1909] .CURRENT LITERATURE 4 ! 5 



All these things show the apprentice hand; but, though they mar the book, 

 they do not so detract from its value that it may not be commended to the public 

 for whom it is intended. It will indeed be a welcome addition to public, school, 

 and college libraries, where there is always a demand for well-illustrated books 

 of this kind, and it will probably do good service in awakening an interest in mush- 

 rooms. It certainly treats wisely the matter of testing the edibility of mushrooms 

 and no one who follows Mr. Hard's advice will come to harm. Thus it has a 

 real field of usefulness. But it is not for the mycologist; and, unless "of its kind" 

 is a saving clause, it is by no means what is claimed by the publishers in their 

 circular— " By far the most complete work of its kind ever attempted in this 

 country."— C. R. B. 



Trees and woods 



Marshall 



has recently come from the Cambridge University Press. 2 With a fifth now in 

 press the series will be concluded, for although the author had planned another, it 

 was too inchoate to permit publication. The present volume has been issued 

 under the editorial supervision of Percy Groom, who has left the manuscript 

 practically unchanged, but has had the labor of selecting the illustrations, which 

 are both numerous and appropriate. 



As the three preceding volumes have treated respectively the buds and twigs, 

 the leaves, and the inflorescences and flowers, this one presents the fruits. After 

 a general discussion of the morphology of fruits (part I, 59 pp.), the second 

 part (94 pp.) gives a key to trees and shrubs, based on characters derived from 

 fruits, and accompanied by figures of most of the species. Like the other parts 

 °i the series, this one will doubtless be useful in Great Britain, though it cannot 

 be particularly serviceable in this country. It embodies a good idea, however, 

 which might be applied to the trees of this continent. 



The eighth part of Schneider's Handbook 0} deciduous trees (the third section 

 °f the second volume) has lately issued from the press. 3 Like its predecessors, 

 frequently referred to in this journal, it presents, in the most compact form 

 Possible, descriptions of the species of angiospermous trees, native or planted 

 °ut in central Europe, arranged in the sequence of a dichotomous key, and 

 ulustrated freely. It seems a most thorough and practical book, but somewhat 

 disconcerting as to nomenclature. Who of our foresters will give us something 

 as good, but perhaps a little less condensed ? 



2 Ward, H. M., Trees: a handbook of forest botany for the woodlands and the 

 kboratory. Vol. IV, Fruits. Cambridge Biological Series. i2mo. pp. iv + 161. figs. 

 2 47- Cambridge: University Press. 1908. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons. Si. 50. 



3 Schneider, C. K., Iliustriertes Handbuch der Laubholzkunde. Charakteristik 

 e r m Mitteleuropa heimischen und im Freien angepflanzten angiospermen Geholz- 



Arten und Formen mit Ausschluss der Bambuseen und Kakteen. Achte Lieferung 

 (dntte Lieferung des zweiten Bandes). Imp. 8vo. pp. 241-366. figs. 166-248. Jena: 

 ^ustav Fischer. 1909. M 4. 



