174 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



with plant structures in general and are followed by an ac- 

 count of the various plant groups. Nearly thirty German 

 scientists are co-operating in the work under the editorship 

 of Dr. K. Linsbauer. Several parts of the work have already 

 been issued the latest being lieferung 9 "Das Tropische Par- 

 enchym" by Dr. Fritz Jurgen Meyer. The issues are very 

 well printed and clearly illustrated but the fact that the text 

 is in German will necessarily limit its circulation on this side of 

 the world. Lieferung 9 costs $1.10. 



It is difficult for the maker of a beginning course in bot- 

 any to introduce much novelty into the text. The time-hon- 

 ored sequence begins with the seed or root and discusses the 

 other plant parts in their order and few authors have found 

 it possible to depart from such an arrangement. In a new 

 book by Edmund W. Sinnott on "Botany; Principles and 

 Problems" the usual sequence is followed but the author has 

 succeeded in giving his book a valuable individuality by a clear 

 and straightforward presentation of the subject matter, by 

 numerous original illustrations and last, but by no means 

 least, by a series of some 800 "Questions for thought and 

 discussion." The latter initiate a new departure in botanical 

 study and cover a wide range of ideas which show not a lit- 

 tle ingenuity and originality on the part of the author. Added 

 to these is a rather extensive series of "reference problems" 

 designed to facilitate further investigations of each phase of 

 botany discussed. In the text, the author has not found it 

 necessary to argue in favor of each point presented but has 

 taken well-established facts for granted, a praiseworthy fea- 

 ture in books designed for beginners. In addition to the dis- 

 cussion of plant structure, there are chapters on heredity 

 evolution and the great plant groups. A large number of 

 the 240 illustrations are from original drawings by the author 



