THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 95 



still "hitting the high places" in botany with a half-year given 

 to tlie subject, the author has given them a good form of note- 

 i)-ok for the purpose. Our com.plaint is not against the author, 

 but against a system of botany teaching that makes such a 

 book desirable. We belie\e that there are many phases of 

 botany of greater importance than that of filling out of blank 

 forms with descriptions of plant parts, but we are well aware 

 that the average teacher of botany does not think so. Until the 

 day dawns when they do, "Plant Study" will answer their 

 purposes better than any other book we have seen. 



At the time of his death, the late H. Marshall \A'ard, was 

 engaged upon a series of tree-books which was to include a 

 volume devoted to each part of the tree. At the time of his 

 death three volumes had appeared and two volumes have been 

 issued since, under the editorship of Percy Groom. The lat- 

 ter two deal with fruits and form. The same general scheme 

 is followed for each volume. There is first more or less mat- 

 ter applicable to trees in general, followed by a special treat- 

 ment of the trees in the British flora. The books are very 

 fully illustrated and while designed primarily for use in Great 

 Britain will be of much use to American readers. The general 

 part of each volume goes exhaustively into the variations of 

 the parts of the tree and the flora of the world is laid under 

 tribute for illustrations. The books are published by G. P. 

 Putnam's Sons, New York, at $1.50 each. 



Prof. J. H. Schaffner has recently issued in the "Pro- 

 ceedings of the Ohio State Academy of Sciences," an account 

 of the "Trees of Ohio and Surrounding Territory," which is 

 certain to be of great value not only to the students of the 

 central west but to those of the whole territory covered by 

 the botanical manuals for the Northern States. In addition to 

 the trees native to the region, all the principal cultivated spe- 

 cies have been included. The keys offer a variety of ways for 

 determining the species there being keys for both the summer 



