306 NATURE STUDY REVIEW [9:9— Dec, 1913- 



Harper's Guide to the Wild Flowers, Mrs. Caroline A. Creevey. 

 555 pages. $1.75. 



The book is based on the new (7th edition) of Gray's Manual. 

 There are no keys for identification but the flowers are grouped 

 according to color. Then lists are given under various habitats, 

 swamps, river banks, wet meadows, etc. Finally a "Flower 

 Calender" gives the dates when the blooms may be expected. 

 There are many illustrations in color, and numerous ink sketches. 

 The book will be a valuable companion to Gray's Manual, but 

 would hardly be a substitute for it. In the attempt to avoid the 

 technical keys the student is involved in greater difficulty. 

 Imagine trying to distinguish the numerous asters or goldenrods by 

 means of difference in color, habitat and date of bloom. Keys for 

 such groups as these the members of which can not readily be 

 separated by the method of identification adopted would enhance 

 the value of the book greatly. 



Health in Home and Town, Bertha Millard Brown, pp. vi + 312, 

 D. C. Heath & Co., $.60. 



This book is intended as a sequel to the author's earlier book, 

 "Good Health for Girls and Boys." In the first book of the series 

 personal hygiene is treated and in this later one matters of sanita- 

 tion are taken up. The book might well serve as a sort of com- 

 pendium to accompany the study of civics in the upper grades, but 

 we scarcely see its adaptability to class work in hygiene. A large 

 part of its topics deal with matters that the pupil in the grades is 

 impotent to control and upon which it is futile to try to interest 

 him. Written in a style adapted to a cyclopedia for children, it 

 lacks in attractiveness and inspirational power. Moreover, the 

 statements are not all in accordance with modem findings. For 

 example, carbon dioxide is spoken of as a poisonous gas, and the 

 lungs are said to purify the blood. Alcohol is referred to as a 

 stimulant. However, the book is well printed and bound, and its 

 illustrations are particularly well chosen and attractive. 



F. M. G. 



The Living Plant, Wm. F. Ganong, pages XIV plus 478, Henry 

 Holt & Co., price $3.50. 



Professor Genong has long been known as an eminent American 

 plant physiologist, and as the title of the book indicates, this is a 

 study of botany from the standpoint of the plant's activities. 



