96 



great themes, to search out the propulsive force which has 

 driven and yet drives, organism on its eventful evolutionary 

 voyages, and to scan the heavens to discover what may be the 

 star whereby evolution has steered its immemorial course." 



The book gives little space to figures or tables. Those 

 that are used are carefully chosen. The fifty-one illustrations 

 are all good but not evenly distributed. In describing the 

 vascular system of stems and roots, eleven excellent photo- 

 micrographs are used, some chapters have but one or two 

 illustrations. The book should prove of value to everyone 

 interested in plants. The botanist will find known facts pre- 

 sented in a new, stimulating manner, the student will find clear, 

 up-to-date statements of the essentials of plant physiology and 

 the general reader will get a glimpse of a fascinating world of 

 action. 



George T. Hastings 



THE LONDON CATALOGUE OF BRITISH PLANTS 



There are two stages in the history of any scientific under- 

 taking which are most productive of interesting results. One 

 is the pioneer stage, when novelties, facts or ideas, crowd to 

 be recorded, and the observer feels that he is laying the founda- 

 tions of a structure, the size and importance of which he can 

 only surmise. The other stage is that when the final structure 

 appears to take shape, and out of the labors of years the more 

 or less finished product begins to be realized. I say more or 

 less finished because it is soon discovered that the apparent 

 completion is deceptive in so far as it represents only a stage in 

 the development of the science, a development which will 

 never cease so long as the human mind remains active and 

 progressive. 



The American botanist, accustomed to our vast and only 

 partially exploited resources, may regard the small British 

 flora with a certain measure of indifli^erence if not contempt. 

 Was it not well known a century ago, and does it not seem that 

 modern students, in their efforts to discover new facts in such 

 a field, are merely dealing with trifles? But the truth is, that 

 the British flora, just because it has been so intensively studied, 



