132 The Ottawa Naturalist. [September 



REVIEW. 



Mosses with a hand-lens and Microscope. A non-technical 



HAND-BOOK OF THE MORE COMMON MOSSES OF THE NORTH- 

 EASTERN United States. By A J. Grout, Ph. D. Parts 

 I, II and III, published by the author, 360 Lenox Road, 

 Brooklyn, N.Y. $1.00 a part. 



In his preface Dr. Grout says : " Mosses are indvidually so 

 small and inconspicuous that the effect which they have as a mass 

 in creating and enhancing the beauty of natural scenery is often 

 overlooked," and as he later points out many would have collected 

 and studied them had not the difficulties been so numerous and 

 hard to overcome. It is to lessen the number of these difficulties 

 that " Mosses with a Hand-lens and Microscope" has been pub- 

 lished. A short review of "Mosses with a Hand-bns" was 

 printed in The Naturalist a few months ago. Useful as that book 

 is to young students it cannot compare in value with Dr. Grout's 

 later and more exhaustive work. The same methods have been 

 used but the hand-lens being replaced by the microscope it has 

 been possible to refer to many microscopic distinctions that could 

 not be detected at all, or only with great difficulty, by a hand-lens. 

 Though purporting to be only a hand-book of the mosses of the 

 northeastern United States, nearly all eastern Canadian species 

 are included. 



The first 46 pages of Part I are divided into (1) Introduction 

 (2) Classification and Nomenclature. (3) The Collection and Pre- 

 servation of Mosses. (4) How to mount Mosses. (5) Methods of 

 Manipulation. (6) Life-History and structure of the moss plant- 

 (7) Illustrated glossary of bryological terms. The description of 

 species and the characterization of genera and orders is so exact 

 that any one familiar with moss terminology should have little 

 difficulty in determining the species he collects. 



Heavy coated paper, new type and illustrations without num- 

 ber add to the value as well as the appearance of what must be 

 considered the most important work that has yet been published 

 on American mosses. No oth/er book will bj needed by any moss- 

 student except the speciaB$^^___^j< y\ 



^/o ^fevV^ John Macoun. 



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