18« NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [12:4— April, 1916 



In the Fish Notebook, there is a preliminary description of the 

 main features of the external anatomy of the fish. Then follow 

 blanks for the field notes on fishes. These are not blank pages, 

 but printed forms to be filled in, indicating the form of the body, 

 characters of the head, number and kind of fins, and so on. There 

 then follow thirty-three plates of common fishes, giving illustra- 

 tions of fifty-five fishes. 



The Ferns of Allegheny County, Pa. Lewis S. Hopkins. 



Pp. 130. Published by the Botanical Society of Western 



Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh. $1.25. 

 This is the third Annual of the Botanical Society of Western 

 Pennsylvania, with headquarters at the Carnegie Museum in 

 Pittsburgh. It is an exceedingly handy little pocket manual of the 

 ferns and their close allies, the horse tails and club mosses. It is 

 admirably illustrated with photographs of the many species 

 described. Since many of the ferns of this region are common 

 throughout the northern United States, the manual would be a 

 very helpful companion for any Nature lover in this general section. 

 The descriptions of the ferns are not only scientific, but there is 

 also a deal of interesting Nature information, together with literary 

 quotations, in the volume. 



Practical Lessons in Agriculture. Lester S. Ivins and 

 Frederick A. Merril. Pp. vi + 223. American Book Com- 

 pany. 

 Here are given a series of 142 lessons arranged seasonally. The 

 book might almost be called a laboratory guide, if you may con- 

 sider that the farm is the laboratory. Many of the topics treated 

 are of interest to the Nature-Study teacher. The book is rather 

 disappointing in that while there is considerable space given to and 

 directions for out-of-door work, or work with actual material, yet a 

 great deal of the volume, while in lesson form, is just descriptive 

 matter. For instance, eight pages are devoted to birds. Six 

 common birds are briefly described, and their food is indicated, to 

 show that familiar birds are beneficial. Six more are listed in a 

 chart, with directions to fill in the food they eat, where they are 

 found, and their feeding time. One lesson is devoted to bird migra- 

 tion, with space for recording winter residents, summer residents, 

 and so on. In the list of books given, there are none mentioned 

 that deal with birds, so that apparently the student is left to his 



