29 NOVEMBER 1884, Page 22

Herodotus for Boys and Girls. By John S. White, LL.D.

(G. P. Putnam's Sons, New York).—We cannot say very much in praise of Dr. White's Herodotus. He gives too much ; some of the details which he retains in his selection being neither interesting nor even intelligible to the readers for whom it is intended. The style, too, wants distinction. Sometimes it is little better than a bald transla- tion. Expressions, too, have been left, by oversight it would seem, which can convey no impression to young readers. What is the meaning of saying that a lake is so many feet long and so many .orguice deep ? There is, of course, much to interest in the volume. How could there fail to be so when Herodotas is the author to be drawn from But the opportunity is certainly not made the best of. The volume has the material defect of being inordinately heavy. A weight of more than three pounds is really a serious consideration.