428 



THE GUIDE TO NATURE. 



Sensitive Plant: see how lie tries the effect 

 of a touch here, and a touch there; of a 

 very gentle touch, and a rude one; of a jar, 

 a breath, a puff or a blast of air. It is all 

 very interesting. And so are very many 

 more similar experiments and observations 

 >on plants when we know how to go about 

 them; — as how a plant bends toward the 

 light; how an inverted leaf will as persist- 

 ently turn over as will a turtle or an insect, 

 ■only of course it doesn't do it as quickly. 

 Then, too, there are the movements of roots, 

 and tendrils "•just as though they are alive," 

 as an excited student once said to me. And 

 there are the odd things about the growth 

 of plants, how they grow more rapidly in 

 •one part of the day, and less rapidly in the 

 other, and how to measure the rates of 

 growth. Nor must 1 forget the growth of 

 roots down, and of stems up, and the ways 

 of showing that this is not in response to 

 light. All these and many more things are 

 taken up in Professor Ganong's very inter- 

 esting "Laboratory Course in Plant Physio- 

 logy" (second edition) which has just been 

 brought out by Holt (New York). With half 

 tones of photographs, with cuts, and dia- 

 grams the author shows most attractively 

 how the apparatus is made, and how applied 

 to the plant to make it "act up" under such 

 conditions as will make it easy for us to 

 see it act. As one turns over the pages he 

 longs to have the time to try this or thai 

 experiment, and I venture the prediction 

 that in any school, and for any reader it 

 will always produce this effect. We should 

 all be boys again, watching actions of our 

 plants if we followed our inclinations after 

 reading the suggestions in Professor Ga- 

 nong"s book. 



And it is worth our while to find out how 

 living plants act, for it is only through a 

 knowledge of this kind, that we may know 

 the plant in health, and this again enables 

 us to know the nature of disease in the 

 plant. This then opens the door to a vast 

 field of inquiry of the greatest importance to 

 the scientific botanist and also to the prac- 

 tical plants of all kinds. 



Charles E. Mkssky. 



The University of Nebraska. 



Field, Forest. ami Wayside Flowers. By 



Maud Going. New York: The Baker 

 and Taylor Company. 



This is a popular book designed to meet 

 the needs of those who love to observe the 

 beauties and the wonders of familiar plant 

 life, and yet who do not wish to become 

 actual students. Doubtless a careful reading 

 of it will create a desire to do more careful 

 and serious work in plant study, than is 

 within the scope of this book. 



ideal use for the amateur astronomer or for 

 class use. The first plate is of Ursa Major 

 and Ursa Minor; the last is of the stars 

 near the South Pole. Each of the interven- 

 ing eight plates shows forty-five degrees of 

 Right Ascension. This is an ideal arrange- 

 ment for the study of the stars of the zodiac 

 and those neighboring, north and south. The 

 division into maps of forty-five degrees or 

 three hours each is a good suggestion for 

 the star student, be he navigator or astron- 

 omer. The writer sincerely hopes there 

 will be an edition issued for general use. 

 After straining one's eyes with the micro- 

 scopic names on the ordinary planisphere or 

 turning around circular star maps to find 

 "which way does it go," it is indeed a plea- 

 sure to use this set of plates which are clear 

 with the names easily readable in a book 

 to be opened and used in a common sense 

 manner, right side up like any other book. 



( iimmings's Nature Study For Primary 



Grades. By Horace H. Cummings, B. S., 

 Former Supervisor of Nature Study, 

 State Normal School, University of 

 Utah. Cloth, 12mo, 180 pages, with il- 

 lustrations. Price $1.00. American Book 

 Company, New York, Cincinnati, and 

 Chicago. 



A helpful teacher's manual for the first 

 three grades. The children are interested in 

 the various forms of life by constant appeal 

 to their instinct to investigate and their love 

 of imitation. The outlines given, to be de- 

 veloped by the teacher, are based upon fa- 

 miliar experiences and facts, and many field 

 lessons are arranged for. Pupils are 

 encouraged to make original observations 

 and experiments, and to give natural prin- 

 ciples their practical applications. In 

 addition to animal and plant life, the lessons 

 deal with physics, physiology and hygiene. 

 Suggestions are given for making apparatus 

 and materials and for caring for a school 

 garden. The many illustrations are clear 

 and helpful. The book is the result of over 

 ten years' test of the lessons in the class 

 room, and is suitable for use in any part of 

 the country. 



Plates of 150 Fixed Stars Used in Naviga- 

 tion. Compiled by Robert E. Tod, Mas- 

 ter Mariner. New York City. 



While this is professedly, as insisted on 

 l)y the title, for use in navigation, it is of 



Castle Stories. By Castle Girls. Tarrytown. 

 N. Y.: The Castle. 



While this book is not within the 

 scope of "The Guide to Nature," I 

 take pleasure in calling attention to 

 it as a personal favor to the school and 

 to the young ladies who have written the 

 stories in the book. One of the writers. 

 Miss Florence Vorpe, has not only good 

 literary ability, but is a diligent student of 

 nature. We hope that she will combine her 

 talents of general literature and of accurate 

 observation and produce a nature book that 

 will not be mere "stories," but will be a 

 genuine contribution to our nature litera- 

 ture. 



