NEW BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS.

Press, Volume LXI, Issue 18419, 27 June 1925, Page 13

NEW BOOKS AND PUBLICATIONS.

MOVING PICTURES IN SCHOOL. Those who wish to know whether moving pictures are or axe not to be desired as part of the equipment of schools will find some of their questions answered in "The Cinema in Education," a volume edited for the British National Council cf Public Morals by Sir James Marchant. Tho Council is a composite body of religious, scientific and educational leaders, having for its objects the physical and moral renewal of the British race. When it undertakes an enquiry it sets to work with something of the elaborate precautions and preparations that a general makes before setting out to capture a kingdom. The full list of those engaged in this particular enquiry fills a. page, and includes manv eminent scholars and medical men.' It began by asking what the "physical, social, educational, and moral" influences of the cinema are on voung people; what is to bo concluded about the "present position and further development of the cinematograph with special reference to its social and educational values ; and what the chief complaints are against cinematograph exhibitions—and that investigation lasted 18 months, and resulted in a report of 420 pages. But the commission found, as was to be expected, that it had not enough-know-ledge to enable its report to be thoritative on the scientific side. JNo really serious investigation on an adequate scale," it found, "had been made to test the value of the cinema as an instrument of direct education." a-nd that involved a. further investigation to which the vo'unic now under notice is the result. To summarise its conclusions in a few lines is as impossible as to indicate the thoroughness of its methods. All that can be done is to say that two sub-committees were appointed, one a psychological _ research committee, consisting _ of eight of the leading psychologists .in Great Britain, and the other a cinema experiment ' sub-committee, consisting ot fourteen meml>ers. at least half M whom were men of science—and to .idd to that statement the simple fact that neither committee enme to quite definite conclusions. The purely .psychological results are. however, more favourable te the rinenn than most students of education would have exacted. George Allen and TJnwm, Ltd.) SNOW AND ICE. It is interesting, with one hardy Norwegian just returned from the North Pole, to spend an evening with, another no less hardy, and very much more highly equipped intellectually and •loetically. Dr. Nansen, though we think of him to-day as a knul of mis-sionary-in-chief to starving Russians and war-crazed nations in general, is still perhaps tho greatest snow man alive; and he is easily the most eloauent. At the same time, Days in Wild Norway" is a good deal less exciting than his Arctic books, it is a series of extracts from his diaix, revealing him chiefly as sportsman and Nature lover, but there is not quite enough direct nak-ative to hold the reader's attention for many minutes at a time. The value of the .book-is rather its revelation—or it\ would be more accurate to say its further and fuller revelation— of the human, homeloving and animal-loving sides of JNansen's character. Some of it is very, early work—Nansen as he was on his

holidays from the Bergen museum forty years ago. Almost half of it is taken up with a picturesque but somewhat too long drawn out account of a skiing journey over mountain solitudes in the days when Nansen merely a. lusty young animal delighting in his own physical fitness. But even there, of course, Nansen is Nansen, a thinker, a dreamer, above nil an eminently simple, earnest, and companionable sonl. (London: Thornton, Butterworth, Ltd.)

THOUGHTS ON BATS.

"The Life of the Bat/' by Charles Derrennes is one of those studies in nature history which only Frenchmen appear to be able to do. It is a charming study based on close and sympathetic observation of various phases of the life of this piteous little animal. Like most good French writers who turn to the life of the creatures of other species than man, M. Derrennes finds in the object of his study many a starting point for philosophical fancies. He believes that the bat is one of Nature's attempts at over-elaboration, and that, as a consequence, the bat will ultimately disappear. One of his curious and interesting conclusions arises from the fact that the bat is a creature which decided that it ought to learn to fly. Man has lately believed that part of his future lies in the air, and M. Derrennes fancies that "men also are decidedly ill-equipped for a long journey in time on the infinite space of the planet."

NOVELS

It is hopelessly .antiquated not to appreciate Miss Dorothy Richardson, and a plain confession of" stupidity to. say that one does not -understand her. No one with pretensions to taste in literature should have difficulty with a passage like this, for example: "Under her hat the red book. The personal note ["the personal note" italicised] repeated itself before her mind's eye in print. And as she searched for her gloves the note described itself ara it were, aloud, in a -voice speaking -urbanely from the surrounding air. Its indubitable descent; its perhaps too great and withal so manifestly, so weilnigh woefully irretrievable, precipitancy. Its so charming and for all she could at the moment, and within the straiUitlv beleaguering the so eminently onerous and. exciting circumstances assemble of disturbing uncertainty, so brilliantly, so almost dazzlingly [again italics] su&lit height. In simpler words things were going too fast and too far. ' An.exact- and dra-matic-landscape of thought. Things spen afi going too fast and too far. Distilled into refinement. . Cuyp.' But we are afraid that most readers will have a good deal of difficulty with it. 'and there are so many, moro passages like it that we must leave Miss Richardson to introduce .herself. The. book is called "The Trap," but,we do not feel quite rash enough to say whevwas entrapped, or where, or; why. (London: Duckworth.) • >'

With "A Wise Fool"- Edward .Charles Reed won the John Long £SOO prize for 1924 for the, best first novel, and the award was deservedly achieved. Mr Reed displays distinct constructive ability as well.as a happy,turn of phrase, and excels in character .portrayal. Dr. Jasper" Oram—a man immersed in scientific research, and the "wise fool"- of the > story—is an exespecially lovable personage, while the courtship and luckless marriage ot lola Duncannon, a .high-spirited young lady, provide the loom upon which is woven a charming narrative of adventure and romance. (London: John Long, Ltd.)

■ Interest- quickly awakens in ..'• "The Forbidden Hour,'' b'y ~aude Crossley and Charles King, and once aroused it does not slacken. The authors are adept in the presentation of thrills without being melodramatric, and their scenes shifting continually from fashionable French seaside resorts to London, their book has a refreshing liveliness of action. Judith" Lanyon, young and beautiful, the wife of Sir Henry Lanyon, a middle-aged war profiteer, is forbidden by her husband to go upon the yacht of John Bavertoii, a rising young politician, fche disobeys and goes for an evening's cruise and in the interval a murder is committed at the house where Judith is a guest. The seasoned novel-reader will know what else to expect. <Loridon: Herbert Jenkins.)

■ . NOTES. Within the last few years,. and especially in. the last year or two, local horticulturists have begun to pay.a good deal of. attention to the culture of.gladioli. There are many gardening books in which useful, and on the whole, sufficient advice is given concerning the cultivation of the gladiolus, but a serious want has been tho absence'of any cheap but comprehensive book devoted'wholly to this magnificent gower. This want is sapphed by the latest addition to the Home Garden Series published by Thornton Butterworth, Ltd. The author of "Gladioli" is Mr A. J. Macself, one'of the leading authors on hardy plants. Mr Macself gives the fullest possible advice concerning the .selection and preserving of bulb's, "cultivating from seed, cross-breeding, and growing for market. It is just the book which growers of gladioli have been looking for, and it has but one fault, the absence of 'a full and comprehensive list of all the varieties which are grown at present.

Enthusiastic bridge . players usually buy every new book on the game which is any more than an elementary treatise. Very . often they do not get value for.their money or assistance in making an extra trick for a month. The latest addition to British, literature, "Auction Bridge .Simplified," by J. C. H. Macbeth, is an unusually good book. His treatment of bidding and play is sound and interesting, but there are two points -which ' distinguish his treatise from most others similar .in scope. The first is a new "scale of values for cards. He allots.firo points to the ace, three to, a guarded king, two to a guarded queen., and., three! to each trump beyond four. The best feature of a good book is an unusually fine collection of illustrative hands: (London: Thornton Butterworth, Ltd.)

The quality of the Is-Bd' series of novels issued-by Nelsons remains at a very high level. The additions for April are: "The Sword Decides," by Marjorie Bowen; "The Holladay Case'/ b" Burton E. Stevenson; "The One Who Saw-,"' by Headon Hill; "Sailors' Knots,'' by W. "W. Jacobs:; "A Rolling Stone,V by E. M. Croker; "An. Irish Cousin,'' by Somerville and Boss.