BOOKS AND WRITERS. 



Readers of Dr. E. F. Bigelow's "How Nature-Study 

 Should be Taught" will have no difficulty in recognizing the 

 same point of view in his recently issued "Spirit of Nature 

 Study." The book might be described as a bundle of sug- 

 gestions for teachers of the subject. It will not tell them how 

 to teach, but it ought to start several new trains of thought. 

 The book contains man}^ sound ideas mingled with much that 

 is whimsical, but all told in a manner that makes reading a 

 pleasure. A number of fine photographs of nature study 

 classes in a proper environment add to the book. A. S. Barnes 

 & Company of New York are the publishers. 



The fact that ecology is rapidly taking its place among 

 the other branches of botanical science is indicated by the in- 

 creasing number of books devoted wholly or in part to the 

 subject which are beginning to appear. Old books are be- 

 ing re-written from the standpoint of ecology and new books 

 are dominated by it. One of the best of these books now at 

 hand is Clements' "Plant Physiology and Ecology" recently 

 issued by Henry Holt & Co., New York. It is probably the 

 first real attempt in America to make a book for college use 

 along such lines. The matter is arranged under such heads 

 as the water of the habitat, adjustments to water, light, tem- 

 perature and gravity, adaptations to water and light, the ori- 

 gin of new forms and much about plant distribution. The 

 book is well written although the author shows great fondness 

 for unusual scientific terms, and the "experments" outlined 

 are, many of them, not experiments at all. The illustrations, 

 125 in number, are excellent and of much aid to the beginner 

 in the study. The book is an octavo of 300 pages and is well 

 worth a place in the library of all interested in ecology. 



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