"THE NATIONS LIBRARY."

Press, Volume L, Issue 149814, 30 May 1914, Page 9

"THE NATIONS LIBRARY."

Among the valuable educational influences of the day the admirably written series of books issued by the Collins Clear Tvue Press under the title or "The Nation's Library,*' may be said to hold a vev high place. The subjects dealt with are of national interest, each book is specially written by an acknowledged authority, and tho printing and get-up of the books, which are sold at the very low price of Is *i each, leavo nothing to be desired. Tho first of tho volumes which we take from tho parcel submitted for review is "The Panama Canal; Tts Past, Present- and Future, by Mr C. Reginald Enock, F.R.G.S. In view- of the fact that ships axe now actually passing through the Canal, and it will soon be opened to ordinary traffic, public interest in this great undertaking is now very keen. Mr Enock gives a history of tho isthmus, followed by a history of the Canal, details of its construction, and wiuds up by chapters dealing with its geographical advantages, commercial considerations, and tfie important question of "tolls, *fortifications, and strategy." The chapter devoted to labour, conditions constitutes a veritable romance in tho history of human industry. One or two facts may be cited. At first the work of tho West Indian negroes was found to bo very unsatisfactory. Tho practical Americans concluded that this was largely due to the fact that tho food eaten by the negroes was bad in quality, and in-' sufficient in quantity. Accordingly steps wero taken to provido them with good food, properly cooked, instead of tho bananas on which they had largely subsisted, and tho result was an immense improvement in the output of work. The providing of a solid meal for a navvy at a cost of 3d in a place such as Panama, where all 6toros are expensive is, as tho author justly remarks, very instructive in the art of catering. Tho author takes a much less exuberant view of tho commercial possibilities of the opening of the Canal than that adopted by some other writers.

If the "Panama Canal" is a romance of engineering and commercial enter T prise, the volume on "20th Century Inventions," by Mr Charles R. Gibson, reads like a fairy tale. Since the beginning of 1901 no less than 199,000 patents have been sealed, while tho total number of applications lodged has been between 300,000 and 400,000. Mr Gibson has selected sixty of the most ingenious inventions for description, ranging from automatic' telephones to thermit welding, and from the gyrostatic compass to blasting by means of liquid air. As a really uncanny instance of the seeming intelligence of modem mechanical appliances we refer our readers to the description of the automatic money boxes attached to telephone instruments in America, described on page 85.

"British Commerce," by Mr Herbert H. Bassett, is an instructive review of British trade, manufactures, and industries, in all their varied aspects, and points the moral that tho two great requisites as regards the 'future are— practical commercial and industrial education and national industrial organisation.

In "Co-operation and Co-part-nership" Mr L. L. Price, M.A., first sets out "what.. co-operation and co-, partnership have not done," and then proceeds to show "what co-operation and co-partnership have done." The questions involved are thoughtfully conand the book is of especial in•terest just now when there is so much industrial unrest and so widespread a desire for an improvement in the relations between capital and labour. "The' Feminist Movement," by Mrs Phillip Snawden, is, we need hardly say, the work of pne who is an ardent believer in women's suffrage. Yet she manages to preserve a sane, clear outlook upon life, and is fully conscious of the fact that tho possession of the vote by women and special! legislation on their behalf are not the true remedy for moral evils.

"The Principles of Evolution," by Joseph McCabe, sets forth in ■clear fashion tbo conflicting views held by recognised leaders of thought on the laws of survival and progress. As the author points out in tbo preface, not only is there no branch of modern research that does not proceed on evolutionary lines, but tbe practical man is looking more and moro in that direction. He has therefore endeavoured, and with considerable success, to give a clear and full account of tho principles of evolution, and to set forth the differences of opinion of evolutionists in a way that will enable an inexpert reader to know what is settled and what is unsettled.