_The Life-Story of a Turnip._ By Ato Mato, F.R.V.S. Illustrated in
colour. Messrs. Tuber, Root and Co. Price 3s. net.
(Reviewed by A. D. Ryan, M.A.)
There have been autobiographical studies of the animal world; why not of
the vegetable? This is a delightful monograph, executed with consummate
skill and verisimilitude throughout. The author, who holds the
Professorship of Cereal Metaphysics at the University of Tokio, has
devoted the greater part of his life to the study of the vegetable
kingdom; and we need hardly remind our readers of the exceedingly
interesting treatise, entitled "The Psychology of the Cabbage," which
appeared in a recent issue of the _Carnifugal Quarterly_.
It is indeed time for a more scientific treatment of vegeto-animal
phenomenon; and Mr. Mato is the pioneer of a science which, we hope,
will soon receive the attention which it undoubtedly deserves. The
present volume is in its way a masterpiece. The author has successfully
avoided treating his subject from a too human point of view, and we are
paying him a very high compliment when we say that the more we study the
work the more we are impressed with what we may best describe as the
"vegetability" of the writer's mind. The book is racy of the soil; it is
written in a charming and convincing style, and bears the stamp of
imaginative originality. An acquaintance to whom we lent the book
admirably expresses the impression we had formed of it by saying that it
might have been written by EUSTACE or HALLIE MILES. It is characterised
throughout by the lofty and detached spirit in which a cultured turnip
would view the troubled course of mundane events. The sentiments
expressed on such questions as Woman Suffrage, Home Rule, LLOYD GEORGE'S
land policy, though inevitably Radical in tendency, are admirably sane
and unbiassed. We cannot do better, if we would convey to our readers
some conception of the general tone of the work, than quote the opening
paragraph:--
"I was born of humble but worthy parents, but the first years"
[weeks?] "of my existence were embittered by the loss of both
father and mother. My father, who was then in the prime of life,
was torn one day from the bosom of his family, tied up in a
sack, and taken with some two hundred fellow-sufferers to a
slaughter-house, where he was cruelly butchered. Still more
tragic was the end of my dear mother. Like my father she was
dragged away from her native soil. She was then hurled into an
empty shed, where for many days she languished, deprived of both
food and light. At last she was thrown into a tumbril with some
five hundred unfortunates, carted to a neighbouring farm, thence
deported in strict captivity to COVENT GARDEN, and finally
conveyed to the sumptuous household of Mr. BERNARD SHAW, who
devoured her in three gulps."
From this poignant passage the reader may see for himself the profound
understanding which Mr. Mato has brought to bear on his theme. We
commend this book to all lovers of nature.
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