90 



between form and function. We should have preferred to see 



what is really a developmental picture approached with a less static 



outlook. However, this is merely a personal viewpoint. There is 



much to be said for learning anatomy by this purer, more Spartan 



approach. Any student who covers faithfully the material outlined 



in this excellent book will certainly know plant anatomy, and know 



it well. Ti' r- ^\T 



\\ . gordox w haley 



Barnard College 

 Columbia Uxh'ersity 



General Botany 



Fundamentals of Plant Science. By !M. Ellen O'Hanlon. F. S. Crofts 

 & Co., 1941. $4.25. 



The numerous botanical textbooks of recent years are roughly 

 divisible into two groups : those that are the work of young sci- 

 entists and, like a spring freshet, have vigor, clarity of outline, and 

 force of presentation; then there are those other texts, the works 

 of botanists who have already won their spurs ; and these, like a 

 mature stream, tap deeper reservoirs of knowledge and present 

 the subject set in its whole and proper environment. Happily, 

 "Fundamentals of Plant Science" belongs in the latter group. 



The book is divided into two parts. In traditional fashion the 

 first deals with such topics as "The Plant Cell," "Leaves," "The 

 Flower," "Fruits," "Roots," "Stems." In the second half, after 

 a chapter on "Alternation of Generations," the groups of the plant 

 kingdom are considered — the "Algae," "Fungi and Their Allies," 

 "Bryophyta," "Pteridophyta," etc. Following this, a thirty-five 

 page chapter is devoted to "Genetics" ; the next eighteen pages 

 deal wnth "Organic Evolution," and the final chapter takes up 

 "Botanical History." This is followed by a glossary. There is 

 ample botanical nourishment between the covers of this volume for 

 the elementary student of general botany — very probably more 

 than he will assimilate in one year. This is true of all of our good 

 texts and allows for discretion on the part of the instructor as well 

 as of the student. The scope and content are not markedly 

 different from those of other standard works. 



Any new textbook of botany, following upon all of those already 

 published, should possess certain distinctive features. In this book 



