34 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIII. No. 



presents a certain amount of organized infor- 

 mation in regard to a portion of the science 

 of botany, and also that it gives us the result 

 of ten years of experience in working out the 

 method of undergraduate instruction in bot- 

 any in one of the foremost botanical labora- 

 tories in the country. The authors here en- 

 deavor to present " the fundamental facts and 

 principles of the science," and they hold that 

 these should precede the work of most other 

 subdivisions of botanical investigation. Thus 

 they point out that " a study of the very im- 

 portant subject of plant pathology must pre- 

 suppose the fundamentals of morphology and 

 physiology; paleobotany is, in part, the appli- 

 cation of morphology and ecology to fossil 

 plants; and scientific plant breeding rests 

 upon the foundations laid by morphology, 

 physiology and ecology." 



Here we have then an expression of the 

 opinion of three eminent teachers as to what 

 should be the " content " of botanical instruc- 

 tion, and its proper sequence, and it is that 

 the structure of plants must be presented first 

 in an orderly sequence from the lower to the 

 higher forms, and that then the activities of 

 plants must be considered, while the relations 

 of plants to one another and to their physical 

 environment may well come after form and 

 function have been pretty fully considered. 

 Then when these fundamental subjects have 

 been pretty well mastered the student is ready 

 to go forward into pathology, paleobotany, 

 plant breeding, etc. The book is thus a con- 

 tribution to botanical pedagogy. This aspect 

 of the book is, we believe, most important at 

 this time when some teachers have the notion 

 that it makes little difference in what order 

 the subdivisions of botany are taken up. 



The morphological part plunges at once 

 into a study of the Thallophytes, taking in 

 succession (1) Myxomyeetes, (2) Schizo- 

 phytes, (3) Algae, (4) Fungi, followed by 

 Bryophytes, Pteridophytes and Spermato- 

 phytes, and a suggestive chapter entitled 

 " Organic Evolution." The treatment is ad- 

 mirable, and the more than six hundred il- 

 lustrations make this one of the most satis- 

 factory morphological texts with which we are 



acquainted. The student who runs up through 

 the vegetable kingdom in the sequence here 

 given can not fail to secure a clear conception 

 of its general plan, as well as of its probable 

 mode of evolution. 



The second part, devoted to Physiology,, 

 takes up the subject under five heads, viz., 

 (I.) the material income of plants, (II.) the 

 material outgo of plants, (III.) nutrition, 

 (IV.) destructive metabolism, (V.) growth 

 and movement. The treatment here is as 

 satisfactory as in Part I., and as we read the 

 lucid sentences we are reminded forcibly of 

 the great loss suffered by botanical science 

 through the death of Professor Barnes. We 

 can not refrain from quoting a few sentences, 

 both for the substance and as illustrating the 

 forcible presentation. 



Transpiration, far from being a function of 

 plants, is an unavoidable danger. That it is a 

 danger, a real menace to life, is almost a matter 

 of common observation. Millions of plants perish 

 annually because the outgo of water is greater 

 than the income. A loose soil and an exposed 

 situation, sudden extreme evaporation due to a 

 hot dry wind and a blazing sun, or prolonged 

 drought, are causes of death too well known to 

 farmers in some regions. Scarcely a plant es- 

 capes the loss of some parts by reason of shortage- 

 in the water supply; and in temperate regions, 

 with the average rainfall (say 100 cm. annually), 

 few plants attain the development of which they 

 are capable with a larger water supply. Th& 

 luxuriant weed of well-watered ground compared 

 with the same weed, meager and dwarfed on the 

 dry wayside, illustrates what a menace to life 

 and vigor is the evaporation from plants. 



It is greatly to be deplored that the facile 

 hand that penned, and the active and original 

 mind that framed such vigorous and lucid 

 sentences are forever stilled, and that the 

 work here so well begun must stop, or be 

 carried forward by others. And who is there 

 who can take the place of Barnes? 



Charles E. Bessey 



The Univeesitt of Nebraska 



Attention and Interest: A Study in Psychol- 

 ogy and Education. By Pelix Arnold, 

 Ph.D. New York, The Macmillan Com- 

 pany. 



