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POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



to the true upbuilding of the nation 

 and the development of a civilization 

 founded on justice and humanity; 

 but unless that day comes soon evil 



may be wrought both to our national 

 character and to our institutions 

 which it may take long years to re- 

 pair. 



SPECIAL BOOKS. 



Mr. H. C. Porter's translation of Strasburgefs Text- Booh of Botany "^ 

 was undertaken with the consent of both authors and publishers from the 

 second revised German edition. The translator has aimed to adhere 

 closely to the German original, making neither alterations nor omissions; 

 to avoid any unnecessary introduction of new terms, adopting as far as 

 consistent with the German the existing terminology, and conforming as 

 far as possible to the usage of previous translations in rendering technical 

 words of a purely German signification. For such departures as he may 

 make from these rules he ofPers satisfactory explanations. The names of 

 the authors, all of the University of Bonn, and their high reputation in 

 their several fields of botanical study, attest the quality of the book, and 

 this testimony is fortified by the fact that it was necessary to issue a second 

 edition within a year after its first appearance. In the introduction the 

 subjects of the imperceptible difference in the fundamentals between animal 

 and vsgetable life, of evolution, of the distinction between living organs 

 and lifeless bodies manifested by the quality of irritability in the former, 

 and of spontaneous generation disproved by the researches of Schwann 

 and Pasteur, are touched upon. Botany is divided into a general and a 

 special part. In the general part the structure (morphology) and function 

 (physiology) of plants are considered; in the special part the particular 

 structure and functions of the special orders of plants are discussed. In 

 the former part morphology and physiology are treated separately, in the 

 latter part conjointly. The morphology is treated as external, involving 

 the development of form in the plant kingdom, relations of symmetry, 

 branch systems, the shoot, the root, and the ontogeny of plants ; and inter- 

 nal, embracing the histology and anatom3^ In the special part the theory 

 of evolution is credited with having first afforded a true basis for a natural 

 system of classification, expressive of relationship and family. The system 

 of Alexander Braun, as modified and further perfected by Eichler and 

 others, is followed. This book would ordinarily be characterized as a tech- 

 nical as distinguished from a popular scientific work, for it embodies the 

 fruits of deep research by masters of the science. But it appears to be, for 

 a technical work, remarkably easy reading. This is because of the simple 

 forms of expression preferred by the authors and the translator, and of the 

 pains taken to explain the hard words which are by no means wanting. 

 The publishers promise shortly an edition of the work in two volumes, 

 which will be sold separately, the first volume to contain Strasburger's 



* A Text-Book of Botany. By Dr. E. Strasbnrger, Dr. Fritz Noll, Dr. H. Schenk, and Dr. 

 A. F. W. Schitnper. Translated from the German by H. C. Porter. With 594 Illustrations, in part 

 colored. New York : The Macmillan Company. Pp.632. Price, $1.50. 



