906 THE AMERICAN NATURALIST. [VoL. XXXIII. 
as a little friction or a pinch will bring the blood to the cheek and 
cause a rosy tint.” Even the lay reader will find little difficulty in 
judging of the value of the analogy between the development of pig- 
ment in cells of petals and the response of human arteries to stimu- 
lation transmitted from the central nervous system. 
It is hardly worth while to multiply instances of inaccurate and 
fanciful reasoning like the case just cited. Evidently Mr. Hervey 
is not versed in modern systematic botany or he would not say, “ The 
Ranuncylacez are placed first in order in our floras, we imagine for 
the reason that the flowers of this family are very simple in construc- 
tion.” If he is acquainted with the histology of the sepals and petals 
which he is discussing as regards their coloration, the fact does not 
appear in his pages. In short, he is not sufficiently equipped suc- 
cessfully to attack the very difficult problem of the nature and gene- 
sis of the colors of floral organs. If his labors should prove to be 
of use to the scientific investigator, it will be by his having collected 
and tabulated a considerable number of facts in regard to the distri- 
bution of color in flowers and the sequence of tints where there are 
progressive changes of coloration. Joseru Y. BERGEN. 
The Teaching Botanist.‘— To those who have kept in touch 
with the changing conditions of secondary education during the last 
decade, it has become most apparent that there has been a steadily 
growing demand that greater consideration should be given to the 
natural sciences. Very possibly the numerous summer schools main- 
tained by the various colleges have served to cultivate and strengthen 
this tendency, if they were not directly responsible for it in the first 
instance; and the large number of teachers who annually take the 
time set apart for a much-needed rest to qualify themselves further 
in some special subject affords ample evidence, not only of the 
gathering force of the demand, but also of the seriousness of pur- 
pose which underlies it. In no subject has this movement gained 
greater headway than botany, and if evidence of this fact were needed, 
it might be found in the numerous text-books and laboratory guides 
which have appeared within recent years, all directed toward supply- 
ing working force to the teacher who is not a specialist, and who is 
usually compelled to divide his or her time among several subjects. 
It has long been felt that some unification of method would be in 
1 The Teaching Botanist, a manual of information upon botanical instruction, 
together with outlines and directions for a comprehensive elementary course, by 
W. F. Ganong, Ph.D. New York, The Macmillan Company, 1899. 270 pp. 
