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BOOK NOTES 



Practical Guide to the Wild Flowers and Fruits. By George L. Walton. 

 Philadelphia: Lippincott. 1909. Si. 50. This guide to the common 

 wild flowers (about 400 species) and the conspicuous fruits (about 100 

 species) follows the now popular method of grouping by color. The 

 ingenious diagram keys here used for each color group are a great improve- 

 ment upon all earlier books, not only because they enable one to arrive 

 more quickly at the plant names, but because they form a very easy intro- 

 duction to botanical keys in general. That the keys may be usable by 

 those who know little of botanical terms — even by children — a very simple 

 glossary is given, the flower descriptions are in very clear, non-technical 

 language, and the keys are so framed that the correct names may be 

 reached even by those who call the large white bracts of the dogwood, 

 "petals," or the spathe of the Jack-in-the-Pulpit, a "calyx " 



Teachers College, Jeax Broadhurst. 



Columbia University. 



Descriptive Astronomy. By H. A. Howe. Xew York: Silver, Bur- 

 dette & Co. Pp. 342, with star maps and illustrations. This is intended 

 for use as an elementary text-book but will be useful for general readers and 

 for teachers of nature-study who give lessons on the heavens. The first 

 edition was published thirteen years ago. 



The Nature-Study Idea. By L. H. Bailey. Xew York: Macmillan Co. 

 1909. $1.25. A revision of the famous book, which was issued by another 

 publishing house in 1903. We hope to publish a review later. 



Elementary Principles of Agriculture. By A. M Ferguson and L. L. 

 Lewis. 1909 Sherman, Texas. Ferguson Pub. Co. This is a new edi- 

 tion of a book which has met with very cordial reception. It is an excel- 

 lent statement of principles and wisely omits long descriptions of farm 

 practice such as most pupils already know from experience. In short, the 

 book is science applied to the principles of agriculture. 



