THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 41 



ered before completing their season's work. Many other 

 plants died outright. At first glance such extremes maj^ 

 seem wholly inimical to plant life, but a more careful sur- 

 vey' appears to indicate that occasional trials of this kind 

 are beneficial to vegetation in general by weeding out the 

 weaklings. Plants that can endure being nearly drowned 

 one season and nearh^ scorched the next ought to be proof 

 against anything other seasons ma3" have in store for 

 them. 



BOOKS AND WRITERS. 



Floral Life for August appears under new editorship, 

 John Habberton, author of "Helen's Babies" and other 

 \\'ell known works having succeeded S. Mendelson Mee- 

 han. 



Bee keeping is so nearly allied to gardening — each be- 

 ing in its widest sense somewhat dependent upon the 

 other — that it is no surprise to find "The Book of the 

 Honey Bee" among the handbooks of practical gardening 

 from the press of John Lane. This new book is b3' C. 

 Harrison and treats the subject of bee keeping in all its 

 phases, describing the making of hives, the arrangement 

 of the Apiary and the marketing of the honey as well as the 

 general care of bees, 'fhe book is uniform in stjde with 

 those that have preceded it in the series, and is well illus- 

 trated. (New York, John Lane, $1.00 net.) 



The whole subject of variation in plants and animals 

 seems to be one that biologists know comparatively little 

 about. In recent years, various experimenters, have been 

 amassing a great number of facts on this subject, some of 

 which have become familiar to botanists through the ex- 

 periments of DeVries with the evening primrose. In Dr. 

 H. M. Vernon's new book on "Variation in Animals and 

 Plants" we are given an up-to-date presentation of all 

 sides of the subject. The book is divided into three parts, 

 entitled "The Facts of Variation," "The Causes of Varia- 

 tion" and "Variation in its Relation to Evolution" respec- 



