40 The Ohio Naturalist. [Vol. X, No. 2, 



A NEW LABORATORY GUIDE FOR HIGH SCHOOL BOTANY. 



Under the title, "Laboratory Botany for the High School," 

 Prof. Willard N. Clute has published, through Ginn & Company, 

 a little volume that will be an important addition to the text- 

 books intended for secondar}^ schools. The author is a high 

 school teacher as well as a practical botanist and the book before. 

 us shows that it is the outcome of a course adapted to the age 

 c-nd capacity of the students for which it is intended. 



The one essential to a good high school course is that it should 

 not ape the general course given to more mature students in the 

 college. The high school has a field of its own. 



"Laboratory Botany" can be used for a half year or a year 

 course. The work is so arranged that a greater or less amount of 

 an exercise can be taken without difficulty. The language is 

 simple, which makes it easy for the student to concentrate atten- 

 tion on the necessary scientific terms. There are review ques- 

 tions and suggestions to the teacher that are very opportune. 

 The definitions at the end of each chapter are perhaps one of the 

 best features of the book. It is just such convenient lists that the 

 beginner needs to consult. 



The work begins with simple exercises on the living cell and is 

 followed in order by chapters on seeds, roots, buds, steins, 

 leaves, flowers, and fruits and seeds. The first part ends with a 

 study of trees and the ecology of the flower. The first part will 

 make a good half year course for the spring semester, although 

 the author shows that it can easily be given in the fall if one has 

 access to a greenhouse. 



The second part deals with the spore plants, beginning with 

 the blue-green algae and ending with the angiosperms. The 

 more important structures are considered and emphasis is laid 

 on the relationship and classification of the various groups. 

 This work can be given either in the fall or spring but to the 

 mind of the reviewer it would appropriately follow work in the 

 spring. 



Finally the book closes with thirty-six experiments in phsyiol- 

 ogy. These can be scattered through the general work, given 

 successively or used for general demonstrations as the teacher 

 may desire. 



The course thus outlined is practicable and workable and 

 fitted to the mental capacity of the average high school student 

 and will give a substantial botanical training both for practical 

 life and as a stepping stone to further botanical studies. 



John H. Schaffner. 



Date of Publication, December 17, 1909. 



