144 



SCIENCE 



IN.S. Vol. XXV. No. 630 



were obtainable. These data are uniformly com- 

 plete and usually accompanied by numerous 

 fibres. For example, 42 pages and 40 fibres 

 are devoted to the elements. In this chapter 

 on elements there are no less than 237 refer- 

 ences to literature given. The monohaloids 

 are described in 40 pages containing 50 fig- 

 ures and 14Y references, of which over two 

 pages and six figures are given to ammonium 

 chloride alone. 



Chemists, crystallographers and mineralo- 

 gists have long felt the need of a good refer- 

 ence work of this character and are greatly 

 indebted to Professor von Groth for placing 

 at their command in a clear and concise form 

 such a vast amount of information concern- 

 ing crystallized bodies. The appearance of 

 the remaining three volumes will be awaited 

 with much interest. Edward H. KitAUS 



MlNERALOGICAi LABORATORY, 



■University of ]\Iiohigan, 

 December 14, 1906 



Principles of Botany. By Joseph T. Bergen, 

 A.M., and Bradley M. Davis, Ph.D. Bos- 

 ton, Ginn & Company. 12mo. Pp. x + 555. 

 Ten years ago Mr. Bergen, then instructor 

 in biology in the English High School of 

 Boston, brought out an admirable little book 

 entitled ' The Elements of Botany ' designed 

 to be a text-book for use in the high schools. 

 It soon became deservedly popular and was 

 very widely used. Five years later there ap- 

 peared ' The Foundations of Botany,' a much 

 larger book, in which the author, after re- 

 vising the chapters of his earlier book, had 

 injected a good deal of the new branch of 

 botany — ecology — accompanied with a consid- 

 erable number of half-tone and other illustra- 

 tions of leaf-patterns and landscapes, in ac- 

 cordance with the ecological fashion of that 

 day. In the book before us, we have a further 

 modification of the author's idea of the kind 

 of matter to be presented to the young be- 

 ginner in botany in the high school, and per- 

 haps the first course in college. In its prepa- 

 ration the author associated with him Dr. 

 Davis, until recently of the University of 

 Chicago, so that it appears under their joint 

 authorship. 



After a brief introduction, mainly devoted 

 to a definition of botany and its subdivisions 

 (morphology, physiology, plant geography, 

 paleobotany, taxonomy, ecology and economic 

 botany), we have the remainder of the book 

 divided into three parts, viz., I., ' The Struc- 

 ture and Physiology of Seed Plants ' (146 

 pages), II., ' The Morphology, Evolution and 

 Classification of Plants ' (257 pages), and III., 

 'Ecology and Economic Botany' (129 pages). 

 Parts I. and III. are the work of the senior 

 author, while Part II. is from the hand of 

 Dr. Davis. 



Part I. is a still further revision of the first 

 dozen or so chapters of the 'Foundations.' 

 The treatment is much briefer, and all ' ex- 

 periments ' are left out, so that instead of 227 

 pages in the ' Foundations ' only 146 pages 

 are given to this portion of the subject in the 

 ' Principles.' Part II. is entirely new matter, 

 and is an admirable presentation of the ele- 

 ments of systematic botany. Dr. Davis has 

 shown his ability to present an outline of this 

 vast subject in such manner as to give the 

 student a clear picture of the whole. The 

 only criticism of this part of the book is that 

 it will probably be found to be quite too full, 

 and perhaps too difiicult for pupils in second- 

 ary schools, and better adapted to the capacity 

 of college students. Part III. is based upon 

 the second part (' Ecology ') of the ' Founda- 

 tions,' containing, however, much new ecolog- 

 ical matter, which is well and clearly pre- 

 sented, and several chapters on economic bot- 

 any which do not appear to be necessary in a 

 book of this kind. One may seriously ques- 

 tion the usefulness to beginning students of 

 chapters including such topics as plant breed- 

 ing, the production of hybrids, selection among 

 corn, selection among wheat, results of hy- 

 bridizing citrous fruits, and wheat, food 

 products for human use, and for domestic 

 animals, plant-fibers, timber, forestry and 

 fuel. These subjects can not be adequately 

 treated in an elementary text-book intended 

 for children. The little that is said under 

 each topic is not enough to serve as a begin- 

 ning of the subject, and there is certainly 

 neither space nor time for more. It has often 



