History of American pediatrics

adventures in the South Seas as "Voyager, Monster-hunter and Amoroso". Lyte makes the most of the comic possibilities of the pursuit of his hero by the voracious middle-aged queen Purea; nor does he forget his English mistress Miss B--n. As the subtitle suggests, Banks's early travels loom much larger in this book than the long afternoon of correspondence and power as President of the Royal Society, and instigator of innumerable research and publishing projects. The story of the travels, and of Banks's rows with the Admiralty and fellow-Academicians, is told with verve; it is spoilt only by the author's irritating partiality for breathless one-sentence paragraphs. There is not much point in complaining that this book is not the long-awaited treatment of Banks's role as scientific entrepreneur and virtual monopolist, which is so urgently needed. Charles Lyte makes no claims to original research, and his select bibliography does not even include Warren Dawson's massive calendar of Banks's correspondence. The reason why we still wait for a comprehensive book on the panorama of Banks's activities is not hard to find the sale of the greater part of the Banks papers by Lord Brabourne in 1886 has condemned all subsequent researchers to tracking down letters in the custody of libraries and private owners on every continent. In the meantime, Charles Lyte's book is to be welcomed, not least for its excellent colour plates. Peter Jones Department of Manuscripts British Library