96 THE PLANT WORLD. 



BOOK REVIEWS. 



A Taxonomic Study of North American Ranunculaceae. By K. 



C. Davis. Published by the author, and presented to the faculty 



of Cornell University as a thesis for the degree of doctor of 



philosophy. 



An elaborate monograph of any group of plants is always wel- 

 comed by botanists, since from the author's extended study it may be 

 presumed to afford a reliable guide and standard for systematists. 

 When to the indigenous species are added the forms occurring in cul- 

 tivation, fully described and treated in their pro})er place, the value of 

 the work t)ecomes greatly enhanced. The main purpose of a mono- 

 graph, however, is to present a detailed account from the structural 

 and taxonomic standpoint, of the plants it com})rises. It should never 

 attemi)t to embrace a distinct subject like that of horticulture. It is a 

 matter of regret that Mr. Davis has fallen into this error, and has ob- 

 scured the pages of his monograph by numerous directions for the 

 cultivation of the plants he describes. The systematic treatment 

 seems to us unfortunate in many cases. There is no reason for re- 

 mandino- the anomalous oenus Crossosxoma to the Ranunculaceae wlten 

 the majority of European and American botanists agree in considering 

 it the type of a distinct family. Moreover, we doubt whether the 

 various varieties scattered so freely through the work are all worthy 

 of admission, while on the other hand many of those to Avbich the ab- 

 breviation "n. var." is incorrectly a})pended may have been wrong- 

 fully reduced. The descriptions, while in the main complete, are 

 marred by innumerable typographical errors, evidently the result of 

 careless proof-reading. The keys are, as a rule, well constructed. 



The pamphlet under consideration includes only a portion of the 

 family Ranunculaceae. As stated in the explanatory preface, it is 

 "partly printed by the author and partly issued as magazine separates'' 

 a practice which does not conduce to a very attractive appearance in 

 the book.— C. L. P. 



