PREHISTORIC MAN. By Keith Henderson. Illustrated. (Chatto and Windus. 7s.
6d.)—This is the first of a series of handbooks which is intended to explain what is newest in modern Science and Art, and which shall at the same time be written in simple language. The last condition is, in this volume, fulfilled by such sentences as " A Scythian drinks of the blood of the first man he kills. No. Not nice. I agree " ; " in the best circles tails are no longer worn " ; or the query, to account for the apparent half-breeds of Predmost= " could the little Aurignacian fatties have ever condescended to smile upon the sombre Mousterian males ? " It might be pointed out to Mr. Henderson that children get bored by this kind of bright writing, and that not many adults really like it. But his book is certainly useful in giving us a con- secutive and clear account of the main stages in the development of man. Having read it, the student, whether adult or juvenile, will know what is meant when he reads in the press about Cro-Magnon man and about Cretan and Sumerian cultures, and will be able to place the Piltdown skull in its proper stage of ascent.
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