53 



As illustration of the quality of the books two important 

 features of illustrations of the text may be cited. First, the 

 photographs, in the main, represent common botanical situations 

 which are of such kinds that the student, in his own studies, may 

 discover similar illustrations and understand and appreciate 

 them. The legends accompanying these photographs give evi- 

 dence that the illustrations are not merely "enlivening pictures," 

 but are organic parts of the presentation of the subject. For 

 • example, figure 60, which shows a j^oung potato tuber developed 

 as a branch from a sprout of an old seed-tuber, has eight lines of 

 illuminating discussion composing the legend. This is very 

 different from the usually observed legend, such as, "A Potato 

 Tuber," which leaves one who really needs illustrations in a 

 quite helpless condition. Such excellent legends are found 

 throughout the text. 



Secondly, a surprisingly large number of surprisingly fine 

 diagrams of processes, life histories, family relationships, and 

 evolutionary stories, serve not only to clarify confusing details, 

 but serve also as splendid summaries of the topics under discussion. 



Both the text and laboratory guide, while decidedly compre- 

 hensive and intensive, are of such splendid quality as to make 

 them distinct contributions to the perplexing problems of college 

 botanical instruction. 



Otis W. Caldwell 



NEWS ITEMS 



In the more wide-spread fame of his later achievements, it is 

 sometimes forgotten that the late Major-General Frederick 

 Funston was for a brief period of his earlier career a botanical 

 collector. In 1 891, he accompanied Mr. F. V. Coville on a well- 

 known botanical expedition to Death Valley in California. In 

 1893 and 1894, he made collections of plants in Alaska as special 

 agent of the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



On Wednesday, March 14, the nearly completed building of 

 the Brooklyn Botanic Garden was occupied for the first time, 

 and within the next few days the library, herbarium, and offices 



