4H 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Botany. Outlines of Morphology, Physiol- 

 ocv, and Classification of Plants. By 

 William Kamsey McNab, M. D., F. L. S., 

 Professor of Botany, Royal College of 

 Science for Ireland, Dublin. Specially 

 revised for American Students, by 

 Charles E. Bessey, M. Sc, Ph. D., Pro- 

 fessor of Botany in Iowa Agricultural 

 College. New York : Henry Holt & Co. 

 1881. Pp. 400. Price, 1.10. 

 It is claimed for the American revision 

 of McXab's work that it is less technical than 

 the foreign book, and has been completely 

 adapted to American use by changes in the 

 classification, and by the introduction of 

 American examples. There has also been 

 a considerable simplification of the text, 

 an omission of some paragraphs and a use 

 of smaller type in others, so as to bring the 

 work into the compass of one volume. Be- 

 sides, the book has been divided into chap- 

 ters, sections, and numbered paragraphs. 

 It is designed for " second or middle class 

 schools," and aims to present the " study of 

 plants as living things, rather than their 

 bare analysis and classification." 



In clearness, conciseness, and perfect 

 adequacy of statement, the text of this 

 echool-book leaves nothing to be desired. 

 It is well illustrated, and may be recom- 

 mended as a valuable book for general 

 readers. But we are a little puzzled about 

 its place as a school-book. We do not un- 

 derstand what the editor means by " second 

 or middle class schools." Is it the next 

 grade above our primary schools? Is it 

 meant as a first book to introduce children 

 of say a dozen years to the study of plants. 

 If it is designed for beginners in botany, we 

 do not hesitate to pronounce the work a mis- 

 take. To begin this study with the minute 

 structural elements of plants which are only 

 discernible through the microscope, and 

 with the lower microscopical forms of vege- 

 tation, is to put the difficult and complex 

 before the plain and apparent. It can not 

 be claimed that vegetable anatomy is a 

 more important division of the science than 

 organography; but it is certainly more 

 requisite to the comprehension of vegetable 

 physiology, or the plant considered as a 

 " living bein<." It would seem that there 

 existed in the mind of the American editor 

 'a kind of partisan feeling as regards the 

 various departments of this science, nc 

 prefers the " study of plants as living be- 



ings," to what he terms their " bare analy- 

 sis and classification," and so he offers us a 

 school-book which is neither in accord with 

 the true order of the science of botany nor 

 with the unfolding faculties of the pupil. 



Botany has to deal with plants in respect 

 to their kinds as well as their functions. Pro- 

 fessor Gray, who has had some experience of 

 the contrary method, says that the study of 

 botany naturally begins with the structural 

 botany of flowering plants. In his recently 

 published "Structural Botany" he omits, as 

 far as possible, all reference to intimate 

 structure, development, and function, leav- 

 ing these subjects to be treated in the sec- 

 ond part of his work, which has not yet 

 appeared, and which is devoted to physi- 

 ology. 



That children should begin the study of 

 botany with organography follows, not only 

 from a consideration of the science as a 

 whole, but is still more obvious when we 

 regard the particular subjects dealt with in 

 its various divisions. In organography, dis- 

 tinctive names are applied to the different 

 organs of plants and their endless variations 

 of form. A knowledge of these terms is 

 indispensable to the botanist, and in child- 

 hood it is acquired with ease and pleasure. 

 This botanical vocabulary enables the stu- 

 dent to describe the objects of his study 

 with precision and brevity, and in its ac- 

 quisition and use he is forming the all-im- 

 portant habit of careful observation, and is 

 getting knowledge at first-hand or by self- 

 teaching. In fact there is not another sub- 

 ject in the whole range of the sciences so 

 well suited to the training of the dominant 

 faculties of children in the earlier grades of 

 our public schools as is this department of 

 botany, which is declared on high authority 

 to be the natural beginning of the study. 



Seedless Fruits. By E. Lewis Sturte- 

 vaxt, M. D., South Framingham, Massa- 

 chusetts. Pp. 29. 



Numerous instances of plants in which 

 such combinations occur are cited in sup- 

 port of the view that the abnormal develop- 

 ment or richness of any part of a plant, as 

 the pulp of a fine fruit, the root, or the 

 tuber in case of the potato, is apt to be at- 

 tended with deficiency, defectiveness, or en- 

 tire absence of seeds. 



