i-jd THE PLANT WORLD. 



fronted at the outset with the difficult question of arranging it so 

 that it may be easy to use. A great many people who are interested 

 in plants in a casual way, have perhaps neither time nor inclination 

 to study botany thoroughly. They meet with plants in their rambles 

 that they wish to know the names and uses of, and books have been 

 prepared that will enable them to ascertain these facts with the 

 minimum of exertion on their part. Then we have books in which 

 the plants described are arranged according to season of blooming, 

 color, or even of size. Each has advantages and disadvantages. In 

 the book under consideration two plans are combined. The principle 

 disposition is under localities or habitats in which the plants grow, 

 and this is supplemented by a list or index to color. Thus there are 

 chapters including the plants growing in water; plants growing in 

 mud, as bogs, swamps, and marshes; plants growing in moist soil, as 

 low meadows and near running streams; plants growing in rich or 

 rocky soil, deep woods and hillsides; plants growing in light soil, along 

 open woods, in sandy soil, and finally such as grow in waste soil, as 

 roadside banks and lanes. The difficulty in an arrangement of this 

 kind is the fact that plants are not absolutely confined to any habitat, 

 and while each species usually grows in a particular place, well de- 

 veloped individuals may often be found in any of the above mentioned 

 habitats This is partly corrected by the index to the colors of plants, 

 but in some cases it will undoubtedly require considerable searching 

 to find even well known things. We note, also, that there is no 

 arrangement attempted under the chapters. It would have saved 

 much time had the plants been arranged either by color or time of 

 flowering. But these are, perhaps, minor defects. 



The most prominent feature is, of course, the illustrations. The 

 colored plates are in general extremely well executed, and the black 

 and white figures are usually characteristic and well drawn. 



The introduction by Dr. Britton is a guarantee that the technical 

 portion of the work is of a high order, in fact it is a pleasure to note 

 that the so-called new nomenclature is followed throughout. Alto- 

 gether this book is a welcome addition to our popular works on the 

 wild flowers. It deserves and will undoubtedly have an extensive 

 sale.— i^. H. K. 



Prof. Robert T. Jackson, of Harvard University, has recently 

 published in the "Memoirs of the Boston Society of Natural 

 History," a very valuable article on the localized stages in the 

 development of plants and animals. It should be read by all inter- 

 ested in the study of plant evolution. 



