38 



THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 



descriptions. Nobod}^ but old Professor Dry-as-diist reads 

 them, anyhow, and he is not a subscriber to this magazine. 



^ ^ ^ 



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 comes we make the folloAving- offer : Upon receipt of 75 cents, 

 we will send this magazine for one year, beginning with the 

 next number. This will make five issues for the price of four, 

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BOOKS AND WRITERS 



hat is an individual ? The C|uestion at first glance 

 seems absurd, but after following Julian S. Huxley through 

 his little book "The Individual in the Animal Kingdom" it 

 assumes a new significance. The ordinary individual is easily 

 recognized, but how about such forms as the liver fluke which 

 in its life C3xle has several dift'erent and distinct forms? Is 

 each an individual or part of an individual? Is a sponge an 

 individual or does individuality reside in the separate cells? 

 And if an individual comprises all the protoplasm that is 

 necessary to complete its life C3xle, shall the pronuba moth 

 and the yucca, neither of which can complete its life history 

 without the other, be called two indiA'iduals or one? Lichens, 

 though composed of an alga and a fungus, are surely indi- 

 viduals, but if so, are trusts, or the state, in the same category? 

 The subject is discussed from many angles in the 160 pages of 

 the book mentioned and is likely to form interesting reading 

 for the philosophically inclined. The book is published by 

 G. P. Putnam's Sons. Xew York, at 40 cents, net. 



