LITERARY NOTICES, 



Botany of the Southerx States, By Professor John Darby, A. M. 

 A. S. Barnes & Co., i^^^^ishcrs, N'ew-York. 



The field for botanical research in the United States is one replete 

 with vegetable novelty of great usefulness and rare elegance, advantage 

 of which has been taken by eminent European gentlemen. As a result, 

 we discover the conservatories and gardens of both England and France 

 made gorgeous with American shrubs, trees and lesser plants, that are 

 yet to many of us strangers, although inhabitants of our forests. The 

 Southern States are particularly noted for their profuse and varied con- 

 tributions to the taxonomy of our country. Professor Darby's work 

 treats exclusively of vegetation peculiar to the latitudes of the Middle 

 and Southern States. That such a work should be perfect and complete 

 in detail is a desideratum not to be expected in the present century, but 

 that it embodies all the information that is at present available is evident 

 on a perusal. The first part is devoted to structural and physiological 

 botany and vegetable products. The facts and theories here related, 

 although in brief form, are not mere outlines, but embrace a compre- 

 hensive view of the important features of botany, as a useful science. 

 The diction is plain and lucid, avoiding the too frequent use of technical 

 terms, which in most instances have rendered the study of botany a 

 painful and tedious operation to the student. Professor Darby evidently 

 looks beyond the mere fact of instructing a pupil in the method of 

 ascertaining the name of a flower. The anatomy (if we may use the 

 term) and structure of a plant are explained, not in the usual theoretical 

 manner, but are conclusions arrived at by persevering investigation and 

 actual analysis. The remarks on the various tissue are exceedingly 

 valuable, and disclose some features which may be applied in elucidating 

 the sap blights which afi'ect fruit trees in this variable climate. 



Inflorescence, with its various singularities, is explained in such a 

 manner as to be comprehended by the dullest scholar, without the aid of 



