3 APRIL 1915, Page 23

The popularity of Oriental cults at Rome has always been

regarded as one of the signs of the Empire's decadence. Fear of a parallel state of affairs in America seems to have prompted the writing of Hinduism in Europe and America by Elizabeth A. Reed (G. P. Putnam's Sons, 5s. net). The author, with a view to discouraging her compatriots from coming under the insidious influence of Swamis and Gurus, paints a most lurid picture of Hinduism as it is practiced in India.