138 BIBLIOGRAPHY, BIOGRAPHY, HISTORY [Bot. Absts., Vol. VI, 



vincing teacher. His skill in selecting matter and accuracy in presenting this to students, 

 made his classes models of pedagogy. As a leader of field-excursions he could have no superior. 

 A well-equipped laboratory has been built up through his efforts. He was elected Fellow 

 of the Linnaean Society in 1875, Fellow of the Royal Society in 1893, and president of the Brit- 

 ish Association in 1910. A capacity for business led to his being much in demand in connec- 

 tion with University affairs. After 1892 he was dean of the new faculty of science. Many 

 other activities drew upon his time. He left endowment funds for the support of various 

 local interests. These acts of generosity, however, represent but a small part of Trail's 

 thoughtful and unobtrusive benevolence. The range of his knowledge and its accuracy were 

 phenomenal. His sincerity and kindness, as well as his scholarship, compelled regard and 

 esteem. — K. M. Wiegand. 



956. Riddle, L. W. William Gilson Farlow. Rhodora 22: 1-8. Portrait. 1920.— A bio- 

 graphic sketch of the late William Gilson Farlow, Professor of Cryptogamic Botany in Har- 

 vard University from 1879 to 1919. [See also Bot. Absts. 6, Entries 916, 947, 963, 1463, and 

 1470.] — James P. Poole. 



957. Riviere, C. Le jardin d'essai d'Alger. [The experimental garden of Algiers.] Rev. 

 Hortic. [Paris] 91: 340-342. Sept., 1919. — This historical note on the founding and establish- 

 ing of the experimental garden supplements, by adding numerous details, a previous discus- 

 sion on the same topic (Rev. Hortic, June, 1919). — E. J. Kraus. 



958. Roth, Filibert. Great teacher of forestry retires. Amer. Forestry 26: 209-212. 

 1 -portrait. 1920. — An appreciation of Professor Emeritus B. E. Fernow, pioneer in forestry 

 teaching and education. — Chas. H. Otis. 



959. Small, James. The application of botany in the utilization of medicinal plants. 

 Pharm. Jour. 103: 199-201, 213-215, 248-250, 294-296. 1919.— A review is given of the botan- 

 ical materia medica of Palaeolithic man, Neolithic man, the early Hindus, Chinese, Egyptians, 

 Persians, Druids, Greeks, Romans and aboriginal Americans. Mention is made of the Chinese 

 knowledge of Rhubarb as a purge in 2700 B. C, of the two kinds of Indian Hemp plants in 1200 

 B. C, and of the Chinese Royal Botanical Garden of 111 B. C. ; also of the outstanding fact 

 in all of this early materia medica of the prominent use of narcotics and stimulants with the 

 probability that the use of Opium was known to Paleolithic man. The adoption by Western 

 Europe of foreign drugs brought back by early explorers and especialty through medical and 

 botanical exploration is noted. — The introduction of medicinal plants into medical practice 

 is described under the headings: Discovery, Recommendation, Experimentation, Secret Rem- 

 edy Stage, Permanent exploitation. Under Permanent exploitation, reference is made to the 

 full botanical description of the plant, its cultivation, the determination of its active prin- 

 ciples and its economic production. In the chapter entitled Present applications, reference 

 is made to present-day medical and botanical exploration under the auspices of national gov- 

 ernments, scientific societies and manufacturing firms. Botanical gardens and drug farms, 

 investigations in microscopic pharmacognosy, phytochemistry, ecology and genetics are 

 discussed. — The last chapter is on Future applications, discussed under the headings: Dis- 

 covery, Experimentation, Suggested organization and Suggested researches. Among the 

 many suggestions made by the author are the following: (1) A [British] pharmaceutical re- 

 search committee, with 25 per cent of its membership eminent botanists, who would have the 

 influence necessary to secure facilities for work on medicinal plants in university and other 

 institutions where the experimental plant-growing and plant-breeding would be under expert 

 botanical control. (2) A quarterly journal or bulletin issued by this committee, to contain 

 not only abstracts of completed researches, but some account of the progress of unfinished 

 work. — Many examples and illustrations are introduced and scores of plant names are men- 

 tioned. — E. N. Cathercoal. 



960. Smith, Annie Morrill. Obituary [of Miss Lura L. Perrine]. Bryologist 23: 3. 

 1920. — A notice of Miss Perrine's life and work. — E. B. Chamberlain. 



