THE PLANT WOKLD 159 



Book Reviews. 



A University Text-Book of Botany. By Douglas Houghton Camp- 

 bell, Ph. D., Professor of Botany in the Leland Stanford Junior 

 University. 8vo., 579 pp., with many illustrations. The Macmil- 

 lan Co., New York, 1902. Price, $4.00. 



The author informs us in the preface that he has attempted " to 

 present in as compact a form as possible an outline of the essentials of 

 modern botany," also that the book "is designed primarily as a work of 

 reference." As a university text-book we are sorry to say this work does 

 not meet our expectations. There will no doubt be differences of 

 opinion as to whether the author has succeeded in his purpose, as set 

 forth by himself. 



After an introductory chapter of 11 pages the morphology of the 

 plant body and the plant cell are discussed ; this portion of the work 

 covering 65 pages. The greater portion of the work, pages 67-459, is 

 devoted to taxonomy. In the discussion of the various groups there is 

 necessarily much of morphology also. 



The subject of physiology is next taken up ; pages 461-493 being 

 devoted to it. The volume closes with a chapter on " Relation to En- 

 vironment " and one on " Geological and Geographical Distribution." 



To our mind the work lacks the symmetry and fullness which 

 should characterize a university text-book. The word university should 

 mean more to American students to-day than it did ten or twenty years 

 ago, and all text-books intended for such institutions should tend to 

 elevate the standard. The book is profusely illustrated with text-figures 

 and half-tone plates. At the close of each chapter there is a biblio- 

 graphy containing reference to the principal literature relating to the 

 subject discussed in the chapter. The work will no doubt prove helpful 

 to students and general readers of the subject. C. L. S. 



An Analytical Key to some of the Common Flowering Plants of the 

 EocKY Mountain Region. By Aven Nelson, A. M., Professor of 

 Botany in the University of Wyoming. Twentieth Century Text- 

 Book Series. New York, D. Appleton & Co., 1902. 



The title of this little book is somewhat misleading, for instead of 

 being simply a key, which in the technical sense is merely a tabular 

 presentation of contrasting characters, it is really an abridged manual 

 of botany, with descriptions of genera and species. 



The book is offered, as we learn from the preface, not as a substi- 



