THE AMKRICAN BOTANIST 85 



pages ami is illustrated by 8 colored plates and others in 

 black-and-white. The price is $2.75. 



The greatest objection to many books intended for the 

 identification of the trees, is that tiie kevs they contain are too 

 frequently based on characters to be found for only part of 

 the year. For instance, a key based on flowers or leaf charac- 

 ters is of little use in winter, while one that is concerned 

 principally with fruits is hopeless in spring. In a re-issue of 

 Dr. John H. Schaffner's "Field Manual of the Trees", the 

 objections have been met by the inclusion of three keys; one 

 to the trees in the winter condition, one for the summer con- 

 dition, and a third after the common style of botanical keys 

 which takes advantage of any salient character. Following 

 the keys, all the species north of Virginia, Kentucky, and 

 Missouri, and east of the Prairie region, are described in un- 

 technical language with additional keys to the species of each 

 genus. In estimating the radical or conservative tendencies 

 of tree books, one may always depend upon the treatment 

 given the genus Crataegus. In the present volume 52 species 

 are recognized, while from essentially the same region Brit- 

 ton's Manual lists 31 and Gray's 65. Incidentally, for once, 

 at least, Britton escapes being regarded as a radical. In ad- 

 dition to a description of the species, the book includes the 

 uses to which they may be put. The nomenclature is Amer- 

 ica's own private brand which even so good a book as this 

 cannot make respectable. The volume is published by R. G. 

 Adams & Co., Columbus, Ohio. 



The scries of "Open Country Books" recently inaugu- 

 rated by the Macmillan Company, New \'ork, is described as 

 "a continuing company of genial little books about the out-of- 

 d(Xjrs." It leads off with a book about the Ai)ple Tree by L. 



