BOOK REVIEWS 
Nature rambles—spring! 
Those members of the Torrey Botanical Club who have had 
the good fortune to listen to the lectures of Professor Medsger, 
who is, by the way, a member of the club of long standing, have 
doubtless been impressed by the peculiarly unique way in which 
he weaves in little interesting bits of information and deductions 
he has made from his observations of natural objects—plants, 
birds, trees, insects, stones, etc. For more than twenty-five 
years he has taught natural history in high school and college 
and for some fifteen years he was a nature leader in summer 
camps. This book, which was written at the request of the pub- 
lishers, has, throughout, the same quality, and, moreover, is 
written in plain, straightforward language, easily understood by 
boys and girls. It is also pervaded throughout by an enthusiasm 
for and a poetic appreciation of the out-of-doors which is ir- 
resistible and contagious. 
Looking it over brought back the days of my boyhood. What 
a joy it would have been to have owned such book then! But 
it is written also, as Dr. Fisher says in the foreword, ‘‘for adults 
who have not stopped learning.” Professor Medsger writes me 
that three other volumes are to follow—one for each season, 
and we shall look forward to the pleasure of seeing them. 
ARTHUR H. GRAVES 
A field key to the genera of wild and cultivated trees? 
Miss Barrett, another well known member of the club, and 
formerly a teacher at the State Normal School and the State 
Teachers’ College at Montclair, New Jersey, has prepared this 
excellent key for those who wish to identify trees when they are 
in leaf. A page of drawings in explanation of the most important 
characters is added, as well as several pages of explanation of 
. _ Barrett, Mary Franklin, A field key to the genera of the wild and cul- 
tivated hardy trees of the Northeastern States and Canada., 40 pp. Published 
by the author ; 64 Park Avenue, Bloomfield, N. J. 1931. Price, $.35. 
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