212 x T/ie Botanical Gazette. [J ul 



The book takes as its "basis the syllabus of subject xv, botany, from 

 the Science and Art Department" of South Kensington, and pro- 

 ceeds to expound the science from this "examinational" standpoint. 

 It is perhaps a fair inference that this "basis" is somewhat narrow, for 

 we read early: "Broadly, biology is the science that dea^s with living 

 bodies. General biology, as understood in the examinational sense, 

 considers certain typical living bodies in their structure and life- 

 history." We should have no quarrel, however, with the basis, were 

 the superstructure sound. 



In the body of the book eighteen flowering plants are described 

 with considerable detail, the object, apparently, being to introduce as 

 many terms, with their definitions, as possible. Then follow chapters 

 on the vegetable cell, cell contents, tissues and systems, the root, stem, 

 leaf, inflorescence, floral organs and fruits. A glossary — are we never 

 to get rid of this as the animus of elementary botanical text? Not 

 content to have the book mainly such, the author urges "upon the 

 student and teacher the importance, the necessity, of everyone con- 

 structing his own glossary. The earnest student will, as he meets 

 with each new word, then and there enter it in his vocabulary. At the 

 end of this volume will be found a glossary put together by me, and 

 this the student can compare with his." Here is a sample of it: 



WORD. DERIVATION. DEFINITION. EXAMPLE. 



» 



Thorn. A modified organ, hard Sloe. 



and sharp. 



Tissue. A constituent of an organ. Parenchyma or 



muscle. 



Tripinnate. tres, three; pinna, a leaflet. Divided into three leaflets. Leaf of hemlock. 



It is to be hoped that the student will succeed better than the author, 

 for of the three definitions, selected at random within a space of seven 

 lines, not one is accurate. And why should not the derivation of 

 "thorn" and "tissue" be sought out, as well as that of words with 

 Greek and Latin roots? But what is the use of any of it? Would 

 a student of English literature be urged to construct for himself an 

 English lexicon? 



Dr. Aveling makes much of derivations however. Witness the fol- 

 lowing: "The upper [leaves] have no stalk or petiole, and are therefore 

 said to be sessile. Sedeo, sedi. sessum, seder e, I sit." Why omit the rest 

 of the conjugation? "The particular kind of inflorescence is therefore a 

 corymb. Kopv^fio',. \korumbos) a cluster of fruit, especially of ivy- 

 berries (Vergil, 'Bucolics,' Eel. iii. 39) ." To which the skeptical are 

 respectfully referred. And this (verbatim) is particularly good: "the 

 Orpine is of the order Crassulaceae, thus named from the thickness of 



its leaves, crassus. thick. Species, Sedum; genus, Telephium. Sato** 



