News from the Duchy. By " Q." (Bristol : J. W.
Arrow- smith. 6s.)—The most attractive story in this collection is the first, which deals with the flower industry in the Scilly Islands. Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, however, appears to have very little idea of the amount of perfume which is yielded by a field or even by a bed of daffodils. He says of them : "They were trumpet-daffodils, as has been said, and nine out of ten of us would have called them odourless ; but little Jan, it was to be discovered, had a sense of smell keen almost as a wild animal's." But for most of us the whole promise of spring lies in the slightly bitter scent of the daffodil, and Sir Arthur does not show his usual powers of observation in this comment. Another story which is also well worth reading is "Our Lady of Gwithian," in which the bargain made by Lovey Bussow with the Virgin Mary is charmingly described. Lovey's comment at the end is inimitable. "Aw, b'lieve me, your Reverence, we mothers understand wan another."
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