; 7 2 



THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



" With this brief statement of the ' conditions 

 precedent 1 to the 'Flora of North America,' 

 which have more interest for the botanist than 

 the general reader, we glance at the work itself. 



"The present (first in order of appearance, 

 but not in botanical sequence) is the first part 

 of the second volume, takiug up the orders 

 where the former flora left off. It begins with 

 the Goodeniacece, and ends with the Plantagina- 

 cece. Two more parts will be required to com- 

 plete the second volume ; the one to immediate- 

 ly follow this will be devoted to the Apetalous 

 and Gymnos]>errnous Exogens, and the final part 

 will contain the Monocotyledonous plants and 

 the Vascular Cryptogamia. The first volume 

 will include the Polypetalous orders, and the 

 Ganiopetalse to the end of Compositse. It is 

 expected that each volume will contain about 

 twelve hundred pages. 



" The first thing which will strike the work- 

 ing botanist on opening its pages is the excel- 

 lent mechanical arrangement of the flora, and 

 especially its compactness as compared with the 

 former ' Flora of North America.' This is at- 

 tained in part by conciseness of description, but 

 mainly by the omission of extended synonymy. 

 This lack of synonyms is happily supplied by 

 the contemporaneous publication, by the Smith- 

 sonian Institution, of the 'Bibliographical In- 

 dex to North American Botany,' by that most 

 industrious of botanical workers, Mr. Sereno 

 Watson, of the Herbarium of Harvard College. 

 This work gives full references for each species, 

 and, while it is of the greatest importance that 

 its matter should be recorded, it is not of a kind 

 needed by the majority of those who will use the 

 ' Flora,' and its preservation in a separate work 

 is most fortunate, especially as it allows the 

 ' Flora ' to be much more compact. 



" It is hardly necessary at this day to say 

 anything in praise of Dr. Gray as a systematic 

 botanist. Those familiar with his other works 

 will be prepared for the admirable method which 

 characterizes this ; the same conciseness of de- 

 scription, the keen perception which seizes upon 

 and points out the distinctive characters, and the 

 same broad views of the range of genera and 

 species which mark his other works, will be 

 found here. Yet we venture to say that this 

 work will add to his reputation with those who 

 can understand the difficulties of his task, and 

 can appreciate the completeness with which it 

 is executed. Almost any one, familiar with bo- 

 tanical terms, can so describe a species that it 

 may be identified by another. It is the treat- 

 ment of large genera that puts the systematic 

 botanist to the test. The generic description 

 should give characters which cover every spe- 

 cies, while the specific description should not 

 repeat any of the generic characters a matter 

 sitnple enough, but its non-observance is very 

 tiresome, even in the works of botanists of dis- 

 tinction. For convenience, large families have 

 in many works an artificial key to the genera, 

 and large genera a similar key to the species. 

 This is well enough in elementary works. In 

 the present 'Flora' the large genera are grouped 

 in subgenera, which, if sufficiently important, 



have distinctive names; these subgenera arc 

 subdivided into sections and subsections, each 

 briefly defined by prominent characters common 

 to all the species it includes. For example, in 

 ' The Flora ' (which will soon become its ac- 

 cepted and familiar title), in the now large genus 

 JMmulus, we have the primary divisions or sub- 

 genera : 1. Eunanus ; 2. Diplacus ; 3. Eurnimu- 

 Ins ; 4. Mimuloides ; all except No. 3 having been 

 ranked by one botanist or another as genera. 

 Some of these subgenera include a dozen or 

 more species, which are grouped in subdivisions 

 of two to five, by characters common to all. It 

 is in such grouping that the systematic botanist 

 shows his tact, and we feel sure that those who 

 make use of ' The Flora ' will find that the eye 

 of the author has lost none of its early keenness, 

 and that his perception of the essential charac- 

 ters is as acute as ever. 



" While we welcome this installment of the 

 ' Flora of North America ' as an important event 

 in the history of American botany, and announce 

 its appearance with no little national pride, we 

 utter the wish of overy American botanist when 

 we express the hope that its author may be 

 spared to complete the work so admirably be- 

 gun." 



American Journal of Mathematics, Pore 

 and Applied. Editor-in-Chief, J. J. Syl- 

 vester, LL. D., F. R. S. ; Associate Edi- 

 tor-in-Charge, William E. Story, Ph. D., 

 with the cooperation of Benjamin Peirce, 

 LL. D., F. R. S., Simon Newcomb, LL. D., 

 F. R. S., and H. A. Rowland, C. E. 

 Published under the Auspices of the 

 Johns Hopkins University. Tol. I., 

 No. 1. Pp. 104. Baltimore: printed 

 by John Murphy & Co. Price, $5 per 

 year; $1.50 single number. 



This periodical is to appear quarterly, 

 or as nearly so as may be found practicable, 

 each volume of four numbers containing 

 about 384 quarto pages. It is designed 

 chiefly as a medium of communication be- 

 tween American mathematicians, and has 

 for its primary object the publication of 

 original mathematical investigations. " In 

 addition to this, from time to time concise 

 abstracts will be inserted of subjects to 

 which special interest may attach or which 

 have been developed in memoirs, difficult 

 of access to American students. Critical 

 and bibliographical notices and reviews of 

 the most important recent mathematical 

 publications, American and foreign, will also 

 form part of the plan." 



" The editors believe it will materially 

 aid in fostering the study of mathematical 

 science throughout this continent, and they 

 feel it their duty to state that any good 

 which may arise from it will be in a great 



