No. 401.] REVIEWS OF RECENT LITERATURE. 447 
tant ways throughout the book. Part I, on Irrigation Culture, 
opens with an account, historically developed, of The Extent and 
Geographical Range of Irrigation. Then follow chapters on The 
Conditions which make Irrigation Imperative, Desirable or Un- 
necessary, The Extent to which Tillage may take the Place of Irri- 
gation, and The Increase of Yield due to Irrigation in Humid 
Climates ; then several chapters regarding the practical manage- 
ment of water under various conditions, and finally a chapter on 
Sewage Irrigation. Part II deals with the principles and practice 
of Farm Drainage. 
In almost every chapter one finds an immense amount of infor- 
mation clearly displayed in tabular form and often representing the 
results of the author’s experimental contributions to the subject. 
Then, too, one gains confidence in the author’s general statements 
from the evident fact that they are based upon wide personal obser- 
vation of irrigation and drainage practice, both in this country and 
in Europe. The author champions no pet theory; he lets facts 
speak for themselves and lead the way to broad principles of prac- 
tical value. 
The illustrations, largely reproductions from photographs, are, for 
the most part, of unusual excellence, and so reproduced as to show 
clearly the features intended to be seen. RLS 
Trimen’s Flora of Ceylon.' — Seven years ago, Professor Trimen, 
then director of the Royal Botanic Gardens of Ceylon, began the 
publication of a manual of the plants of that important island, which 
has now been brought to a conclusion in the fifth * part," or volume. 
The author lived to bring out only the first three volumes, and the 
other two have been seen through the press by Sir Joseph Hooker. 
To the concluding volume are appended a key to the orders, genera, 
and aberrant species of Ceylon flowering plants, with diagnostic 
characters of the orders; a chapter on the forests and waste lands of 
Ceylon, by A. F. Broun; a chapter on the distribution of the rain- 
fall in Ceylon, by F. Lewis; a history of Ceylon botany, by G. S. 
Boulger; a table of corrections; and comprehensive indices to the 
entire work. T. 
14 Hand-Book to the Flora of Ceylon. Containing descriptions of all the 
Species of flowering plants indigenous to the island, and notes on their history, 
distribution, and uses. By Henry Trimen. Continued by Sir J. D. Hooker. 
London, Dulau & Co., 1893-1900. 5 vols., 8vo. 
