o 



29 



Analyses drawn from Nature by Charles Edward Faxon and 

 engraved by Philibert and Eugene Picart.' Volume I. Mag- 

 noliaceai— IHcineae. Large 4to, pp. ix+119; 50 plates. 

 Boston and New York. Houghton, Mifflin and Co., 1891. 

 It is with a sense of profound gratitude and the highest admi- 

 ' ration for the immense labor devoted to the work that we cor- 

 dially welcome the appearance of the first volume of this magnifi- 

 cent book. Professor Sargent has been engaged in the accumu- 

 lation of the material now collated and given to the world, for a 

 large number of years, and the result will rank with the best class- 

 ical works on Science and Art that have ever been issued at home 



or abroad. 



The book is sumptuously printed on heavy paper and cut 



with broad margins. The illustrations are superb. The descrip- 

 tions are excellent and the notes on geographical distribution, ■ 

 history and economic importance are of the highest interest and 



value. 



The descriptions of genera and species, which follow the 



sequence adopted in the Genera Plantarum of Bentham and 

 Hooker, are prefaced by an account of the various publications 

 which have been especially devoted to our trees ; the earliest 

 being Humphrey Marshall's "Arbustum Amcricanum " and the 

 — ^t. ..^^^.,«- n^f^^i Pt-rxfnccr>r Frl^varrl T. Grfpue's " Wcst Amer- 



ican Oaks." 



The author's definition of a tree is certainly the most rational 

 one. Pie says "The line which divides trees from shrubs is a 

 purely arbitrary one, and an attempt to separate them is often 

 unsatisfactory. A division based on habit rather than on size 

 seems, on the whole, more easily applied than any other, and 

 therefore less objectionable. So, for the purposes of this work I 

 have considered as trees all woody plants which grow up from 

 the ground with a single stem, whatever size or height they may 

 attain." As to the number of species coming within this defini- 

 tion it is stated "The forests of North America, exclusive of 

 Mexico, are now believed to contain four hundred and twenty- 

 two, besides numerous varieties." 



The question of nomenclature is treated of in the following 

 sentences: "I have adopted the method which imposes upon a 



