BOOKS OF THE DAY.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1872, 4 October 1913, Page 9

BOOKS OF THE DAY.

tHE HOME UNIVERSITY LIBRARY From the publishers, Messrs. Williams and Norgate (per S. and W. Maokay), come copies ot five more volumes, Comprising the eighth set, or batch, of ' that admirable series, "The Home University Library." Tho titles are as follow: "Germany of To-day." by Charlos Towers; "Plant Life," by Professor J. B. Farmer; "The Writing of English," by Professor W. T. Brewster, of Columbia University; "A History or Freedom of Thought," by Professor J. B. Bury, of Cambridge; and "Ancient Art- and Ritual," by Jane E. Harrison, Litt. D. Cormany of To-day. • There have been many books of late on Germany, on the German people. on Germany's naval and military institutions, on her commerce and Industry, but there was room for such ■ a compact and yet singularly comprehensive view of modern Germany as that given by Mr. Towers. The author is specially to be complimented upon his lucid description and explanation of the working of the German legislative system. He describes tho powers and duties of the Kaiser, of the Bundesrath, Reichstag, and State Parliaments, and deata in detail with the operations of the Exeoutive, and the powers and privileges of the Chancellor. The working of the bureaucratic system generally is fully explained, and tho important subject. of Imperial finance also receives attention, as .well as the organisation of the army Bnd navy. To many , readers the two most interesting chapters will bo those which deal with the municipal _ system, go different from that in force in Great Britain and the British . Dominions, German education, the organisation of German industry, and agriculture are all described, the two final chapters being entitled "Castes and Classes" and "Intellectual Life," Plant Life. Professor Farmer's little volume on "Plant Life" is tho work of a recognised expert. Tho object of the author is Professor of Botany in .the Imperial College of Science, has been to try and place , before his "readers a few of the salient features of plant form from the point of view of function. In this way, he thinks, it is less difficult to keep in mind the general nature 'of the causes which have been operative in bringing about the marvellous beauty and adaptedness of form which is so apparent in every branch of the vegetable kingdom. ,In the 250 odd pages of this book the author manages to cover' an astonishingly . wide ground. Extremely interesting are his explanations'of the evolution of cellular structure in simple, plants, of roots and their functionsrthe special features of climbing and water plants, and of fungi and fungal and flowering parasites. The mysteries of .vegetative and BSiual reproduction are briefly but clearly set forth and explained, the final. - chapter dealing with- the . cell-nucleus nnd fertilisation. The use of scientific terms is, of course, necessary, but Professor Farmer does his best to avoid any such abstruse technology as would baffle the ordinary reader. A number of well-drawn illustrations add to the interest and value of the text.

The Writing of English. Professor Brewster's treatise on '.'The "Writing of English" deserves a much longer notice than it is possible to give here. It is a book which should be i'read, and read most carefully, by Voung journalists, and all whose profession or tastes include literary composition. There is one chapter, for instance, that on "Paragraphs," -which is simply packed -with practically useful counsel, and another, that on . " Sentences and Wordsj Style," which is equally admirable. "Stylo" is next considered in detail, as regards correctness, economy, and increment, pure movement, and stylo and composition. I am tempted to copy out Professor Brewster's final words on this •subject:—

- Certain things are to be said. . These a writer arranges in any order that will bo most comprehensible, but the nature of the material makes one kind of composition fitter than another. Tho desideratum is' so to arranno ideas that tho easiest movement from one to another will roaiiH. irai'ugrajjuing may be . a . great aid in the movement, and such principles as unity and emphasis and coherence may properly be observed. When it comes to Btylo, that ia, manner ' of writing, the fundamental aim is to us& suon language as will most exactly stand - for the ideas to be expressed, of. kind. The great question regarding any particular word,' .phrase, or sentence, is this: "Does 'it' say what I wish it to say in terms that will bo understood?" Beyond that 'thoro arises 'the important question of taste, or interest, or smoothness—tho question: "Could the expression be made more interesting or agreeable, without detriment to the idea?" Predication, ■ connotation, and technical. smoothness, that is, rhythm and cadence, ( • are the main points to which attention may in detail be directed. The fundamental rule of writing is, then, to " write with your eye on the object." And the second is not lat varianco. with it. Be as exact, .use as interesting, expressions as your subject and your audience will allow you to, and write as smoothly as you can ;'but do not cultivate "stylo," or dally with a "style." A specially commendablo feature of Professor Brewster's little book is its wealth of ingenious and always opposite illustration. Studied carefully in conjunction with, or considered aa a supplement to,. Air. Pearsall Smith's excellent littlo book, "The English Language," or to Mr. Arnold Bennett's two books, "Literary Taste " and "Mental Efficiency," Professor Brewster's book should prove of splendid servico to students of tho English _ language #nd of .the noble uso to which it has b<Jen and can bo put. Anolont Art and Ritual. The title of Miss Jane Harrison's "Ancient Art and Bitual," calls, as its author admits, for some explanation. <he says:— "The reader will find in this book no general summary or even outline of tho facts of either ancient art or ancient ritual. These facta are easily accessible in handbooks. • The point of my titlo and tho real gist of my argument lie, perhaps, til tho word 'and' —that is, in the Intimate connection which I liavo triod to show oxists between ritual end art.. This connection has, I lieliovo, an important bearing on questions vitd to-day, as for cx-

ample, the question of the place of art in our modern civilisation, its relation to, and its difference from, religion and morality; in a word, on the wholo iuquiry as to what tho nature of art is and how it can help or hinder spiritual life." Miss Harrison has taken Greek drama as a typical instance, because in it wo havo the clear historical case of a great art, which arose out of a very primitive and almost world-wide ritual. In successive chapters she deals with primitive ritual; pantomimic dances; periodio ceremonies, and the spring festival ; tho primitive spring dance or dithyramb, in Greece; next tracing the transition from ritual to art, tho evolution of the Greek dromenon or "thing done," and the drama; Greek sculpture, the panathenaic frieze and the Apollo Belvedere; her concluding chapter being devoted to tho connection between ritual, art, and life. There is much food for thought in this strikingly suggestive arid well-written little volume, which contains some useful illustrations.

A History of Froedom of Thought. I have left to the last what ia by far the -most thought-compelling and challenging volume of tho set—Professor Bury's "History of Freedom of Thought." The thought which is uppermost in my mind, after a perusal of Professor Bury's book, is wnat a wondorful change has come over the spirit of university thought, especially university official thought, since the old days of tho Trafctarians, tho days when Froudo's once famous "Nemesis of Faith" caused such a hullabaloo at Oxford. Hero wo havo a Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge writing and publishing a book, some — many, I fancy—of the theories and arguments set forth in which would havo occasioned a really _ first-class heresy hunt in the university circles of midVictorian days. Professor Bury's name is eminent as that of an historian. His histories of the late Roman Empire of Greece, and of the Eastern Roman Empire, are admittedly classics, and his work as editor of Gibbon's famous historical masterpieco is equally famous. The publishers of the "Home University Library*' have been singularly fortunate in enlisting tho services of so deservedly esteemed and respected a writer, and tho result is a little work, which, although it may not be welcomed in certain ultra rigid ecclesiastical quarters, will be voted by most people a singularly moderate and dispassionate resume of past struggles for liberty of thought—and of conscience—and statement of the case for the intellectual rationalism of the present day. In the brief space at my oommand it would be impossible, as it would be unfair te the author, to attempt any summary of Professor Bury's statements and arguments.- Tho book necessarily contains; ■much contentious matter. But whatever be the reader's personal; point of view, he or she will not deny, I think, the author's sincerity/of /purpose or his unmistake'able -be -'historically accurate and just. This is a <juite notable little book on ft very big subject.;; ' '

• Each volume in the: series ia furnished, I may add, with a' useful bibliography and a laudabl.v full index. When such admirable little books as these can be obtained for fifteonpenco each, there is surely no excuse for | popular ignorance on tho scientific, literary, historical, and ethical subjects with which they deal so ably and agreeably.