i. 
; 
1898 | CURRENT LITERATURE 65 
Exercises in botany. > 
Tuis little book, the author states, is designed to supply the need of 
pupils under the supervision of a teacher who can devote but little time to 
the subject, and is planned so that the teacher, burdened with other duties, 
need have little to do in the way of preparing outlines of the daily work. It 
contains many suggestive facts and various interesting observations not found 
in similar books. The colloquial and figurative style, which the author adopts 
to a considerable extent, doubtless aids in holding attention, but seems, at 
least here and there, to be carried beyond permissible limits in a work devoted 
to scientific teaching, as, for instance, when it is stated that the embryo of. 
the western peony “does not intend to carry its store of food above ground, 
.. +. nor does it risk decapitation at the hands of Jack Frost.” In some 
cases there is more or less obscurity, as in the question, ‘‘ Which edge of an 
elm leaf is nearest the twig on which it grows?” And we are reminded of 
Grant Allen’s “ high priori’’ reasoning by the passage, ‘In short, an apple 
is good that its seeds may be distributed. A cherry is red that some cherry- 
loving animal may surely find it and drop its seed far from the parent tree.” 
On the whole, it may be doubted whether the book is likely to quite fulfill 
the author’s purpose, and a careful examination strengthens the conviction 
that, however such books may be multiplied, the need of specially trained 
teachers is thereby increased rather than diminished. In the teacher's 
library, with others of its kind that are appearing at frequent intervals, it will 
Serve a good purpose in suggesting observations and experiments.—V. M. 5. 
NOTES. FOR STUDENTS. 
PROFESSOR D. H. CAMPBELL,° has recently investigated the morphology 
of Naias and Zannichellia. He has confirmed the views of previous observers 
as to the axial nature of the stamens and ovules, and the mutual relation of 
leaf, axis, and branch. The stamen of V. fexi/is is interesting on account 
of its being surrounded by two envelopes, the inner of which Professor 
Campbell regards as the homologue of the ovular integument which it greatly 
resembles, and the outer as corresponding to the carpel of the “female 
flower.” The origin and development of the sexual elements, the growth of the 
pollen tube, and fertilization do not depart materially from the usual angio- 
Spermous type. 
The first division of the embryo is transverse, as usual, dividing it into a 
asal or “suspensor” cell and a terminal or “embryo” cell. The further 
development of the embryo agrees with Schaffner’s account of Alisma as 
b 
- er ee ee ee Botany for the Pacific States. The Whitaker 
ay Co., San Francisco. 1897. 
* 
€ 
Proc. Cal. Acad. Sci. 3d series 1: 1-62. pi. 5. 1897. 
