Vernon Heath's Recollections. (Cassell and Co.)—Mr. Heath's great success as
a photographer, his friendly reception in the homes of the nobility, and his personal adventures in travelling through the country, are pleasantly described in these pages. There is much here that is superfluous, but nothing that is ill-natured, and the anecdotes of artists and of public char- acters, though comparatively insignificant, may amuse lovers of gossip. As a photographer of trees and animals, Mr. Heath, as all the world knows, has been eminently successful ; and he relates how he obtained 41,600 for the negative of a horse- chestnut at Coo kham, and nearly 41,000 for a negative, taken at Sandringham, of two Indian mastiffs. His craft, however, is not always appreciated, for we read of a beautiful woman who declined his services, on the plea that her husband had promised to take her to Rome "to be painted by the old masters." Readers no longer young will remember that years ago Mr. Heath did his utmost to save Burnham Beeches from the destruction with which they were threatened. While rejoicing in the action of the Corporation of the City of London which has secured this lovely woodland scenery for the enjoyment of the public, Mr. Heath laments the mismanagement of the ground, and asks why the lovely glades of Burnham, with their undergrowth of bracken, heather, and furze, have been desecrated by highways? The fault is a common one, and the improver, whether in country or city, is too often the destroyer.
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