THE PLANT WORLD 51 



that his book will help to heighten " the appreciation and enjoyment of 

 nature, and to elevate the dignity and nobility of farm life." This is 

 surely a worthy desire. Educators, especially those who have interested 

 themselves in the value of nature study, recognize the very great import- 

 ance of ameliorating the conditions of country life, in order that our 

 country population may increase in numbers and that the productiveness 

 of the soil shall constantly increase. The only sure way to accomplish 

 this is by means of education, which must lead the farmer of the future 

 to see beyond the mere manual labor of his calling. Any effort to this 

 end must be welcomed. 



One or two criticisms are perhaps justified. It would seem unneces- 

 sary to use such expressions as ' ' drinking in " to express the function of 

 roots, when no more difficult word than ' ' absorbing ' ' needs to be used. It 

 is the aim, in part, of the reading lesson to become acquainted with and 

 accustomed to the use of new words, and to make this use exact. Why 

 avoid this issue ? Again, in some places the statements are rather too 

 dogmatic. There are some subjects about which we are not completely 

 informed as yet, and when such are treated it would be better to make 

 qualified statements, and thus indicate the extent of our knowledge and 

 of our ignorance. The effect of this on the pupil would be to help in the 

 cultivation of a judicial attitude of mind, for which education should 

 certainly aim. The teacher who uses the book will do well to keep this 

 in mind, and stimulate his pupils to read critically rather than merely 

 absorptively. 



The illustrations do not compare favorably with present-day stand- 

 ards, and the photographic reproduction of a badly-* 'stuffed ' ' woodpecker 

 has little to recommend it. The price at which a reader must be sold 

 prohibits lavish and expensive illustration ; so much the more reason for 

 doing a little well, and cutting out pictures which do not carry convic- 

 tion, such as that on page 111. May we not believe that the school 

 should seek to form ideals in the matter of aesthetics? If so, our children 

 should have the best in quality, even if it be little in quantity. i,. 



"Use and Care of the Microscope" is the title of a handy and 



valuable little guide to the manipulation of the microscope, by Edward 



Bausch. The important things to know about the matter treated are 



very clearly set forth, and the text is amplified by good diagrams which 



will put the beginner in a position to understand the mechanism and 



workings of the instrument. The book, though small, contains more 

 than it is necessary to give to the high school pupil, but every teacher will 

 find it a real help in formulating the few simple rules which are always 

 useful when a class begins work with the microscope. The book, which 

 contains 38 pages, is issued by the Bausch and Lomb Optical Co., Roch- 

 ester, N. Y., and may be had upon application. L. 



