3 DECEMBER 1927, Page 49

When Mr. Shaw Desmond's sketches of night-life in London during

the 'nineties appeared from time to time in the columns of an evening contemporary, they solaced pleasantly enough the evening railway journey home. But a whole book-load of them in the shape of London Nights of Long Ago (Duck- worth, illustrated, 21s.) is another matter. Still, if taken in judicious doses, they may afford, by stirring old memories, some mild pleasure. One wonders, though, whether there was ever a time when Londoners found their fogs " friendly and comforting," and though one has heard of a cock-salmon, it would be nice to know what a " bull-panther " (p. 144) is like. The illustrations are very good.

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