,239 



the fourth and fifth lines from the bottom of page 7 is a kind 

 of error not uncommon in books from this American pubUshing 

 house. Note also carpets for carpels (p. 70), ony for only (p. 71), 

 rotote for rotate (p. 74), snores for spores (p. 125), formed for 

 found (p. 130). 



However, the reviewer does not wish to leave a final impression 

 of the book out of harmony with the first sentence of this review. 

 He feels under personal obligations to the author for this concise 

 and clear summary of the contributions of paleobotany to plant 

 evolution, and the volume is sure to meet with a well deserved 

 and widespread welcome. 



C. Stuart Gager. 



Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 

 September 22, 191 1 



A rather rare publication,* scarcely known to most botanists, 

 contains, among a mass of ethnologic material, considerable of 

 botanical interest. From page 179 to 204 there is a list of the 

 vernacular names, used by the Indians for the commoner plants 

 of their region, together with their Latin equivalents. The list 

 is arranged according to families in alphabetical sequence, a 

 purely botanical device quite unknown to the Indians whose sole 

 ideas of plants seem to be confined to knowledge as to w^hether they 

 are good for anything, or not. A short introductory note has 

 this to say of the Indians' knowlege of their flora. " By far most 

 of the species are designated as ' aze,' medicine, and are known for 

 their medicinal properties. It might be said, in truth, that this is 

 the keynote to the plant lore of the Navaho, since non-medicinal 

 plants are designated as "t'o'ch'iL," or merely plants. On the 

 other hand their observations of the medicinal properties have in 

 reality accounted for the discrimination of the various species of 

 plants, and while many of their 'medicines' are traditional only, 

 tradition has preserved the name although the object, and often 

 the significance of the word, is obtained with difificulty." 



The foods and beverages, most of which are of plant origin 



*An ethnologic dictionary of the Navaho language. Written and published 

 by the Franciscan Fathers of the Navajo {sic) Indian Mission, Saint Michaels, 

 Arizona. Pp. 1-536. [Illust.] 1910. Price 55-00. 



