212 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [MARCH 
he disclaims an intention to make a “‘cram”’ book, it is essentially that. The 
condensation, the selection of unsuitable and sometimes impossible material 
and subjects for beginners, the numerous errors of fact, and the crudity of 
many of the illustrations, some of which are utterly misleading, render the 
book valueless to teachers in this country. That it receives the hearty 
approval of a well-known English botanist in Mature indicates the wide 
divergence of standpoint in the teaching of botany in the two countries. — 
B. 
To THE multiplying list of American schoolbooks Dr. D. T. MacDougal 
contributes a modest little volume,® the most elementary of the recent ones, 
outlining ‘“‘a study of the functions or action of the plants,” whose “organs 
are considered chiefly as instruments for the performance of work, with but 
little attention to their morphology.” The author thus depends upon the 
pupil’s previous knowledge of the parts of plants, a knowledge which is 
amazingly scanty and inaccurate. However, by careful selection of topics 
and simple presentation, the author ensures the pupil, in the main, clear 
notions of the work that plants do. 
But some topics are introduced in whose presentation the author is sorely 
hampered and of which the pupil is quite certain to get wry notions, 
because there is too little basal knowledge of the structures concerned. The 
most notable instance is in the section on “the way in which new plants 
arise,” wherein the alternation of generations is discussed ; a topic which the 
very elementary character of the book might well be held to preclude. 
Nearly all the few defects of the book are chargeable to the striving after 
vividness, simplicity, and brevity, which are so dangerous yet withal so 
necessary in a book of this grade. hat Dr. MacDougal has succeeded 
admirably no one who has tried to write a small and simple book will deny. 
be commend it to teachers who wish to interest pupils in plants at work.— 
MINOR NOTICES. 
AN elaborate monograph on the hemp, Cannabis sativa, by Briosi and 
Tognini, has been completed by the issue of the second part,’ treating in 
minute detail and most thoroughly the internal anatomy, the first part being 
devoted to the flowers. The whole monograph, comprising 271 quarto pages 
and 49 plates, is a monument to the late Dr. F ilippo Tognini and to his bot- 
anical master and associate, Dr. G. Briosi.—C. R. B 
® MacDouaaL, D. T.: The nature and work of plants: an introduction to the 
es of botany. r2mo. pp. xviii++ 218. New York: The Macmillan Company. 1999 
0 cts. 
7BRIOsI, GIOVANI E TOGNINI, FILipPpo: Intorno alla anatomia della canap4 
(Cannabis sativa L.). Parto seconda; Organi vegetativi. 4to. Dagli Aa dell’ Isti- 
tuto Botanico di Pavia II. 4: 168-315. PL. g-29. 
