236 BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 



the remarkable statement is made that "It will now be seen that from 

 the leaf alone or any fragment of it, the place of the plant in the 

 natural system of classification can be determined.""' Hardly, with 

 the knowledge at the command of the ordinary pupil. 



The casual observer will be at once struck with the extreme jioweri- 

 ness of the sti/Jc. Under the description of the Dog-tooth Violet we 

 read ; "-Spring has come again. Tiie winds blow soft from the West 

 and South over the melting snow-banks. Birds once more lill the air 

 Avith song, while plants awakened from their winter's sleej), ])ut on 

 their robes of leaf and flower." (p. 29.) 



'•'May, charming May, is tlie festival of the Roseworts." (p. 104.) 

 There is one excellent feature of the work, the extreme accuracy 

 of the illustrations. This is not at all surprising wlien the names of 

 the designers of the majority of the cuts are known, viz : Mr. Isaac 

 Sprague, "the most eminent of living botanical artists," and Mr. J. H. 

 Emerton, the delineator of many of the plates of Eaton's ^' Ferns of 

 N. A." Some of the figures, however, are evidently by less experi- 

 enced botanists. The drawings of Sarracenia purpurea (j). 159.) aiid 

 Pinus Strobus (p. 215.) are certainly unique. 



The Gazette for 1880. — As the December and January numbers of 

 the Gazette will probably appear very nearly together, this seems to 

 be the suitable time to call attention to the beginning of a new vol- 

 ume. The Gazette will enter upon its fifth volume with renewed 

 vigor and greater prospects of success than ever before. It will be 

 the constant aim of the editors to make it as attractive as possible, 

 keeping it in that middle path between dry technicalities that would 

 appall the amateur and foolish quibbling that would disgust the pro- 

 fessional. We offer no list of contributors, but would simply ask that 

 the numbers of this volume be looked over with the assurance that 

 there will be no falling ofi" in this respect, l)ut a constant advance. 

 The subscription price will be continued at the same low figure and 

 if a botanist is not willing to pay one dollar for 150 pages of such 

 notes as the Gazette contains, he must be poor indeed. We would 

 ask for the continued patronage of our old subscribers and urge them, 

 if not for our sakes, at least for the common good, to increase the 

 number of our patrons as far as they are able. No sample copies will 

 be distributed at the beginning of the year, as has been the custom 

 formerly, and no numbers will be sent after the subscription has ex- 

 pired. We urge, therefore, that all who expect to subscribe do so at 

 once, that our list may be made and that there may be no awkward 

 break at the beginning of the year. Remember also that if notes ac- 

 company a subscription it will be none the less acceptable. — Eds. 



