March ii, 1920] 



NATURE 



35 



are a large number of figures, many of which are 

 good, but others are poor, as, for instance, some 

 of those in the chapter on flower-types. A photo- 

 graph of two ripe ears of Indian corn is described 

 as the pistillate flower. The use of the terms " endo- 

 genous " and "exogenous" for the stem of the 

 monocotyledon and dicotyledon respectively is not 

 helpful ; and to describe the flower as consisting 

 of "leaves which have been greatly modified in 

 shape and colour " may be misleading. Annual 

 rings are invariably referred to as annular rings. 

 The introduction contains excellent advice on 

 methods of studying botany, but the book as< a 

 whole is disappointing. 



(2) and (3) The two little books by Mrs. Annie 

 Sulman form a series of very fair reproductions 

 of photographs of some of the common Aus- 

 tralian wild flowers, and each is very well worth 

 the shilling. There is no letterpress apart from 

 the short preface and index ; the botanical and, 

 where such exists, the popular names are given 

 below each plate, and the colour of the flower is 

 indicated. There is little attempt at arrangement ; 

 generally the species of the same genus are 

 brought together, but members of the same family 

 appear in different parts of the books'. If the 

 author would arrange the plants in some definite 

 sequence and indicate in each case the family to 

 which the plant belongs, she would add to the 

 usefulness of these little volumes. 



(4) Miss Sulman 's "Popular Guide to the Wild 

 Flowers of New South Wales " is complementary 

 to the volume previously issued. It forms a very 

 handy and well-arranged working flora descriptive 

 of a large number of New South Wales flowering 

 plants, illustrated by clear, well-drawn, and emin- 

 ently helpful full-page illustrations. The arrange- 

 ment is that of Bentham's "Flora Australiensis." 

 There are a useful illustrated glossary, a list of 

 books of reference, a key to the families, twenty- 

 nine of which are included, and, at the end of the 

 volume, a colour index, by which a clue may be 

 obtained to the name of a flower. The descriptions 

 of the plants are clearly written, and a great deal 

 of information is given in a small space. 



Our Bookshelf. 



Agriculture and the Farming Business. By O. H. 

 Benson and G. H. Betts. Pp. xvi-t-778. (Lon- 

 don : Kegan Paul and Co., Ltd., n.d.) Price 

 lo.v. 6d. net. 

 Messrs. Benson and Betts have essayed an 

 ambitious task; it is no less than to make their 

 volume a clearing-house for the mass of valuable 

 scientific information about agricultural problems 

 now accumulated at experiment stations and col- 



NO. 2628, VOL. 105] 



leges, but not always wanted by practical farmers. 

 Although the book emanates from a London pub- 

 lisher, it is entirely written for the American 

 farmer. 



The scope of the book is unusually wide; it 

 deals with office equipment, crops, animals, 

 manures, soil fertility, implements, motor-cars, 

 roads, education, recreation and health, and 

 finally there is a miscellaneous chapter including, 

 such diverse subjects as the removal of stains,, 

 the quantity of seed to sow per acre, a planting 

 table, etc. Full information about all these things 

 could scarcely be expected, and yet a vast amount 

 of material is collected. rnfortunatclv, it is of 

 very unequal value; there arc few tal)Us of figures 

 and practically no references ; the student wishing 

 to check the data cannot do so, and the farmer 

 seeking information is not told where he can 

 obtain it. Thus, under "The Origin of Wheat," 

 the only information given is : "Just where wheat 

 came from none can say. Some think it originated 

 in the Valley of the Nile or the Euphrates, or 

 possibly that it may have come from Sicily. 

 Wherever it originated, it seems to have developed 

 from one of the wild grasses. Certain scientists 

 think it descended from the lily ; others tell us 

 that it is probably a descendant of the wild ammer." 



This statement is not very satisfying. Like 

 many others in the book, however, it might serve 

 to whet the farmer's curiosity, and some good 

 would then be served by references to trustworthy 

 specialised books or bulletins. If a second edition 

 is called for, the authors might well seriously con- 

 sider these points. 



A Geography of Asia. By Joseph Martin. (Mac- 



millan's Practical Modern Geographies.) Pp. 



viii + 298. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 



1919.) Price 55. 

 The tendency of school geography to embrace too 

 much and so to fail in achievement has been 

 avoided in this book, which is well proportioned 

 and thoroughly geographical throughout. Mr. 

 Martin has the courage to omit considerations of 

 geological structure where it has no direct bearing 

 on human activity. Physical explanations of 

 climatic problems are generally omitted. The 

 diagram of the planetary winds is an improvement 

 on that produced in most text-books, but should 

 have the polar high-pressure areas added. Asia 

 is treated under the larger natural regions, but 

 these are not allowed to obscure the political units 

 which are an essential to a full understanding of 

 world geography. 



Each chapter is prefaced by some simple statis- 

 tical matter on which is based a number of exer- 

 cises designed in the main for oral answers. At 

 the end of each chapter are a number of mapping 

 exercises. The extent to which wide generalisa- 

 tions are admissible in school geography will 

 always be a disputed point, but statements that 

 certain climates are unhealthy to Europeans, if 

 true, require explanation. Even a school 

 geography should emphasise the part played by 

 the mosquito. 



