24 FEBRUARY 1917, Page 21

Needlecraft in the School. By Margaret Swanson, late of the

Glasgow School of Art. Introduction by Professor John Adams, M.A., B. Sc., LL.D., University of London. (Longmans and Co. 5s.)—The wide range of subjects which may be grouped under the name " needlecraft," and their educational use, are here put before the reader in an interesting, we might well say an arresting, manner. Miss Swanson shows that, besides a real knowledge of her subject, she has a sympathetic insight into the hearts of her pupils, and can give wise advice as to the encouragement and guidance of schoolchildren. This book will be of use to amateur teachers as well as to professional teachers and students, both for its practical lessons and for such remarks as : " The teacher's motive power is not necessarily the child's motive power," which suggest far-reaching trains of thought. But why does she recommend the duil intricacies of Celtic twists or stiffly conventionalized flower patterns to her advanced students as a form of " Art," when the treasures of Italian and Spanish Renaissance embroideries, with their practical as well as beautiful designs, lie unexplored before them