144 Recent Literature. [ February, 
have half a dozen or more, each giving valuable and needed help 
to the young investigator. The latest of these manuals is the 
one now before us. 
The book, we are told in the preface, is the outgrowth of work 
done in the Normal School of Science at South Kensington, dur- 
ing several years under Mr. Dyer, and afterwards to the present 
under Mr. Bower. Originating in this way, the book is not open 
to the objection of impracticability which so frequently may be 
brought against works of this kind, and the beginner may 
take it up with confidence that he is not asked to undertake that 
which for him is still impossible. A book which has grown into 
being is always helpful, and this will prove no exception to the 
rule. 
There are in the beginning of the book a couple of introduc- 
tory chapters in which are discussed briefly, and yet satisfactorily, 
the making of preparations—micro-chemical reagents, the general 
structure of the cell, the micro-chemistry and the micro-physics 
of the cell. Altogether, fifty-three pages are given to the fore- 
going topics. 
In the succeeding pages are taken up first the Phanerogams 
and afterwards the Pteridophytes. The sunflower (Helianthus 
annuus) is taken very properly as the representative of the herba- 
ceous, dicotyledonous angiosperms. This is followed by a study 
of the arboreal type represented by the elm (Ulmus campestris). 
The monocotyledons are principally represented by Indian corn 
(Zea mais). Inthe Gymnosperms the Scotch pine (Pinus sylves- 
tris) is used for study. In each case, stem, leaf, root, flower and 
embryo are successively taken up and carefully studied. The 
same method is followed in the Pteridophytes, where Selaginella, 
Lycopodium, Aspidium and Equisetum represent the different 
types of structure. 
The general plan of the work is the same as that of Huxley 
and Martin’s well-known book, “ Practical Instruction in Elemen- 
tary Biology,” and the faults of the present work are identical, as 
appear to us, with those of its forerunner, While such books 
‘are very useful, and while they are doubtless doing much to stim- 
ulate better work, we have long been of the opinion that alto- 
gether too much help is given in them to the pupil, and that he 
is not thrown often enough upon his own resources. It is true, 
of course, that in the laboratories of many teachers, books of this 
kind will not be used in such a way as to work to the disadvantage 
of the pupil, but in many other cases—in too many cases—they 
will be. In making these strictures upon the book, we would not 
be understood as criticising the method of study of which it is the 
outgrowth. As to that there can be but one opinion ; but unless 
great care be taken by the teacher and pupil, the results originally 
obtained at South Kensington without the book will not 
secured with it. The book must be used as a general guide, and 
