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NOTICES OF BOOKS. 



Photomicrographs of Microscjpical Studles. 5? x Sa in. 

 62 pages, with 103 illustrations (n.d.). Manchester: Flat- 

 ters, Mil borne & McKechnie, Ltd. Price 2s. 



Photomicrographs of microscopical studies prepared as lantern 

 slides are unquestionably a very valuable aid in the teaching of 

 botany, for the teacher, by a detailed description of them as they 

 appear upon the screen, is able to make quite clear points that 

 are often very hazy in the minds of his students. Photomicro- 

 graphs have a greater reality about them than many of the 

 sketches found in the text-books, but they have a great defect as 

 compared with a careful drawing, that of showing one focal plane 

 only. Take, for example, the drawing of the nearly ripe macro- 

 sporangium of Selagiyiella inaeqidfolia, as given in A Text-hook 

 of Botany (Sachs), and a photomicrograph of the same, and the 

 defect becomes evident. 



A photomicrograph, without a very carefully prepared descrip- 

 tion to accompany it, may cause even greater perplexity to the 

 student than the " crude ideal sketch " it is intended to replace. 

 Many of the plates in the book before us, especially that forming 

 the frontispiece and those of transverse sections of roots and 

 stems, are quite excellent, but their full value is lost to the 

 private student from the fact that there is no full description 

 of them to help him to understand their significance. The extra 

 printing required might add slightly to the cost, but, at the same 

 time, the descriptions would greatly enhance the value of the 

 work. 



The method of indicating the various tissues by a horizontal 

 line is not quite satisfactory. Sometimes in indicating a vascular 

 bundle the line ends in a large cell. A V- or bracket-shaped end 



