786 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XV. No. 385. 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 



A Laboratory Manual of Botany. Outlines 

 and Directions for Laboratory and Field 

 Work in Botany in Secondary Schools. By 

 Otis W. Caldwell, Ph.D. New York, D. 

 Appleton & Company. 1902. Pp. ix + 107. 

 This little book has for its chief character- 

 istic a serious though perhaps not wholly suc- 

 cessful attempt to give organization and 

 direction to elementary work in plant ecology. 

 Certainly the author deserves credit for mak- 

 ing the attempt, for ecology will not be on a 

 sure footing in secondary education until it 

 becomes organized, and until the problems 

 which are set have a definite character, and 

 are commensurate with the mental ability of 

 secondary students. As a general criticism 

 pertinent to this remark we would be inclined 

 to say that some of the work indicated is not 

 above the abilities of students in the earlier 

 grades, notably work in seed distribution and 

 the like ; while other parts of it are beyond the 

 opportunities, certainly, if not the general 

 intelligence of secondary students. At least, 

 this is the feeling that the reviewer has in 

 regard to the study of the ecology of plant 

 societies. 



The work Is divided into two parts, con- 

 sisting of sixty-two and forty-five pages, 

 respectively, the first dealing with plants at 

 work, the second with the structures of plants 

 as they have developed in relation to the prob- 

 lems of nutrition and reproduction. Ex- 

 amining the second part at once, we do not 

 notice that it deviates notably from the treat- 

 ment of plants in the 'type course' as out- 

 lined in a good many text-books. We feel 

 that the author has not indicated sufficiently 

 clearly a definite line of thought, nor has he 

 made, in some instances, the best choice of 

 material. This appears notably in the treat- 

 ment of the Hepaticse, among which, as every 

 botanist knows, we may find as interesting 

 and instructive a series of types bearing on 

 the general features of the evolution of the 

 plant body, as may be found in the whole 

 plant series. The study of such material 

 may, we believe, very profitably be substituted 

 for that suggested, viz., that of Marchantia, 

 a by no means satisfactory type for the group 



when standing alone, on account of its very 

 high degree of specialization. 



Turning to the first part, we may consider 

 it as a guide to laboratory and field work 

 made necessary by a previously published 

 work. Coulter's 'Plant Relations,' and it has, 

 among others, the merit in particular that it 

 puts the material and problems in, for the 

 most part, fairly definite form. The reviewer 

 cannot admit to have been won over as yet to 

 belief in a course in ecology as an elementary 

 course for the secondary school. He there- 

 fore sees much more to criticize than is, per- 

 haps, wholly justified except upon general 

 grounds. Such criticism applies therefore 

 chiefly to the subject matter rather than to the 

 book before him. Por example, one is almost 

 oppressed by the amount of knowledge which 

 a student must be assumed to have in order to 

 explain ecological problems placed before him. 

 The work becomes, then, merely observational, 

 or a mass of unanswerable question's. If the 

 former, better in the elementary school; if the 

 latter, better that it should be a subsidiary 

 part of the course rather than the backbone, 

 so to speak. Again, it would seem that the 

 results which accrue from a lesson do not 

 always justify the amount of material used. 



The author that sets before himself the task 

 of indicating problems in question form has 

 not chosen the easiest one. Good questions 

 are good things — among the best means to 

 stimulate and guide the thought of the stu- 

 dent. In this particular Dr. Caldwell has 

 done well. The questions are, for the chief 

 part, within the range of the student, and 

 direct the mind from one observation to an- 

 other in a satisfactory manner. The form of 

 the question is sometimes unfortimate, ped- 

 agogically considered. 'Could,' introducing 

 a question, involves deduction unnecessarily, 

 that is, where the inductive method is the 

 only sure one for the beginner at least. 



The outlines will have, too, a stimulating ef- 

 fect upon field work, which should thereby be 

 enhanced in value. This, by the way, is a 

 feature of merit in the second part, in which 

 field study is suggested and outlined, as for 

 example in connection with the Algse. 



An introductory chapter containing some 



