The American Naturalist. [November, 
In the notice of Curtis's 
;viewer says : "We quite 
like to see the popular names put foremost, but would suggest that the 
botanist who does this should lead as well as follow the indigenous 
nomenclature so far as to correct absurd and incongruous local names, 
and introduce right and fitting ones as far as practicable ; ' ' and, in 
referring to the popular character of the book, "We are well aware 
how much easier it is, and how much better in such cases, to fit your 
book to its proper readers than to fit the readers to it." 
The Essays of the second volume, fourteen in number, make us wish 
that more had been selected for publication. Here we have : " Notes 
on a Botanical Excursion to the Mountains of North Carolina," "The 
Longevity of Trees," "Do Varieties Wear Out, or Tend to Wear 
Out?" "A Pilgrimage to Torreya," " Characteristics of the North 
American Flora," etc., etc., all of which are full of interest. 
The biographical sketches constitute in their present form an impor- 
tant contribution to the history of botany during the paesent century. — 
Charles E. Bessey. 
