September 1, 1905.] 



SCIENCE. 



283 



The printed page is large (123 by 200 mm.), 

 and the type and arrangement, while so com- 

 pact as to leave no waste space, are pleasing 

 • to the eye. 



NEW EDITION OF BRITTON^S MANUAL. 



The second edition of Britton's ' Manual of 

 riora of the Northern States and Canada,' 

 which appeared some months ago includes 

 descriptions of about one hundred additional 

 species in an appendix, bringing the total 

 number up to more than 4,600. Generic and 

 specific synonyms have been added in many 

 instances, thus adding greatly to the useful- 

 ness of the book for working botanists. The 

 addition of a number of artificial keys will 

 be especially helpful to beginners. 



A NEW TROPICAL FLORA. 



J. R. Johnston (Gray Herbarium of Har- 

 vard University) has in preparation a work on 

 the ' Flora of the Islands of Margarita and 

 Coche ' off the north coast of Venezuela, which 

 must prove of much interest to American 

 botanists. In noticing his descriptions of new 

 species from these islands some time ago, the 

 authorship of this work was erroneously given 

 in these columns. 



THE TEACHING OF BOTANY. 



In a most suggestive book entitled ' The 

 Teaching of Biology in the Secondary School ' 

 (Longmans, Green & Co.) by Professors Lloyd 

 and Bigelow, the former discusses many mat- 

 ters connected with the teaching of botany. 

 Calling attention to the advances which 

 botanical science has made in America during 

 the last twenty-five years, and the changes 

 which the teaching of the subject has experi- 

 enced, he insists that the teachers should come 

 to their work ' with a special mental equip- 

 ment for their peculiar tasks,' and full of 

 knowledge of the problems which they will be 

 called upon to face in their work. In the 

 course of the author's discussion one finds 

 such chapter headings as ' The Value of Sci- 

 ence, and Particularly of Biology in Educa- 

 tion ' ; ' Nature Study ; The Value of Botany 

 in Secondary Education ' ; ' Principles De- 

 termining the Content of a Botanical Course ' ; 

 ^ The Various Types of Botanical Courses ' ; 



' Use of the Method of Thought in Teaching 

 Botany ' ; ' General Botanical Principles to be 

 Emphasized in Teaching ' ; ' Detailed Dis- 

 cussion of the Course in Botany for the High 

 School ' ; ' The Laboratory, its Equipment, 

 Materials for Study and for Demonstration ' ; 

 ' Botanical Literature for the Use of Teachers 

 and Students.' 



It is impossible to summarize these chapters. 

 They should be read from beginning to end by 

 every young teacher, and by some who are no 

 longer young. In passing it may be noted that 

 the author is thoroughly and heartily a believer 

 in ' nature study ' ; indeed, he is so much in 

 earnest in its advocacy that he devotes a good 

 many pages to criticism of many of the erro- 

 neous methods employed by some of its teachers. 

 In discussing the types of botanical courses 

 for high schools he says truly, " one of the big 

 ideas which a student should get from the 

 study of plant forms is that of evolution. He 

 should have an opportunity of looking into the 

 kind of evidence which underlies this idea." 

 The ' Huxley and Martin method,' he says, 

 ' was ordinarily that of verification, while the 

 development of individual initiative in thought 

 was largely ignored.' Agassiz's method of 

 bringing the student into ' direct contact with 

 some form, such as a starfish, and leaving him 

 to find out things for himself without aid of 

 any kind ' is characterized as ' heroic treat- 

 ment, which can not be employed generally.' 



Not to attempt too much is insisted upon, 

 and also that the botany of the beginner must 

 include something of each of the greater di- 

 visions of the science. In elucidating these 

 suggestions the author discusses in detail the 

 work which may be taken up in the high 

 school. After quoting the course of study 

 recommended by the Committee on a College 

 Entrance Option in Botany, of the Society 

 of Plant Morphology and Physiology, he de- 

 tails a course of his own, beginning with mor- 

 phology and anatomy of the fruit and seed, 

 and following this with ecology, field work, 

 physiology, the root, the shoot, the leaf, the 

 bud, Myxomycetes, Schizophyta, Thallophyta, 

 Bryophyta, Pteridophyta, Phanerogams, geo- 

 graphical botany and physiographical plant 

 ecology. In practise it will be found quite 



