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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



more necessary to the vital processes than 

 any other substance, and is honored with a 

 special channel for introduction into the 

 system, and is liable to such variation of 

 quality as profoundly to affect the health, 

 its treatment was necessary to give com- 

 pleteness to the plan of the work, and no 

 portion of it will be found more interesting 

 or important than this. Dr. Smith has en- 

 riched his volume by a series of graphical 

 diagrams, which present to the eye the effect 

 of various alimentary substances upon the 

 pulse and respiration. This method of 

 physiological illustration is of great value, 

 and has been long in use among scientific 

 men, as it brings into pictorial view, so as 

 to be quickly comprehended and easily re- 

 membered, the results of long trains of in- 

 vestigation. This is the first time that the 

 graphic method of illustration has been ap- 

 plied to this subject, for purposes of pop- 

 ular instruction. A little careful attention 

 will be required at first, to get familiar with 

 the mode of illustration, but for this the 

 result will be found amply compensating. 



Arrangements have been made for the 

 translation of the International Scientific 

 Series into the Russian language, and the 

 works are all to be published in St. Peters- 

 burg. Negotiations are also pending for 

 the reproduction of the series in the Italian 

 language. When this is done, each author 

 will be read in six countries, and have pay- 

 ment for his book from six publishers. The 

 works of Prof. Bain on " Mind and Body ; " 

 of Dr. Pettigrew, on " Animal Locomo- 

 tion ; " of Balfour Stewart, on " The Con- 

 servation of Energy ; " of Prof. Marey, on 

 "The Animal Machine ; " of Herbert Spen- 

 cer, on " The Study of Sociology ; " of Prof. 

 Amos, on " The Science of Law ; " and of 

 Dr. Carpenter, on " Mental Physiology," 

 are now all in press, and will be soon issued, 

 and are to be rapidly followed by other 

 English, German, French, and American 

 works, now in course of preparation. 



Second Book of Botany; a Practical 

 Guide to the Observation and Study of 

 Plants. By Eliza A. Youmans. Pp. 

 310, 422 cuts. Price $1.50. New York: 

 D. Appleton & Co. 



This volume is a continuation of the 

 method adopted by Miss Youmans in the 



"First Book of Botany," published three 

 years ago ; and its peculiarity is that it en- 

 forces the direct and systematic study of 

 plants themselves. Her object is to make 

 the study of Nature a means of mental cul- 

 tivation an end which can only be gained 

 by familiarity with the objects of Nature, 

 and for this our schools, as at present man- 

 aged, make no suitable preparation. In her 

 Introduction Miss Youmans says: "Our 

 plan of general education includes not a 

 single subject that can secure the mental 

 advantages arising from the direct and sys- 

 tematic study of Nature. We do a great 

 deal in the way of ' mental discipline,' but 

 the order and truth of things around us are 

 not allowed to contribute to it. We train 

 the faculty of calculation and drill the mem- 

 ory in lesson-learning ; but the realities of 

 Nature find no place in our schools, as means 

 of mental unfolding, for training in obser- 

 vation, and for working the higher faculties 

 of reason and judgment, upon natural things. 

 In short, for calling out the more important 

 powers of the mind by actual exercise upon 

 the objects of surrounding experience, our 

 educational system makes no provision 

 whatever. Neither reading, writing, arith- 

 metic, grammar, nor geography, brings the 

 mind into contact with Nature at all ; and 

 even the sciences of physics, chemistry, 

 physiology, and botany, are usually acquired 

 from books, and with so little regard to the 

 real objects of which they treat, that, as 

 means of mental improvement, they are of 

 very slight service." 



Believing that botany has special and 

 preeminent claims to be introduced into all 

 schools, as a means of training the faculties 

 of observation and reason upon actual phe- 

 nomena, Miss Youmans has shaped her 

 method entirely to the attainment of this 

 end. She holds that " like arithmetic, bot- 

 any is only to be acquired by first master- 

 ing its rudiments. And as in arithmetic 

 the student is compelled to exercise his 

 mind directly upon numbers, and work out 

 problems for himself, so in botany, if worth 

 pursuing at all, it should be studied in its 

 actual objects. The characters of plants 

 must become familiarly known by the de- 

 tailed and repeated examination and accurate 

 description of large numbers of specimens. 

 The pupil must proceed step by step in this 



