Boors OF REFERENCE.—Whitaker's Almanack, 1916. (12 Warwick Lane. 2s. &d.)—Whitaker
is out, and by this time in most offices and houses, where it can be consulted upon almost every conceivable subject. It is no blame to the editor that the naval information is not complete ; for instance, our fleet of monitors is not given. The number; 2,417, of merchant vessels in commission gives some idea of the expansion of naval operations, and if this number is added to those requisitioned by the Board of Trade, the shortage of -British tonnage is•not surprising: There is hero world-wide information upori the war, particularly on the historical and financial sides.— From the same source comes Whitaker's Peerage, Baronelage. Knightage, and Companionage, 1916 (5s. net). This peerage, which makes no pretence to giro genealogical information, is probably the handiest of all.—Thom's Official DireclOry. 1916 (Dublin, Thom and Co. El-. net), is a guide to- all that is "official " in the United Kingdom, and goes further than other such -books in recording everybody and everything 0,.pote in Ireland. It gives particulars of the counties and. _ boroughs, and a regular " Post Office " directory for Dublin.—The Royal Navy List (Witherby and Co., 7s. 6d. net) gives the records of service of officers, active or retired, and of the older ships of the Fleet. There is a history of the naval events of the war to a recent date. Naturally the omissions are more remarkable generally than the information that is allowed to be published.—We return to peace with The Musical Directory, 1916 (Rudall, Carte, and Co., 3s. net). This gives lists of professors and teachers of music in Landon and the provinces, classified names of instrumentalists, and a directory of traders. It is a record of a profession that has suffered severely during the war.—There are two other volumes that we mention because thoy stand for great principles of voluntary organization. The Co-operative Wholesale Societies, Lid., Annual, 1916 (Manchester, C.W.S.), is a record of the wholesale and productive, not the distributive, Co-operative Secieties of England and Scotland. It shows the progress and vast extent of their manufacturing and agricultural enterprises. There are also articles on subjects related to the year's work. Secondly, The Rechabite Directory, 1915-1916 (Manchester, Office of the Order), Jells us of the progress of the " tents " of this ancient Friendly Society, which has its strongholds in the North of England, but is evidently making. advances in the South and in the Colonies. Its aims, thrift and temperance, are the social virtues now most needed of all at home.
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