CURRENT LITERATURE 



- BOOK REVl EWS 



Practical botany 



A widespread belief that botany should be so taught and adapted that it 

 should be of service in its industrial applications, particularly agriculture, has 

 led to the pubhcation of several texts with this in view. The production of 

 such a text demands an author who is not only trained in botany, but also 

 familiar with the practical bearings of the subject. The two books reviewed 

 here were written to meet the real or supposed need indicated. 



Cook' states that he has aimed at three things: "(i) a brief statement of 

 the recognized facts and .principles concerning plants and plant growth usually 

 given in textbooks for secondary schools; (2) a list of simple exercises and 

 suggestions for observations which the pupil can conduct without great diffi- 

 culty and which will demonstrate many of the statements given in the book; 

 (3) a list of questions which are intended to be suggestive to the pupils and to 

 encourage further studies." "The title, 'Applied economic botany,' implies 

 (i) that it is intended as a guide to experimental work in the study of plants, 

 such as should be carried on in any high school, and (2) that it is intended 

 as a preliminary work to the agricultural studies which are now recognized 

 in many high schools." 



The first part treats of seeds, roots, stems, buds, leaves, flowers, reproduc- 

 tion, fruits, anatomj», chemical composition, food, and growth, and also outlines 

 the great groups. In short, it is in general the usual botanical foundation 

 given in secondary' schools. There are also chapters dealing with forestry, 

 plant diseases, plant breeding, and weeds. Much space is given to "exercises" 

 and "questions," since it is through these that the author aims to lead the 

 student to nature for facts, holding that "we cannot, in the short time allowed 

 to the subject, expect to learn much about many thousands of plants .... 

 but we can learn certain principles of plant growth .... to be close observers 

 .... to be accurate in our experiments and in making records." The exer- 

 cises are so selected that the material is easily available, for they are based on 

 plants familiar to aU and usually of economic importance. 



The second part treats of families, discussing the chief economic repre- 

 sentatives of each, for example, celery, parsnip, carrot, etc., among the Umbel- 

 liferae, and coffee and quinine among the Rubiaceae. The general characters of 



' Cook, M. T., Applied economic botany. 8vo. pp. xviii-l-261. Jigs. 142. 

 Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott. 19 19. 



307 



