19 AUGUST 1916, Page 17

Taormina. By Raley "lusted Bell. (New York : Hinds, Noble,

and Eldridge. 56. net.)—An author who in good faith quotes Plautus in his " Mencenie " (1), the poet " Giovenale," and " Silio Italieo " as if they wrote in Italian is something of a curiosity. It is stranger still that a man should write a book about the most beautiful place in the world without having anything of his own to say, except that the present inhabitants are a poor lot. Dr. Bell's photographs, at least, are good enough to make one lament the literary opportunity that he has missed.