BOOKS AND WRITERS. 



The old problem of making the structure and life processes 

 of plants intelligible has been attacked in a new way by Prof. 

 W. C. Stevens in his "Plant Anatomy." The author says it 

 is not nature's way to evolve cells and tissues at random with 

 no problems to be solved by their evolution, and that the parts 

 of a plant represents the means by which these organisms 

 have triumphed over the conditions and forces which make 

 up their environments. The book points out how these tis- 

 sues have been evolved beginning with the plant cell and fol- 

 lowing with chapters on the differentiation of the tissues the 

 plant skeleton, the absorption of water and gases, the construc- 

 tion of plant food, the circulation of food and water through 

 the plant, the storage of these materials and secretion and 

 excretion. At the close of each chapter are given directions 

 for various studies to illustrate the topics touched upon in the 

 text. Numerous illustrations and original diagrams add to 

 the value of the text which of itself is a lucid presentation of 

 the subject. The last hundred pages of the book are devoted 

 to the micro-technic of plants. Here will be found chapters 

 on the use of the microscope, section cutting, staining, reagents 

 and the micro-chemistry of plant products. In these chapters 

 the alphabetical arrangement of the items greatly facilitates 

 reference to them. The book is an octavo of 340 pages and 

 is issued by P. Blakiston's Son & Co., Philadelphia, at $2.00 

 net. 



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