THE AMERICAN BOTANIST. 19 



and a lichen ! Such articles ought to he written b}' speci- 

 alists who should get a return for their work ; but I think 

 that this extra expense would benefit many more people 

 and, I dare saj-, would increase the subscription list." 

 Probably the reason why more attention is not paid to 

 the lower orders of plants in journals devoted to general 

 botanj^ is that the whole subject is so technical that it is 

 difficult to make an understandable article for the novice. 

 Students oi these groups usuallj^ gravitate toward them 

 after an apprenticeship in the stud\' of flowering plants. 

 As regards the Pern Bulletin and the Brvologist, they may 

 be technical at present, but one has only to get the earlj^ 

 numbers to find plent^^ of articles for the beginner. Thej' 

 have only followed the common tendency of journals to 

 become technical as they grow old. We cannot agree 

 with the opinion of our correspondent that scientists 

 should write the articles for beginners. The student w^ho 

 has become a scientist, has usually forgotten the triviali- 

 ties of his novitiate or is inclined to underestimate their 

 importance to the beginner. Those who have just come 

 through the ^voods can best point out the w^ay to the be- 

 ginner. We are always glad to get helpful articles, how- 

 ever, and never inquire whether the writer is a scientist or 

 not. 



BOOKS AND WRITERS. 



At this season every roadside, hedge-row and piece of 

 waste land is filled with ripened seeclseach endeavoring to 

 fall in just the right place for growth next year. One 

 seldom realizes b}- how ■n^a^ny means seeds are distributed 

 or how the^' are protected from harm until he has read 

 such a book as Deal's "Seed Dispersal" or Weed's "Seed 

 Travellers." Prof. Weed's little book discusses the wind, 

 the birds and the mammals as seed distributors and is 

 illustrated with thirtj'-six figures. Dr. Deal's volume, in 

 addition to these subjects treats of how plants spread b^- 

 roots and stems, how" plants are transported bj^ water, 

 how some si)ecies shoot their seeds, how" man disperses 



