Evening star., 1936-02-29

those love affairs that had to be, even
though 1t followed path which de-
toured around the altar. Distinguished
characters were they who participated
in the tragedy and distinguished Is
their offspring. Miss Bowen demon
strates that In q few brief, crisp,
brilliant sentences.
The morning ends and Miss Bowen
takes one back over the story Of the
poignant love affair which led up to 1t.
Love, as she sees 1t and writes 1t,
is a thing of many facets. In the
case of one character it is q force
that impels to an end Of abject sacri-
flee, of another, quite the reverse. In
still others, it offers nuances that
makes one extremely glad for the
eyes of Elizabeth Bowen with which
to see them.
You will like the story Of little
Leopold and the pattern of life of
which he is the focal point. You will
or We won't like you. F. J. C.
WE EUROPEANS. BY Julian s. Hux-
ley and A. c. Haddon. With q
contribution by A. M. Carr-Saun-
ders New York: Harper & Bros.
THIS book is devoted to the propo-
sition that, on the basis of any
scientific classification, the existence
of race cannot be proven. The emf
nent authors take up in turn the
~ v.aafh1lc NJ Anfornn3no
ton, hair form and hair color, skin
color, eye color and eye form, stature,
head form. nasal form, physiological
and psychological characters and
blood groups. And in every case they
conclude that sufficient scientific evi-
dence of definite grouping is absent.
What we generally accept as racial"
characteristics or ties they rate as cul-
tural and social, rather than ethno-
logical.
The authors admit "ethnic groups"
as a loose classification. but repre-
sent nationalism today as the defini-
tive standard. That, they point out,
rests on external, rather than bio
logical factors. And the error to which
they devote their most pointed COM
ment is the fact that nations are cur
rently attempting to use the pretense
of race" purity. or race" superiority
for purely nationalistic ends. Such
claims, say the writer's, are scientific
ally baseless and, in an age which dei-
fies science, are particularly offensive
to the realistic mind.
The book is particularly concerned
with Europe, where the aforesaid con-
dition exists most conspicuously. 1t
contains a survey of the "ethnic
groups" and maps their national dis
tribution. The result is, as any think
ing person would foresee, practically
polyglot. 1t is simply devastating to
any claim that a particular nation
comprises pure racial stock of any
variety, or that any return" to for
mer racial purity could be possible.
While these statements are not in
themselves surprising. the book does
contain much specific information
that the average reader probably will
not have known. 1t is Interestingly
done and would seem to be pertinent
at the present time.
CHINA CHANGES. BY G. J. Yorke.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
THE author of this book was sent
out to China as Reuters corre-
spondent and served there in that
capacity for two years. In that time
he had a variety of lively experiences;
he went with the Chinese forces into
Jehol when the japanese were advance
ing, he accompanied the anti-Com-
munist forces in Kiangsi, he witnessed
in Fukien the rebellion of the famous
10th Route Army and saw the rise and
fall Of the short-lived Peoples Revo-
lutionary Government of China"
He also accompanied a commission
sent out by the Chinese government
to inspect the flood-control system of
the Yangste and Huai River Valleys.
Finally, when he got little time to
himself, he settled in monastic
hermitage to write book. And the
book, Of course, is the present work.
It contains much interesting ma
terial. In its assembling there is no
particular conference, but, one gathers,
Mr.. Yorke was not aiming at much
more than setting down his impress
sions and memories. With never-to-be-
sufficiently Recommended modesty, he
remarks of his effort, IS. honesty
compels me to admit that I am not
yet fully qualified to write seriously
about the country. for I have been
resident for only some two years.
. I have dreamed of this country
since childhood, and have read all the
translations on which could lay my
hands. But interest in subject cam
not make up for the knowledge that
only time and study can bring"
He has done a book, however, which
does show, without any partisan
political passion, nation in fiux, and
he has offered some reasonable STEM
ing interpretations of the forces back
of the change. His style at no time
rises above the leyel of acceptable
journalism, which il unfortunate, for
one feels that his vision has been be-
yond that. However, to the average
reader, this circumstance will prob
ably be of advantage. The book Is
certainly an honest and worthy study.
THE NEW BOOK OF ENGLISH
VERSE. Edited by Charles Will
liams. New York: The Macmillan
Co.
THE editor of this new anthology Of
English verse states in his intro
duction, "The two rules laid down by
the publisher for this work were "a
that it should contain nothing that
was in the oxford Book of English
Verse" or the Golden Treasury" (2)
that every poem included should be
of poetic importance"
He adds that, except for one stanza
from Chaucer, the first rule has. he
believes, been kept. although the many
editions Of the Treasury make 1t
difficult to be sure. It Is when one
coroeS tn thu sacns,d Y7r1e of coaIrsA