— 74 — 



father being one of the founders of the Meadville Theological Seminary. She 

 began her botanical studies in the school of Horticulture in Jamaica Plain, con- 

 tinuing them by special courses under Gray, Goodale, and Farlow. Her activi- 

 ties, however, were not limited to botany alone, but extended to insects and min- 

 erals. On all of these she wrote many short papers, and one considerable article, 

 a monograph upon the habits and life history of the caddis fly. Her careful ob- 

 servation, painstaking notes, and photographs gave her work great value. 



She was a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Sci- 

 ence, and a member of the Council of the Boston Natural History Society. For 

 more than thirty-five years she was the leader of the Botany Group of the New 

 England Women's Club, to which she imparted her own enthusiasm for the study 

 of all plants, giving assistance to all with a characteristic lack of ostentation. 

 Likewise characteristic of her was the financial assistance that she gave to the 

 publication of several papers. Her collections will be divided among the vari- 

 ous societies of which she was a member. 



BOOK REVIEWS 

 How to Know the Mosses 



By Elizabeth Marie Dunham^ 



This is a volume of 287 pages. As is announced on the title page, it is "A 

 popular guide to the mosses of the Northeastern United States." It contains keys 

 to eighty genera, and short descriptions of over one hundred and fifty species, 

 with special reference to the distinguishing characteristics that are apparent with- 

 out the aid of a lens. 



Dr. Grout has written his "Mosses with a Hand Lens" in an effort at enlist- 

 ing a larger number of field botanists with limited equipment for minute exam- 

 ination in the study of these rather ubiquitous denizens of field and woodland. 

 This book by Mrs. Dunham, promises even a little better: it deals entirely with 

 the gross aspect of mosses, as we meet them out of doors, without the aid of a 

 hand lens. 



The nomenclature followed is that of Dr. Brotherus, in Engler & Prantl's 

 Pflanzenfamilien. The list of books used for reference excludes Lesquereux and 

 James' Manual and Barnes' Key to Mosses. 



In her commendable zeal to enlighten nature lovers, the writer, after treating 

 preliminary matters, such as the branching of stems, the shape and disposition 

 of leaves and of capsules, gives even a "Key to distinguish mosses from hepatics 

 and lichens. " 



Pages 41-69 include two keys: first, a leaf key; second, a capsule key, both 

 to genera. The student is from these keys referred by number to the eighty 

 numbered genera, pages 73 to 257, to verify or correct the key determination. 



Certainly these keys have the very excellent feature of emphasizing and 

 calling attention to the mode of occurrence, substratum, and general fieldaspect 

 of the genera of mosses treated in a way that will be helpful even to the mere ex- 



Published by the Hoiishton Mifflin Company, 4 Park Street, Boston, Mass. Price $1.25 net. 



