16 NOVEMBER 1878, Page 23

Oliver Wendell Holmes, and his Works. By James Ball. (Elliott

Stock.)—Here we have a brief biography of Mr. Holmes, and an account, which is rather descriptive than critical, of his works. These contem- porary biographies are not always desirable or profitable reading, but we must make an exception to the little volume before us, which seems to be written with good-sense and good-taste. It is rather curious to End the old story of the father who said to his undutiful sou, "Do not drag me any further, for I did not drag my father beyond this tree," told of "a brutal wretch in Now Haven." The anecdote may be read, with the word "threshold" instead of "tree," in very good Attic Greek.