30 THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



inspiration toward a better presentation of the subject of 

 botany and the new second edition which has recently appeared 

 will but emphasize this point of view. Not that the reviewer 

 expects all teachers to agree with everything in the book; 

 there are a good many things that teachers who think for 

 themselves may have a different opinion about and the re- 

 viewer himself dissents here and there but the subject is 

 handled in such a common sense way and is so lacking in a 

 spirit of dictation that the few faults are not conspicuous. In 

 the list of publications, an important botanical magazine is not 

 named nor is Howell's volume on the "Flora of North 

 West America." In our opinion a good many improvements 

 could be made in the course of study outlined. We would not 

 defer a study of cells until seeds, roots, buds, and stems had 

 been studied, nor would we use horse-beans and morning glory 

 seeds, while so much better material is to be had. In the out- 

 line for the spore-plants, the "type study" method is still in 

 evidence though this is fast giving way elsewhere to a study of 

 evolution as illustrated by various species from algae to pines. 

 In the endeavor to make the book a practical monograph on the 

 teaching of botany, the second edition has been greatly ex- 

 tended and contains nearly two hundred pages more than the 

 first edition. Notwithstanding this it sells for the same price 

 — $1.25 net. It is published by the Macmillan Co. 



A second revised edition of Vinal's "Laboratory and 

 Field Studies in Botany" has recently appeared from the press 

 of P. Blakiston's Son & Co., of Philadelphia. This is designed 

 largely for the analysis of flowers such as still persists in parts 

 of New England as an echo of the old courses in botany built 

 upon Gray's series of text books. While the reviewer fails to 

 find much of value in such a course, he must add that the 

 blanks for this purpose in the book under discussion are both 

 handy and complete. The most valuable feature is found in 



