THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 157 



method. A special chapter is devoted to the propagation of 

 apples, pears, peaches, and other orchard fruits. Another 

 chapter is devoted to the so-called "florist's flowers" and the 

 book ends with an alphabetical list of trees and shrubs with the 

 best ways of propagating them indicated. The book contains 

 180 pages and more than 100 illustrations, and is published by 

 the A. T. DeLa Mare Company, New York. 



Professor William Alphonse Murrill, well known for his 

 puhlications on American Fungi, has struck out in a new direc- 

 tion by publishing a hook for young people with the title of 

 "Billy, the Boy Naturalist". The "Billy" of the book is the 

 author himself and the experiences he relates are such as might 

 befall any healthy country boy interested in everything about 

 him. None of the incidents described would be called thrilling 

 adventures though to the small boy all must have had more or 

 less excitement in them. Who that has spent part of his youth 

 in the country cannot recall the first rahbit trap, digging arti- 

 chokes, fishing for eels, gathering pawpaws, or a hundred other 

 activities of similar nature? The incidents are related without 

 much attempt to dress them up and for this reason are all the 

 more interesting. The book ought to be a good one for small 

 1) ys in any locality. They will undoubtedly enjoy matching 

 their own experiences with Billy's and unconsciously absorb a 

 great deal of information about nature. The book is published 

 by the author at Br< nxwood Park, New York City. It con- 

 tains 250 pages and 43 illustrations and costs $1.50. 



At the foundation of all plant and animal breeding are 

 the laws of heredity which as yet are but hazily compre- 

 hended by the average person and in many cases are not 

 much more familiar to the student of science. Although 

 the most important single contribution on the subject, and 

 the one which forms the very center of the structure, was 

 announced by Mendel fifty years ago, his researches re- 

 mained unappreciated until their re-discovery about ten 



