THE AM KRICAN BOTANIST 175 



and arc an agreeal)k' relief from the stereotyped forms to 

 which \vc have long hccn accustomed. In all its features the 

 hook makes a most agrecahlc impression, and it will n(j douht 

 have a warm rece[)tion from leaching hotanists. The book 

 runs to ahout 400 well-printed pages and costs $3. It is 

 pnl)li>hed by the McGraw-Hill Book Co., New^ York. 



A generation ago the collection and identification of 

 jilants, the pnlilication of floras and the mal<ing of manuals was 

 perhaps the principal occu[)ation of l)otanists, but the science 

 has since moved on to other things — morphology, physiology, 

 genetics and the like. Now^ there is rising a new' phase of 

 stud}' known as ecology, which inxoKes all the others, since 

 it is the study of plants (and animals) in relation to their sur- 

 roundings. Much of the matter published in this magazine 

 would come under tlie head of ecology and much more is likely 

 to be published since the field is rigjit at the d(X)r of every stu- 

 dent and is practically inexhaustible. The subject appears 

 to have first received adequate recognition in Germany, but 

 theie is now a considerable literature in English. American 

 students, however, have failed to produce books calculated to 

 interest beginners in the subject; they have been so busy telling 

 one another of their finds and conclusions that thev have 

 neglected the novice. In time we mav hope for a better state 

 of affairs here, but until then an attractive British book by 

 A. G. Tansley, author of "Types of British Vegetation" and 

 editor of the Journal of Ecology will doubtless be appreciated. 

 It is entitled "Practical Plant Ecology" and is written express- 

 ly with a view to making the subject clear to beginners. In 

 tlie opinion of the revewer the author has succeeded in making 

 a very helpful volume. The idea that different forms of 

 plants are associated in very definite groups called plant soci- 

 eties and plant associations is developed, that these groups are 



