15 JUNE 1889, Page 25

NEW Enrriows. — Oliver Cromwell: the Man and his Mission. By J.

Allanson Picton. (Cassell and Co.)—Coral Reefs. By Charles Darwin. (Smith and Elder.)—The first edition of this work was published in 1842, the second in 1874. The present issue is not a little increased in value by the addi- tion of an appendix by Professor T. G. Bonney, in which is given "A Summary of the Principal Contributions to the History of Coral Reefs since the Year 1874." The writer sums up very carefully in this paper the views of various observers during the last fifteen years. Some of these have been hostile to Darwin's theory, and it is conceded that much may be said against it. Professor Bonney conoludes by saying that "as the evidence at present stands, it is insufficient to justify a decision adverse to Mr. Darwin's theory as a general explanation." —Miss N. D'Anvers' History of Art is reissued in two volumes. (Sampson Low and Co.)—The first deals with "Architecture and Sculpture," and has an introduction from the pen of Professor T. Roger- Smith ; the second treats of "Painting of all Schools," and has been revised and enlarged by Mr. Frank Cundall.—In fiction, we have Under the Stars and Under the Crescent : a Romance of East and West, by Edwin De Leon (Sampson Low and Co.) ; and from the same publishers, Half-Way : an Anglo-French Romance, by Miss Betham-Edwards ; and The Strange Adventures of a House-Boat, by William Black.—The Admirable Lady Biddy Pane. By Frank Barrett. (Cassell and Co.) —Little Mrs. Murray. By F. C. Philips. (Swan Sonnenschein and Co.)—Clues ; or, Leaves from a Chief Constable's Note-Book, by William Henderson (Oliphant, Anderson, and Ferrier), belongs, we suppose, to the "truth that is stranger than fiction."