3815 
and such specimens are earnestly solicited. The readers of the 
BULLETIN, we are sure, who have derived so much instruction from 
Mr. Davenport’s notes, will feel it their duty to bear his wants in 
mind. He proposes now to add to the herbarium the remaining 
vascular Cryptogams of the United States, and offers to exchange 
these or ferns, if desired, whenever possible. 
3. Characeae Americanae, illustrated and described, by TIMOTHY 
F. ALLEN, M.D., etc., 10 East 36th Street, New York. 
Part I. Chara gymnopus, A. Br., var. edegans, A. Br.: Part II. 
Chara crinita. Wallr., var. Americana. In the BuLtLeTin, for 
March, 1871, (II. 9), Dr. Allen gave a list of 14 Characeae, and 
invited assistance. We are glad to see that he.has not forgotten his 
favorite plants. The parts here published consist of one fine col- 
ored plate each, with a page of systematic description. They are to be 
issued monthly, and to include every species and variety known to 
American waters. The author offers to send the work to botanists 
in exchange for Characeae to the number of fifty specimens of each 
variety. The cover contains directions for collecting, which we 
copy, to facilitate his work. ‘ These plants grow in fresh or brack- 
ish water, rooting in the earth on the bottom. Care should be taken 
to preserve the rooting parts, which sometimes bear peculiar bodies 
containing starch. Gather when in fruit; if dioecious, gather both 
sexes. The rigid forms may be dried like land plants, but the more 
delicate varieties should be floated on thin white paper; to this end 
a large mass may be carried home and single specimens selected ; 
the paper and plant may be allowed to drain, after which the spec- 
imen must be covered with thin loose muslin and dried between 
layers of bibulous paper frequently changed, and subjecied to very 
moderate pressure.” Price for a single part, 25 cents; five parts 
for one dollar. Size, large quarto. 
4. Boston Society of Natural History. Guides for Science Teach- 
ing, No. II. Concerning a few Common Plants, by GrorcE L, 
GoopALe, 2nd edition, pp. 61. Boston, Published by the Society, 
1879. This little book is not a manual of instruction in botany, 
but an exposition of the method used by Prof. Goodale, with extra- 
ordinary success in bringing into activity and directing the observ- 
ing and reasoning powers of his class of 500 teachers. In the 
hands of a good botanist and very intelligent teacher it may be 
counted upon as one of the best contributions to scientific instruc- 
tion and botanical investigation that this country has produced. 
The pupils instructed by Prof. Goodale may be expected, wherever 
they may be called upon to teach, to plant the seeds of a more vig- 
orous scientific life. The key note of the whole is that “ the teach- 
ing is not to be a ‘pouring in’ it is simply giving the thirsty a 
chance to drink.” Though these lectures were given to teachers, 
the purpose was to show them how to teach children. That ordinary 
children can so be taught to their delight by a gifted teacher, elici- 
ting surprising proofs of the native acuteness of their young intel- 
lects, has been shown by the results obtained in England by Prof. 
- Henslow, and by Prof. Goodale and others in this country. 
