94 BOOKS AND CURRENT LITERATURE 



and describes over one hundred of the commonest trees. The descrip- 

 tions are confined to the characters with which a forester comes in con- 

 tact, which makes them many times more valuable in a tropical forest 

 than descriptions based on flowers and fruit would be. There is also a 

 key to these species based on vegetative characters. 



The work of Whitford and his associates is laying a broad foundation 

 for the future forestry policy of the Philippines. To Major Ahern, 

 Director of Forestry, is due great credit for his broad-mindedness in 

 encouraging forest work which has scientific value, — which is merely 

 saying that it has fundamental rather than purely superficial practical 

 value, — and for his far-sightedness in wishing to have these founda- 

 tions laid in time to secure a conservative management of the immense 

 forest resources of the islands. — F. S. 



Poisonous Plants. — Pammel's compendious treatise on poisonous 

 plants 1 presents practically all that is known about the poisonous plants 

 of the United States, if not of the world, because it includes a descrip- 

 tion of many foreign species that have been in cultivation in the United 

 States. The first part deals with such topics as poisons and statistics 

 on poisons, bacterial poisons, dematitis, forage poisoning, ergotism, 

 aspergillosis, poisoning from fungi, equisetosis, locoism, lupinosis, fish 

 and arrow poisons, hydrocyanic poisoning, toxalbumins, poisoning from 

 opium, poisoning from flowers, poisoning from honey, mechanical inju- 

 ries, classification of poisons, symptoms, antidotes, the production of 

 poison in plants, algae in water supplies, a catalogue of the more impor- 

 tant poisonous plants of the United States and Canada, chemistry of 

 alkaloids, glucosides and so forth. With even greater completeness of 

 detail, and with the aid of numerous figures, the author in Part 2 deals 

 with the poisonous plants arranged systematically according to natural 

 families. The reviewer believes that a number of small families of 

 plants have unfortunately been included although they hardly merit 

 treatment in a book bearing this title. Considering the stupendous 

 amount of work involved, how T ever, the author may be excused the occa- 

 sional padding. The work closes with a catalogue and bibliography of 

 poisonous plants. — John W. Harshberger. 



1 Pammel, L. H., A Manual of Poisonous Plants, chiefly of Eastern North Amer- 

 ica, with brief notes on Economic and Medicinal Plants, and numerous illustra- 

 tions. Part 1, pp. vi +150, 1910; Part 2. pp. v+151-977, figs. 4.1S, 1911. 



