No. 407. REVIEWS OF RECENT LITERATURE. O 
995 
Secretion of the Gila Monster (Heloderma suspectum)," by J. Van 
Denburgh and O. B. Wight; “A Study of the Effects of Complete 
Removal of the Mammary Glands in Relationship to Lactose Forma- 
tion,” by B. Moore and W. H. Parker; and * Brief Contributions to 
. Physiological Chemistry," communicated by L. B. Mendel. 
BOTANY. 
books two 
more or less conflicting tendencies come to the surface — that to 
reasonable completeness and symmetry of treatment, and that to due 
brevity. Nearly every general text-book of the past decade or more, 
if it has met with favor, has appeared shortly in an abridged form. 
The latest of these abbreviated books are Atkinson’s Zessozs,! Barnes's 
Outlines, and Coulter's Plant Studies ;? and each represents virtually 
a one-term text-book based on the earlier full-year books by the same 
authors. In the main, the characteristics of the latter pertain to 
them in their shorter form. Each author approaches his subject ` 
from his own point of view, and what has been said in earlier num- 
bers of the JVazura/is? about the fuller books need not be repeated 
here for the abbreviated editions. A pamphlet of suggestions to 
teachers, by Dr. Caldwell, accompanies Part II of the fuller edition 
of Coulter, — Plant Structures, — and, while it is not above criticism, 
is likely to assist even the trained teacher in many small ways. p, 
Nicholson's Dictionary of Gardening.* — Simultaneously with the 
appearance of Professor Bailey’s Cyclopedia of American Horticulture, 
of which two volumes have already been noticed in the Naturalist, 
comes a supplement to its great predecessor, Nicholson's Dictionary, 
which a competent authority characterized in its day as the best refer- 
ence book within reach of the gardener and fruit-grower, and a model 
1 Atkinson, G. F. Zessons in Botany. New York, Henry Holt & Co., 1900. 
2 Barnes, C. R. Outlines of Plant Life, with Special Reference to Form and 
Romano New York, Henry Holt & Co., 1900. 
3 Coulter, J. M. Plant Studies. An Elementary Botany. New York, 
D. Pics & Co., 
* Nicholson, G. The 1900 " Supplement to the Dictionary of Gardening, a 
practical and scientific ee of horticulture for gardeners and botanists. 
Hyde Park, Mass., Geo. T. King, 1900. A to F. 4to, pp. viii + 376, ff., 385, with 
several colored plates. ‘Price $5.00. 
