252 The Irish Naturalist, August, 1907. 



REVIEW. 



ANOTHER SCHOOL BOTANY. 



Elementary Botany. Studies In Plant Life. With over 350 

 Illustrations. By J. Adams, M. A. Dublin and Belfast : Fallon & Co. 



The addition of a new elementary text-book in any of the branches of 

 science to the, usually, long list of already existing ones, invariably leads 

 one to look out for some special reason for its appearance. This the 

 author in the present case supplies at the opening of his preface, where 

 he states that "the book is an attempt to describe the outstanding 

 features of the structure and life of plants in plain language." 



Whether this is to be regarded as a really sufficient justification may 

 of course be doubted, but the author has certainly succeeded in his 

 desire to avoid undue use of technical terms. His descriptions are usually 

 accurate, clear, and brief; in some cases, perhaps, one would have de- 

 sired a somewhat fuller treatment, but probably the limits of size of the 

 book exercised a restraining influence. For students engaged in 

 "getting up" the subject, and who find the ordinary elementary text- 

 book wearying, the present book may be confidently recommended. 

 Although, however, the book is included in *' The School and 

 College Series," we have grave doubts as to whether this class of text- 

 book is really wanted in our schools, into which it is desirable that the 

 more educational experimental methods of teaching should be intro- 

 duced, even in natural history subjects. 



The ground covered is the familiar one, but it is happily widened by 

 the inclusion of two chapters, entitled "' Manner of Life and Relation to 

 Surroundings" and " Plant Habitats " respectively. These, perhaps, 

 justify the second title of the book, although by far the greater part of 

 it is taken up with structural and classificatory descriptions. The real 

 life of the plant receives the scant} 7 attention which is usual in books of 

 this kind. Respiration, for instance, is mentioned only in the chapter 

 on the leaf, but even there its experimental proof is suggested as being 

 best carried out on germinating seeds ! There is a good chapter on 

 " Flowerless Plants," and a useful one on "Poisonous Plants," which 

 contains short and succinct descriptions of all our poisonous plants, 

 with indications in many cases as to the sort of habitat in which each is 

 likely to be found These, and the accompanying figures, should be of 

 considerable help in studying plants of this nature. Exception might 

 be taken to the unqualified description of a wood-vessel as "a con- 

 tinuous tube" (p. 31) or pipe, and the comparison of an annular vessel 

 to a barrel with its hoops is scarcely a happy one. The numerous illus- 

 trations, drawn by Mr. Dennehy, are clear, but Fig. 324 of the "Blue 

 Mould " is scarcely accurate. The book has a flimsy cover, and is bound 

 in an exasperating fashion, which does not permit of its being opened 

 flat. 



G. H. P. 



