Lounsberry. 
one hundred black-and-white plates, and 
fifty-four diagrams, by Mrs. Ellis Rowan. 
Frederick A. Stokes Co. Pp. 347. 
On page 65, the keynote of the text of 
this volume is clearly struck: ‘It sometimes 
Seems that we hardly know what to say about 
a flower.’’ Let us see how true this is. On 
_ page 38, of Arrow-head it is said: “It hard- 
ly seems possible that these little under 
flowers would ever have the courage to call 
out boldly, ‘Joseph, thou art keeping the 
sunshine from falling upon my _ head.’” | 
Again, page 120: “The Jewel-weed and a 
bright, running stream have come to be 
about as closely associated in the mind as 
the dear old white horse and the red-haired 
girl.” Once more, page 128: 
Something preliminary is. almost neces- 
Sary before venturing to speak of the Frin- 
ged Gentian, and even then it should be done 
with bated breath, for is it not the flower 
that has inspired poets and statesmen to i 
Such an extent that they have barely been 
able to write soberly about it? And, truly, 
it is a heavenly flower. But to those that 
are a bit worldly, and have not the poetical 
soul, it must always suggest that it has been 
gowned by nature’s Worth; it is so chaus- 
sée @ ravir. The beautiful fringe is but the } 
latest conceit of fashion; and the soft green” 
of its calyx, blending with its incompat? 
blue, is an example of the most ravishing | 
taste. If we could indulge in syeh levity,. 
would almost look up its sl®eye 
de combat. 
We never knew before where to look f 
hors de combat. 
Fringed Gentian and note: “It is fond of 
Wandering, too, and though we mark the spot 
| Where it grows, we may seek in vain for it 
{in the same place the next year. This 
| characteristic, however, it owes to being a 
biennial.” In an excellent work, largely 
due to the botanist who has prepared an in- 
- ‘troduction tothis ‘Guide to the Wild Flowers,’ 
_)we read that the Fringed Gentian is an 
annual. And so it is. 
It is, however, as a guide that the volume 
should be judged. On page 69, we are told 
(this of the Rose Mallow: ‘Although at a 
freat distance the large flowers of our plant 
can be seen, it is often difficult of approach. 
Positive terror seizes hold of the timorous, 
and their ardor for it is often tossed in the 
balance with the fear of snakes.’”’ Page 164 
gives us an idea that the guidance is not 
confined to our own country, for we there 
read: ; 
Let us keep on with fire] 
The sweetest sight that 
show to the unsteady trave 
sea is the rhodedandronee the 
so luxuriously [sic]. A 
sure to inform the first person 
comes in contact that they are 
country, America. 
Although the “unsteady,” iw the 1 
ing, suggests more snakes, it perh: 
right, and may account for the failu 
traveller to discriminate between wr 1 
layan and other rhododendrons ich 
him in Liverpool. The American Oatatw 
is there with its offspring, but it 1 
fair to claim all the Liverpool : 
drons as springing from this and = 
species Rhododendron mawvimum, ; 
But enough has been quoted to. 
, the disappointment which one feels | 
| emptiness of the text. The authoress b 
facile pen, and could well employ it in 
| society columns of a smart Sunday 
but it has not been put to a good ot 
these attempts to construct a serious - u 
In fact, the reader feels that she m 
the time be making fun of the matter, @ 
“may be wondering how much such trash ¢ 
tiently read by the students of Or 
and Gibson. We can 
writers putting forth su 
following concerniz 
" The Ash. “iso matures long before ¢ he 
taal . “These facts would favor the thec a : 
6a ts peing visited by insects. On the oth é 
, we have to remember that insects I 
hot the indomitable courage of the kur k 
cabbage, and do not venture out at so rly | 
a season of the year. Flies abound the 
| warm days of spring, so perhaps they 
others of which we know nothing are 
aap 
| secret ambassadors. | Sa 
The sharp line of demarcation be 
flies and insects would never have occurred | 
' to Gibson, or, in fact, to any other Am 
can. But is the authoress American? ba 
page 104, we find the following, in regard t 
Monkshood (Aconitum): ‘Our own Indians 
call it ativisha.”” By a curious coincidence, 
which is commended to the attention of € 
nologists, the natives of the East Indies & 
said by Mr. Watt and Mr. Dymock. to | 
Aconitum heterophyllum by the name ¢ 
or ativish. The question arises whet 
“Indians” referred to by the authore 
“our own Indians.” 

