BOOKS AND WRITERS. 



Upwards of a hundred muslirooms, piiffballs and the hke 

 are treated in the "Guide to ]\Iushrooms" by Emma L. Taylor 

 Cole, published by Doubleday, Page & Co. As a collection of 

 careful descriptions of mushroom species, the book has much 

 in it to recommend, but as a guide for the inexperienced we 

 fear the book is likely to be a fiat failure. There is no key of 

 anv kind, and though the species treated are the more familiar 

 kinds, there are so many others that resemble them that the 

 beofinner is never likelv to feel certain and if he does, a fairlv 

 long list of deadly poisonous species lie in wait for the over 

 confident. Wt advise beginners not to place too much de- 

 pendence upon this guide. The book, however, is a handy 

 little volume easily carried into the field. It is illustrated with 

 four colored plates and many photographs, scarcely a page of 

 text being without its illustration. In addition to accurate 

 descriptions, the edible or poisonous qualities are discussed and 

 the habitats of the plants given. Notes are also included on 

 collecting and cooking the various species. The price of the 

 book is $1.00 net. 



We have heard a good deal in recent years, about popu- 

 lar handbooks of the wildflowers but most of them have turned 

 ut to be pre-digested scientific treatises designed fin- the 

 popular taste. Now at last comes a really popular book — one 

 that is written from the public's view-point, at least — though 

 whether it will be any more popular than the others remains 

 to be seen. In "W'ildfiowers East of the Rockies" Ity Chester 

 A. Reed we have a volume that does not even pretend to de- 

 scribe the plants in scientific jargon. The descriptions are such 

 as we might expect from the farmer or man of affairs who 

 having found a strange plant mentions its noticeable features 

 in order to have it nametl. And these descriptions really de- 

 scribe, mentioning a hundred and one characteristics of the 



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