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From the American Naturalist, July, 1890. 



BOTANY. 



V 



Some Elementary Botanies. — That there is a dissatisfaction 

 with the commoner methods of teaching botany as set forth in the text 

 books, is indicated by the numerous attempts of various teachers to 

 give us better books. In no other science is there to-day such diver- 

 sity of opinion as to the best method of introducing the pupil to the 

 subject to be studied. As a result we have a multiplication of elemen- 

 tary books, each designed to lead the pupil into his work by a different 

 route. For twenty years the little books by Miss Youmans have stood as 

 a sort of protest against mere " book botany." Though faulty in many 

 particulars, they were valuable in showing that there are other ways of 

 teaching botany than the stereotyped ones. A recent book, " De- 

 scriptive Botany," by the same author, has much in it to commend. 

 At the very beginning the pupil is told to supply himself with his own 

 material for examination. He is told to "gather a variety of leaves; 

 and to begin their study by comparing them," etc., etc. Further on 

 we find this : " Pull up any herb which, has a distinct stem, and com- 

 pare the stem with the root," and so on repeatedly. This is excellent, 

 and the pupil cannot fail to be greatly benefited by such a course. 

 There is too marked an emphasis given to technical terms, which are 

 needlessly printed in italics, and too frequently there is a dictionary- 

 like brevity, as when we read that "The leaf of a fern is called a 

 frond" and " The stalk or petiole of a frond is called a stipe." Why 

 this is so is not hinted. The " Popular Flora " is just what it pretends 

 to be— popular — and will be useful to the beginner who has prepared 

 himself aright to take it up. It contains brief but plain descriptions 

 of the more common flowering plants including cultivated as well as 

 wild species. It is pleasant to note that the Gymnosperms are as- 

 signed to their proper place between Angiosperms and the Pterido- 

 phytes. It is not so pleasant, however, to note that the explanation of 

 the structure of the flowers of the Conifers (the sole representatives of 

 the Gymnosperms) is wholly erroneous. There has been an attempt to 

 carry the old and discarded ideas as to floral structure over into the 

 new classification. The Conifers as described in this book should go 

 back into their old position, sandwiched between the Monocotyledons 

 and Dicotyledons ! 



In many points the "High School Botany," prepared by H. B. 

 Spotton for the use of Canadian students, has a considerable resem- 



