NOTICES OF BOOKS. 155 



most careful compiler and analyst. More than all this is however ne- 

 cessary for the production of a good elementary work, suited both for 

 the teacher and the pupil : the author must use language that is neither 

 abstruse nor vague, and that is both precise and easy to be understood ; 

 he must speak with authority, but without dogmatism; must show that 

 he can form an opinion, founded on his own independent judgment, 

 upon doubtful matters, and that he is not indifferent to the opinions 

 adopted by his pupils, though he must not attempt to excite a prejudice 

 against those he himself disapproves ; above all, he must avoid all ap- 

 pearance of evading difficulties that ought to be mastered, or glossing 

 over false doctrines that are current in science, however high the autho- 

 rity that supports them. 



Upon all these points Professor Gray appears to have been prepared, 

 and we accordingly find the general character of his work to be both 

 scientific and simple, and as perfectly suited to its object as any work 



of the kind we have seen. 



Another claim which these « Lessons ' have upon the notice of botanists 

 in general, arises from the circumstances under which they appear ; it is 

 the first good indigenous American work on Elementary Botany, and 

 it is written to meet an urgent want, that, namely, of a book adapted 

 for the use of the classes in the common and higher schools of the 

 United States; and it is further intended to serve as a grammar of 

 Botany and Vegetable Physiology, which shall be an introduction to 

 Professor Gray's ' Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States.' 

 With the ' Lessons ' and the ' Manual,' a pupil of ordinary intelligence 

 and industry may not onlv determine the names, affinities, and distribu- 

 tion of the plants of the Northern States, but obtain a very considerable 

 experience in general botany ; and when we consider that all this may 

 be obtained for about 15*. (the 'Lessons' cost 1 dollar 50 cents, and 

 the « Manual ' 2 dollars 50 cents), we affirm, without hesitation, that no 

 country in the globe affords the means for a student's knowing the 

 plants of his countrv better than the Northern United states do. This 

 is a matter deserving very attentive consideration in our own country 

 where the expediency of teaching an elementary knowledge of Natural 

 History in our schools is rapidly obtaining advocates; and at a time 

 when it is demonstrated that science cannot be treated » a plaything, _ 

 but may yet be so introduced into the school-room as to be attract ,v« 

 to children, and eventually » source of n. reation as well as of „.str„.- 



