SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE 



561 



original, including even typographica 

 errors, excepting only the style of type 

 Of the original edition only eight copie 

 are known to exist, so that the repub 

 lication was desirable to preserve the 

 book, as well as for the facilitation o 

 reference, and of this only two hundred 

 and fifty numbered copies are printed for 

 the market. 



Mr. Douglas Houghton Campbell hai 

 endeavored, in his Lectures on the Evo 

 lution of Plants* to present in as un 

 technical a manner as seemed feasible 

 the more striking facts bearing upon th< 

 evolution of plant forms, believing thai 

 it will fill an existing want among Eng 

 lish text-books. The substance of the 

 work was given originally in the form 

 of lectures to classes in Leland Stanford 

 Junior University. After an introduc- 

 tion, in which a few fundamental prin- 

 ciples are presented, elementary struc- 

 tures are defined, and accepted classifi- 

 cation is mentioned, the conditions of 

 plant life are treated of as relating to 

 food substances, water, life, division of 

 labor, and movements, of which all 

 plants exhibit more or less marked ones, 

 that may be spontaneous. While in the 

 simple unicellular plants all the func- 

 tions are performed by a single cell, a 

 gradual division of labor takes place as 

 we go up, first in a separation of the 

 vegetative and reproductive cells, and 

 later a further specialization of both 

 vegetative and reproductive functions, 

 culminating in the seed plant. This 

 course is described as exemplified in 

 the simplest forms of life, algae, fungi, 

 mosses and liverworts, ferns, and seed 

 plants of the different classes. The study 

 of the geological relations, fragmentary 

 as their teachings are, has yielded most 

 important evidence for tracing the suc- 

 cession of plant forms. Observation of 

 geographical distribution casts much 

 light on the subject. The relations of 

 animals and plants have an important 

 bearing. The influence of the environ- 

 ment embraces many factors, and is often 

 shown in conspicuous features of form 

 and structure adapting plants to certain 

 sorts of conditions and enabling them 

 to resist others. Plants have thus suc- 



ceeded in adapting themselves to almost 

 every environment. 



Prof. Augustus de Morgan's book 

 On the Study and Difficulties of Mathe- 

 matics* though originally published 

 more than sixty years ago, is still fresh 

 and suggestive and full of matter valu- 

 able alike to students and teachers, and 

 possesses qualities of clearness of reason- 

 ing and intelligibility from which many 

 mathematical treatises are unfortunate- 

 ly free. Its purpose is to notice particu- 

 larly several important points in the 

 principles of algebra and geometry which 

 have not obtained their due importance 

 in elementary works in those sciences. 

 Metaphysical points are avoided, and the 

 method of explaining by reference to 

 some particular problem, with hints as 

 to more general adaptation, is adopted. 

 Among the points taken up and classi- 

 fied are the nature and objects of mathe- 

 matics, arithmetical and algebraic nota- 

 tion, rules and principles, equations, the 

 negative sign, roots and logarithms, geo- 

 metrical subjects, and application of al- 

 gebra to measurements. The editor of 

 the present edition, Mr. Thomas J. Mc- 

 Cormack, has corrected the errata of 

 the old edition and incorporated such 

 ihanges as the progress of time and 

 mathematical literature have made seem 

 proper. An excellent portrait of De Mor- 

 gan is given. 



The purpose of Carpenter's Geograph- 

 cal Reader, North America (American 

 Book Company), is to give its readers a 

 iving knowledge of some of the wonders 

 of the country and continent in which 

 hey live. They are taken by the au- 

 hor, Mr. Frank G. Carpenter, on a per- 

 sonally conducted tour through the 

 most characteristic parts of the Ameri- 

 can continent, studying the most inter- 

 sting features of life and work among 

 he people, learning how they are gov- 

 rned, and how they make their living. 

 Much information is also given concern- 

 ng the natural resources and the phys- 

 cal features of the countries visited. 



The Japan-American Commercial 



ournal is a monthly periodical started 



with the beginning of the year, with 



* Lectures on the Evolution of Plants. By 

 Douglas Houghton Campbell. New York: The 

 Macmillan Company. Pp. 319. Price, $1.25. 

 VOL. LT. 40 



On the Study and Difficulties of Mathematics. 

 >y Augustus De Morgan New edition. Chicago: 

 'he Open Court Publishing Company. Pp. 288. 



