THE PLANT WOELD 59 



of the edition went astray. Of conrse it is understood that we vdW 

 replace all such missing numbers without charge. 



In this connection it is perhaps due to our readers that some ex- 

 planation should be given of the excessive delay in the publication of 

 our February and March numbers. The principal causes have been 

 the change of printer, the selection and preparation of a new cover 

 design, the manufacture of a quantity of paper to our special order, and 

 the large amount of extra business that has come to us with, the acqui- 

 sition of the Asa Gray Bulletin property. After a delay has once oc- 

 curred, it is almost impossible to prevent a still further lapse from 

 month to month; lint special arrangements have been made whereby 

 the preparations for this and the succeeding issue might progress nearly 

 simultaneously, and we hope to jjublish The Plajst Wokld for May 

 promptly- on May 15th. 



BOOK REVIEWS. 



The Mushroom Book. A popular guide to the identification and study 

 of our commoner fungi, with special emphasis on the edible vari- 

 eties, by Nina L. Marshall, with many illustrations in color and 

 black and white, photographed from nature by J. A. and H. C. 

 Anderson. Small 4to, 167 pp. Doubleday, Page and Co., Pub- 

 lishers, New York, 1901. $3.00. 



If the number of books on mushrooms which have recently ap- 

 l)eared may be taken as an indication of public interest in the subject, 

 such interest must be rapidly increasing. The latest effort at a popu- 

 lar work on these plants is "The Mushroom Book." The book is very 

 i:>repossessing in appearance, and a perusal of its contents increases 

 one's first favorable impression. The purpose of the author is stated 

 as follows : "It has been the aim of the author to write a book simple 

 enough to serve a/S a source of knowledge for the manj- who, though 

 busy with other pursuits, yet take an interest in science and wish to 



