﻿THE FERN BULLETIN 



95 



student is to see, or of giving general directions for the 

 study of certain subjects, we have here a series of defin- 

 ite questions on the subject to be studied. Even with 

 the best of present manuals, the teacher has been ob- 

 liged to make outlines of his own if he expected his 

 students to go thoroughly into the work, but the 

 questions in this book will relieve the teacher of this 

 task. At the same time the sets of questions are so flex- 

 ible that new questions may be added or others elim- 

 inated at will. Preceding each study there is more or 

 less information for the teacher, telling where to get 

 the materials needed, how to prepare and preserve them 

 and how to present the subject to the pupils. With 

 such a book botany will almost teach itself, leaving the 

 teacher free to assist backward pupils, to set up and 

 take down experiments, etc. The first part follows the 

 usual half year course in botany, beginning with cells 

 and seeds and running on through stems, leaves, 

 flowers, fruits, etc. The second part, which is de- 

 signed to cover the second half year of botany takes- 

 up the "spore plants," beginning with the simplest. 

 Here again may be noticed a departure from the usual, 

 for instead of a series of types to illustrate evolution 

 there is offered a study of evolution illustrated by 

 typical examples. Other unique features of the book 

 are glossaries of different terms following each sec- 

 tion, outlines for the study of floral ecology and a key 

 for outdoor study of trees. A series of thirty-six ex- 

 periments in plant physiology is designed to acquaint 

 the pupil with the main facts relating to this subject 

 by the use of the simplest materials. The book is 

 written by a high school teacher for high school 

 teachers and it is hoped that all live botany teachers 

 will at least investigate its merits and methods. 



