104 Rhodora [May 
scope than its predecessors, attempting to give a description of all the 
more common trees and shrubs of the United States, with outline 
sketches of the foliage and, when needed, flowers or fruit; and char- 
acteristic illustrations of the bark and habit of many of the trees. If it 
were desirable to judge the books of this class by exact scientific 
standards, it might be suggested that the subtitle, “A concise Descrip- - 
tion of the Character and Color of Species common throughout the 
United States,” is misleading, since none of the species discussed is 
“common throughout the United States.” But accepting the book in 
the friendly and untechnical spirit in which it is written and pardoning 
the omission of many species common in sections of the country 
presumably unfamiliar to the author, we may say that the book will 
meet a real demand. The text and the maps illustrating the distribu- 
tion of some of the species have been compiled from authoritative 
sources, and the sketches have the life-like qualities so characteristic 
of Mr. Mathews's drawings. Altogether the book is one which will 
give satisfaction not only to the beginner but to all who wish a ready 
reference volume on our more common trees and shrubs.— M. L. F. 
Vol. 17, no. 196, including pages 73 to 88 and plate 118, was issued 28 April, 
1916. 
