June 13, 1913] 



SCIENCE 



915 



-thors have placed us under obligation by add- 

 ing a considerable number of facts to our 

 knowledge of the Omaha, notably on the sub- 

 ject of societies. They have not accomplished 

 the task of giving us a definitive study of 

 ■Omaha ethnology. We feel grateful for the 

 new data presented by them, but we are also 

 very grateful for the fact that they have had 

 for their predecessor so sane, conscientious 

 and competent an ethnographer as the late 

 Eev. J. 0. Dorsey. 



Robert H. Lowie 

 American Museum or Natural History 



BOTANICAL NOTES 



NOTES ON RECENT BOOKS AND PAMPHLETS 



George F. Zimmer's " Popular Dictionary 

 of Botanical Names and Terms " (Button) is 

 intended mainly for botanists, horticulturists 

 and others who have to deal much with plant 

 names. The little book of 122 pages is a little 

 different from the usual type of botanical dic- 

 tionaries, more attention being given to the 

 meanings of specific names, and this will com- 

 mend it to many students who are somewhat 

 -deficient in their knowledge of Latin. For 

 i;hose it would have been well to have at least 

 ■indicated the accent for each name. 



The little books brought out by Dr. Gustav 

 Lindau, of Berlin, under the general title of 

 ■" Kryptogamenflora fiir Anfanger " promise 

 to furnish models which might well be fol- 

 lowed by American makers of similar books. 

 Already three books have appeared, namely: 

 "Die hoheren Pilze"; "Die mikroskopischen 

 Pilze " ; and " Die Laubmoose." Bound in 

 substantial cloth, and containing about 250 

 pages, these books commend themselves to us 

 as admirably adapted for their purpose — 

 namely, that of helping beginners in the 

 ■systematic botany of the lower plants. 



Bergen and Caldwell's " Practical Botany " 

 (Ginn) aims to relate the study of plants in 

 the secondary schools to everyday life more 

 '" than is usually done." Accordingly the book 

 is distinctly of the informational rather than 

 .the scientific type, and for this reason will ap- 

 peal to many principals and boards of educa- 



tion. The present reviewer is not in sympathy 

 with the notion that science must always be 

 related to " everyday life " (whatever that 

 may imply), but he finds much to commend 

 in the book. The authors know the science, 

 and pedagogics so well that they have made a 

 useful book, whose faults are due to the under- 

 lying theory rather than to any shortcomings 

 on their part. This theory is accountable for 

 the chapters on Timber, Forestry, Plant Breed- 

 ing, Plant Industries, Weeds, which contain 

 much that is certainly interesting, but that is 

 just as certainly not hotany. It would be much 

 better for the botanists to allow these applica- 

 tions and extensions of botany to be taken up 

 by foresters, agronomists, horticulturists, 

 agriculturists, etc., a task for which they are 

 entirely competent. We should respect the 

 boundary lines between a science and its ap- 

 plications. 



Winkler's " Botanisches Hilfsbuch " (Hins- 

 torff) gives interesting data regarding about 

 twelve hundred plants (mainly tropical) that 

 have economic value. Although primarily de- 

 signed for tropical planters, merchants, oiS- 

 cials and explorers, it will be found to be a 

 useful book in every botanical library. 



The Dudley Memorial Volume published by 

 Stanford University contains papers, appreci- 

 ations and contributions in memory of the late 

 Professor William E. Dudley who died June 

 4, 1911. In addition to the memorial addresses 

 and papers and lists of Professor Dudley's 

 pupils (covering 32 pages), the volume in- 

 cludes eight scientific papers. The first of 

 these — " The Vitality of the Sequoia gi- 

 gantea " — was prepared by Professor Dudley 

 himself. The others are " The Morphology 

 and Systematic Position of Calycularia radi- 

 culosa," by D. H. Campbell ; " Studies of Irri- 

 tability in Plants," by G. J. Peirce ; " The 

 Gymnosperms growing on the Grounds of 

 Stanford University," by LeEoy Abrams; 

 " The Synchytria in the Vicinity of Stanford 

 University," by James McMurphy ; " The Law 

 of Geminate Species," by D. S. Jordan ; " Some 

 Eolations between Salt Plants and Salt 

 Spots," by W. A. Cannon ; " North American 



