HISTORY. BY John
Denison Champlin. AN; with edi-
torial cooperation and an introduce
tion by Frederick a Lucas. Illus
trated. New York: Henry Holt q
Co. Washington: William Ballan-
tyne & Sons.
The editors of this valuable work for ;he
education of young naturalists regard their
product as fitting in between the brief de-
scriptons of Single classes of creatures,
which give only one view of the animal king
dom, and the bulky nature libraries and nat
ural histories which call for a large expendi-
ture and IA considerable shelf space. Into
this one volume of some seven hundred
pages they have condensed all the chief
facts concerning every known variety of
the birds. beasts fishes and reptiles. with
about eight hundred illustrations and a
comprehensive index. Prof. Champlin, the
edtor-in-chief, was formerly associate ed
itor of the American CyciOpaedia, associate
editor of the Standard Dictionary. and ed
itor of the Cyclopaedia of Painters and
Paintings, and thus has brought 10 his
present task expert acquaintance with
its requirements His coadjutor, Mr.. Lucas.
was formerly curator of the division of
comparative anatomy at the National Mu-
scum in this city, and is now curator-in-
chlet OF the museums of the Brooklyn In
stitute. In its text the plan of the book is
to give in the opening sentence of each de-
Scriptive article the scientific facts indi-
eating the animals place in nature; next.
few congratulations respecting its family or
genus and, lastly, an account of the more
important species, indicating their habitat,
personal history, habits, and the origin and
relationship of the species of today to those
of the past. In many cases are given par
ticulars concerning the animais relation to
man, methods of hunting and capture, etc.
LEADING FACTS IN HISTORY Sc
RIES-THE STUDENTS AMERICAN
HISTORY. BY ID. H Montgomery.
author of the series. Revised edi-
ton. Boston: CHM 81 Co.