REVIEWS. 1 47 



how wide and extensive the lacunae in our knowlede^e of this flora 

 are. This is the more true of the extensive and various vegetation 

 of our own country, and we recommend to the more seriously 

 inclined — those who desire to know plants in a somewhat critical 

 way — the perusal and use of these notes as a means of orientation 

 and as suggestive of much valuable work. 



The only general criticism which we may make of Lord Ave- 

 bury's work is that we see a strong tendency to see in a result of 

 a phenomenon the cause of it. This is, of course, the danger of 

 the teleological interpretative method. For example, the author 

 speaks of the spines on the leaves of the holly as a protection 

 against the browsing of cattle, and remarks that " it is interesting 

 that the upper ones which are out of reach tend to lose their 

 spines " and quotes from Southey a stanza which embodies the 

 post hoc view completely. 



Ele))icittary Botany, including a manual of the common genera 

 of Nebraska plants, is a little book of 199 pages designed by the 

 author especially for the use of those who do not have the oppor- 

 tunity for studying botany in the school as well as for those who 

 have. The subject matter is arranged by months, and is put into 

 simple non-technical form. It consists of directions for the ob- 

 servation of the more obvious features of plants throughout the 

 whole kingdom, as does also the manual accompanying. It may 

 be had of the University Publishing Company, Lincoln, Neb. 



A series of articles, by Bradley Moore Davis, on " Studies on 

 the Plant Cell " which have appeared from time to time in The 

 Ainerican Xatiiralist, have been issued by their author collectively 

 in book form, and are offered by him for sale. The presentation 

 of the subject is scholarly and fairly detailed, and the book will 

 prove very useful to teachers and students, and especially so on 

 the college and university reference shelf. Copies may be had 

 from the author. University of Chicago, Chicago, 111. 



Whidozv Gardening in the School-room, by H. B. Dorner* is a 

 small but very good treatise on a subject worthy of and demanding 



* Published by Purdue University, Lafayette, Ind. 



