CURRENT LITERATURE 
BOOK REVIEWS 
The flora of Western China . 
A most interesting account of the experiences of a naturalist in Western 
China during several years of exploration has been given by WILSON.” Much 
of the work deals with the manners and customs of the non-Chinese peoples 
inhabiting the borderland region that was being explored, but there is also a great 
eal of botanical material, as the result of four expeditions. An introduction 
is written by Professor CHARLES S. SARGENT, in which the tree families of 
Eastern North America and of China are contrasted. The general statement 
is made that the trees of Eastern North America are larger and more valuable 
than the related Chinese species, but that Chinese shrubs in general produce 
more beautiful flowers than those of Eastern North America. In considerable 
detail 129 families are presented, which occur in Eastern North America and 
in China. Of these, 92 families are common to the two regions; 12 occur 10 
Eastern North America but not in Eastern Asia; and 25 occur in Eastern Asia 
‘but not in Eastern North America. In making a similar contrast with the. 
genera, it is found that out of 692 tree and shrub genera in the two regions, 155 
are common to both; while 158 occur in Eastern North America and not In 
Eastern Asia, and 379 are found in Eastern Asia and not in Eastern North 
erica. 
The first volume has chiefly to do with the topography of the region and 
the character and customs of the peoples inhabiting it. The material of botan!- 
cal interest occurs chiefly in the second volume, the nature of it being indicated 
by the following chapter titles: the flora of Western China, a brief account of 
the richest temperate flora in the world ; the principal timber trees; rails : 
wild and cultivated; Chinese materia medica; gardens and gardening; favorite 
flowers cultivated by the Chinese; agriculture; the principal food-stuff croP®) 
the more important plant products; wild and cultivated trees of economue 
importance; the more important plant products; cultivated shrubs and herbs 
of economic value; tea and “tea-yielding” plants; the tea industry 
Thibetan markets. : 
e book is very suggestive of the botanical “travels” of years 48 which 
have always been the first introduction of botanists to a new region.—J. Mf 
ted ILson, E. H., A naturalist in Western China. 8vo. 2 vols. PP- xxxviit 257 
and xi+229. figs. 111. New York: Doubleday, Page & Co. 1913. 
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