“Here again we have, possibly displayed better than elsewhere, his fine sense of historical proportion, his superlatively dramatic style garnishing the most prosaic scientific manoeuvers, if important, with all the color of romance. He has taken critical advantage of the books by German military men published since the war.” Walter Littlefield
+ N Y Times p6 D 19 ’20 380w
“The author’s running comment and interpretation are most illuminating and instructive.”
+ R of Rs 61:220 F ’20 160w (Review of v 4) + R of Rs 62:333 S ’20 180w (Review of v 5)
SIMPSON, CHARLES TORREY. In lower Florida wilds. il *$3.50 (4c) Putnam 917.59
20–15140
“A naturalist’s observations on the life, physical geography, and geology of the more tropical part of the state.” (Sub-title) The author has been a resident of the region he describes for more than twenty years. He found it an almost unbroken wilderness in 1882, which is now rapidly and forever disappearing. “Today most of its hammocks are destroyed, the streams are being dredged out and deepened, the Everglades are nearly drained; even the pine forests are being cut down.” (Introd.) Many species of animals and plants, found only in this area, have already been exterminated. The author has thoroughly explored the territory in its virgin fecundity and describes it both as a collector and a general naturalist. Contents: The building of the land; The Florida keys; The Ten Thousand islands; Cape Sable; The south shore of the mainland; The Everglades; The planting of our flora; The lure of the piney woods; The origin of the hammocks; In the primeval forest; Along the stream; Along the mangrove shore; The open sea beach; The wonders of Ajax reefs; The secrets of the sea; The story of the land snails; The beauty of the night; The survival of the fittest. There are an index, a map, and numerous illustrations.
“The style is a curious, though pleasant, blending of the scientist’s delight in naming, describing or explaining, and the artist’s sensitiveness to vivid coloring, ethereal lights or deeps of forest.”
+ Booklist 17:28 O ’20