196 NOTES AND COMMENT 



of eastern states will reveal the fact that they bid fair to fall behind 

 the western states in this activity. Particularly is it true, although with 

 notable exceptions, that the west is better provided than is the east with 

 works which not only list the flora but give some picture of the natural 

 vegetation, together with precise observational data as to the habitats 

 and limits of distribution of the various species. 



A new elementary school book has been prepared by Frank Owen 

 Payne, entitled Manual of Experimental Botany (American Book Com- 

 pany). The brief volume brings the student into contact with the 

 commonest facts of plant physiology by use of the experimental 

 method, and by the same method also touches upon the structure of 

 the stem, leaf, and flower, modes of pollination, the nature of some of 

 the commonest cryptogamic plants, and other matters which it is not 

 usually considered possible to handle by the experimental method in 

 teaching. Some preliminary chemical experiments are designed to 

 obviate what must be one of the practical difficulties of the book. There 

 are the usual touches of teleology here and there, but on the whole the 

 book is a very commendable departure. 



