Los Angeles herald., 1907-10-08
Between New Book Covers

strangers that they will open their eyei
and ears to the flash of fur and feathers
in the tree tops and the song OF tine
warblers in the thicket.
i The book is written in plain
straightforward narrative manner
easily understood and with delight
full charm that will endear it to chill
dren, both of smaller and larger
growth The illustrations are remark
ably well done Those in color and
| tint show class of work rarely
turned out in books of this sort. rms
is a matter of no small consideration,
as poor coloring may be most mislead-
ing to amateur ornithologists.
Tenants Of. the Trees. BY Clarence
Hawkes.. Boston: L. G. Page & Co. Los
Angeles: C. c. Parker.
Ordinarily guide books are dry read
ing, but this does not apply to "Ine
Automobilist Abroad" which occupies
the middle ground between the
sprightly auto romances of the VIII
liamsons and the stereotyped Baedeker
or Cook. AS a pastime, automoplilng
is still new and is not yet accomplished
without some considerable annoyance
and friction. The conventional guides
are of but little assistance and the
more descriptive works on travel fail
| too often to note the continually
| changing conditions which afect the
F, tourist alike by road and rail- France
| is the land par excellence for automo-
Ibile touring not only from Its splendid
roads but from the wide diversity Oh
it's sights and scenes and manners ana
customs, and last, but not least, lts
| most excellent hotels strung along Its
! highways and byways like pearls In
collarette.
| The interesting points covered by
the author, whose descriptive powers
are most delightfully."- entertaining, are
| from Paris to Bordeaux, little tour
| in the Pyrenees, in Languedocs and old
Provence, by Rhone and Seine, the
road to Flanders, and through Scotland,
Holland and Germany.
This book is just as interesting to
one who has no automobile as to one
who has, as it is an entertaining book
of travel and most artistic and beau
tifully illustrated one besides.
The Automobillst Abroad. By Fran
ces Miltoun. Boston,: l.. G. Page &
Co. Los Angeles: C. G. Parker.
There is much to induce careful read
ing of DR.. Griffis' new work, 'The Japa-
nese Nation in Evolution" Even to
casual observers the rise of Japan during
the last twenty-five years has been
amazing. How much more wonderful
should 1t seem to one who has been in
the midst of 1t all, and who has aided in
fostering this western movement, Dr.
Griffis was one of the pioneers of civili-
zation to Japan; he went there as one of
the first American educators after Com
modore Perry found entrance to the her
NIT kingdom.
The purport of this important work of
his pen is we'll described by it's title. al
though 1T is by no means limited to the
last quarter or half century as some
might suppose. 1t traces the rise of the
Japanese people from prehistoric times,
incidentally emphasizing a curious fact
upon which the author insists-that the
original stock of this people is Aryan, or
Ainu, and not Mongolian. In other words,
they are closely allied with the white
races of other lands, and thus assimilate
European culture in the rapid manner
they have already shown. The volume
is full of first-hand information. and is
easily one of the most valuable text books
on this great subject yet presented.
The Japanese Nation in Evolution
By William E. Griffis. New York:
Thomas Y. Crowel & Co.
Under the title of Youth" G. Stanley
Hall has compiled a carefully condensed
version of his more voluminous work,
Adolescence" 1t deals with the educa-
ton, regimen and hygiene of the young,
and is prepared for-the convenience of
teachers and parents. The new edition
contains chapters on Industrial Educa-
tion," Gymnastics, PLAY, Sports and
Games" Faults, Lies and Crimes" "The
Growth of Social IDEAS moral and Re-
ligious Training etc. The volume af-
fords pleasant contrast to those morbid,
introspective studies which are some
times prepared for the use of, or in rela-
tion to, the young.
Youth. BY G. Stanley Hall. New
York: D. Appleton & Co.
Mr.. Huckel's series of Wagner dramas
in English blank verse is assuming in
creasing Importance as year by year a
new title is added to it, What we have
long needed is a good literary version of
these fine stories, devoid of the poverty
and harshness of the opera libretto, and
this ideal text is very nearly approached
by the present author. 1t is not so much
a translation as paraphrase, preserving
both the words of the characters and
their actions, together with enough de-
scription to round out the plct.
But all those readers who had access
to the preceding books do not need to be
told this The first one, "Parsifal,"
created nothing less than furore, being
likened by one prominent review to
"Idylls of the King" "Lohengrin" was
it's natural successor; while "Tannhau-
SER was nearly enough allied to .Aem to
round out trilogy.y With ''Rheingold"
we enter upon the four great Ring"
dramas, and our best wish is that the
author may complete the cycle as aus
piciously as it is begun.
Rheingold, the Wagner Drama Retold
in English Verse; By Oliver Huckel.
New York. Thomas Y. Crowell & Co.
The spectacle of a United States SEN
ator pleading for wider reading of the
Bible is not commonplace affair. The
picture of a critic maintaining the die
tum that the best of even worldly sorts
of reading is to be found in the Great
Book is somewhat novel. For those rea-
sons alone-not to mention the intrinsic
worth of the volume-our attention is
commanded by 1.-The Bible as Good Read
ing" which comes from the virile pen of
Albert j. Beveridge, United States SEN
ator from Indiana.
The Bible has, of course. stood the test
of centuries as a guide to faith and con-
duct 1t has changed the map of the
world made and unmade kings and peo-
PIES Men of old have died for it and no