15 AUGUST 1941, Page 18

THE reviewer poising the . pen to write " this harmless

book" is struck by the reflection that an exacter word !nigh! found. In actual fact, is it very judicious to quote and rec a recipe for use in cancer cases, made from goosegrass? Her are undoubtedly precious, and as undoubtedly undervalued, but this kind of recommendation, if we assume the author approves (she quotes, " it often produces a cure in from six to twelve months "), is surely dangerous. Similarly, it would have been more helpful to have photographs of the herbs : many people are now exploring hedges and meadows without country know- ledge, and enthusiasm might lead to unfortunate results—eating wild celery for instance. For the rest the author has many interesting things to tell—one hadn't realised that when the queen in the fairy story was made to spin shirts out of nettles, this was not a task comparable to carrying water in a sieve, but a common practice, particularly in Scotland, where sheets and table-cloths were spun from nettle-fibre as a substitute for flax.