328 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



those on the physical properties of wa- 

 ter contributed to 'The Voyage of H. M. 

 •S. Challenger,' on the kinetic theory of 

 gases, on impact and on quaternions. 



The third series just published by 

 the Cambridge Press is the 'Papers on 

 Mechanical and Physical Subjects', by 

 Prof. Osborne Reynolds, of Owens Col- 

 lege. The first volume contains forty 

 papers from transactions and journals 

 issued from 1869 to 1882. The most 

 elaborate memoir is that on certain 

 dimensional properties of matter in the 

 gaseous state, which includes experi- 

 ments on thermal transpiration of gases 

 through porous plates and a theoretical 

 extension of the dynamic theory of gas. 

 Many of the papers, such as those on 

 meteorological phenomena and the 

 steering of vessels, are of popular inter- 

 est. The Cambridge University Press is 

 performing a work of the utmost value 

 to science in undertaking the publica- 

 tion of these great volumes, and we can 

 only regret that, in spite- of the begin- 

 nings made at Johns Hopkins, Chicago, 

 Pennsylvania and Columbia, American 

 men of science have no such opportuni- 

 ties for the publication of their works as 

 those afforded at Cambridge and Oxford. 



BOTANY. 



That a large amount of popular in- 

 terest centers in the study of tree life 

 and all subjects incidental to forestry 

 and horticulture is evidenced by the ap- 

 pearance of a second book on the sub- 

 ject under the title of 'Our Native Trees 

 and How to Identify Them' (Scribners), 

 by Harriet L. Keeler. The volume in 

 question takes up the trees native of 

 northern United States east of the 

 Rocky Mountains, together with a few 

 well-known foreign species which have 

 become naturalized in this region. 



The book opens with a key to the 

 families of dicotyledonous species based 

 upon leaf characters, and every species 

 receives not only a full technical de- 

 scription, but also comes in for inter- 

 esting comments upon habit and general 

 ecological relations. Numerous draw- 

 ings and half-tones add to the accuracy 



and clearness of the descriptions. It is 

 not too much to say that the photo- 

 graphic reproductions surpass in beauty 

 and presentation of detail any recent 

 botanical publication, and the venation 

 of leaves is shown in most instances by 

 this method quice as well as it might 

 be done by means of pen and ink 

 sketches. Tne value of the descriptions 

 is heightened by the inclusion of notes 

 of economic interest. It is not unex- 

 pected that some errors should creep 

 into the discussions on almost all phases 

 of botany which are interspersed 

 throughout the volume. 



The appearance of a new botanical 

 dictionary is most timely, and it is for- 

 tunate that the task of its preparation 

 should be undertaKen by such a skilful 

 bibliographer as Mr. B. D. Jackson. 

 His 'Glossary of Botanical Terms' (Lip- 

 pincott) contains fifteen thousand 

 words, or three times as many as have 

 been included in any previous work of 

 this character. This is indicative of a 

 most energetic pursuit of investigations 

 in all departments of the subject, and 

 also of a lamentable tendency to the 

 coinage by botanists of new and unnec- 

 essary terms upon the slightest pretext. 

 A legitimate factor in the increase of 

 the contents of such a work consists in 

 the inclusion of words in common use 

 which take on a technical meaning in 

 botany: such, for instance, as altitude, 

 abnormal, abrupt, absolute, accidental 

 back, etc. 



Derivations are given, but the his- 

 tory of the terms has not been at- 

 tempted. According to the author, 

 'anlage' may be variously rendered as 

 rudiment, inception or primonMum. 

 'Chlorophyll' receives the double conso- 

 nant at the end of the last syllable 

 againsl the popular extra-botanical 

 practice. Regarding 'medullary' the au- 

 thor says: "I have given the accent as 

 it is always spoken (medul'-lary) 

 though all of the dictionaries (botani- 

 cal f) accent it as med'-ullary except 

 Henslow's." In this the author had in 

 mind the practice among his insular 

 colleagues only, since the latter pro- 



