234 NATURE STUDY REVIEW [9:7— Oct., 1913 



of which are good so far as they have a part in education. Principle 

 and not fact should be the basis for the organization of a text book 

 and this book has overlooked the one fundamental thing for high 

 school Botany, namely, that the plant is an actual, Hving, working 

 organism. It merely treats the facts about the plants. without 

 saying very much about the activities of the plant itself. Again 

 the demand of the secondary schools for a more practical Botany 

 has received little or no attention. 



The illustrations are very good and there are plenty of them. 

 The facts presented seem to be up to date and written in a readable 

 manner except in a few cases where the subject matter is surely too 

 difficult for high school people. One other very undesirable 

 feature in the book, however, is the work on plant formulae. Such 

 material as this has no place in a beginning Botany. Too many 

 other things of greater importance demand the efforts of those who 

 can only spend a short time in the study of plants. About the 

 most that can be said for the use of this book in the high school is 

 that it would certainly be a valuable reference work. C. E. M. 



Mighty Animals, Jennie Irene Mix. 143 pages. American 

 Book Company. 



The author has succeeded in depicting the life that was lived on 

 the earth before man appeared and she has placed before the public 

 a volume which not only fascinates the reader but awakens his 

 interest in facts relating to various forms of life. Many references 

 which relate to fundamental concepts of geography, geology, 

 botany and zoology will be remembered, for a child and many 

 grown-ups prefer to get their knowledge in story form. By inter- 

 weaving stories of difficulties encountered in securing these records 

 Miss Mix tells of the mighty animals of past ages, their habitats 

 and lives in such a manner that they will attract the keenest inter- 

 est of boys and girls. 



The story begins with the mightiest of these early creatures, the 

 Dinosaurs, which disappeared millions of years before man lived 

 on the earth and closes with the Mastodon and Mammoth, the 

 ancestors of elephants of our own time. The painstaking care in 

 selecting material and the sources from which her material was 

 gathered gives to us a book of real educational value. 



The scientific names which might seem unsurmountable have 

 been given a page at the end of the book with diacritical marks and 

 very little time will be required to master the pronounciation. 



O. M. C. 



