

250 THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY 



teachers, the author insists on the educational value of ecology, 

 or "the study of plants in their native homes," as an out-of-doors 

 object-lesson. As an introduction he takes an imaginary class out 

 for a walk, and calls the attention of the students to the different 

 points of interest in connection "with the soil and the plant-life 

 supported by it which arise during the walk. Ecology is in this 

 sense indistinguishable from the " nature-study " which has come 

 to the fore in recent years. 



In discussing the value of morphology and classification in 

 ecology in chapter iv., the author wisely insists on the importance 

 of morphology as the basis of ecology, and strongly recommends 

 the teacher to utilize classification as well as morphology u for 

 sound educational purposes ; since it is in the processes of weighing 

 characters between different species, &c, that the elements of 

 thought and judgement come into play." In another chapter (v.) 

 Mr. Henslow complains that laboratory work is treated too inde- 

 pendently ; if the study of plant-life in nature is the ultimate 

 object of the student, experimental and laboratory work ought 

 to be directed to this end. The experiments in a well-known 

 elementary work on practical physiology of plants are adversely 

 criticised from this point of view, as also are other instances of 

 modern methods of teaching botany. 



The larger portion of the volume is devoted to a general account 

 of the various plant-associations which are regarded as examples of 

 the direct response of the plant to environment, and a chapter on 

 floral ecology is introduced in which the view taken by the author 

 in his book on the Origin of Floral Structures is maintained — the 



characters of the flower, form, size, scent, relative position and 

 shape of parts being regarded as the direct results of the responsive 

 action of the flower to the stimulating influence of the agent of 

 pollination. 



Mr. Henslow's little book will serve to give an idea of the 

 methods of serious nature-study from the botanical side, though it 

 necessarily leaves untouched the elaborate methods of the more 

 advanced ecological school. 



"This floral chronology by the author of those delightful 

 volumes, ' Familiar Wild Flowers,' is the outcome of observations 

 extending over a long duration of time, and conducted under the 

 most favourable circumstances. Such a book will supply a very 

 useful guide to the Nature-lover of botanical tastes. It is evident 

 that if one would seek any particular plant by some more effective 

 method than the hope of stumbling upon it some day by a happy 

 chance, the when and the where of it should be considered, since 

 they will be most potent factors. When we know the season a 

 plant naturally appears [sic] , and when we know the locality where 

 we may reasonably expect to find it, we are far on our road to 

 success. If, for instance, we are aware that under no circumstances 

 shall we find a water-lily flowering on the thatch of an old cottage 

 in January, we are at once released from what would otherwise 

 have been an unprofitable quest, and are free to spend our energies 

 in other and more profitable directions. It is on these salient 



