316 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



REVIEWS OF BOOKS. 



"Practical Botany for Beginners." By F. 0. Bower and D. T. 

 Gwynne-Vaughan. 8vo., 307 pp. (Macmillan, London.) 3s. 6d. 



" This little book contains, in an abridged form, the elementary and 

 more essential parts of the text of the larger Course of Practical Instruc 

 Hon in Botany." It is an admirable epitome of laboratory work ; but 

 the young student must not think he is a botanist when he has worked it 

 throughout. He should have gone through a course in morphology 

 before approaching this work. Then using his knowledge of external and 

 internal structure, he must see how both are utilised by the living plants 

 in nature. In other words he must study plants ecologically. 



"First Lessons in Practical Botany." By C. T. Bettany. 8vo., 

 103 pp. (Macmillan, London.) Is. 



The title is scarcely a correct one. It is a useful little book on 

 nomenclature, to assist pupils in describing entire plants. At the end 

 are de&nitions of the principal orders. " Descriptions should be written 

 out twice a week during two years of the school course. If this work is 

 faithfully done, students gain a power over their language, as well as over 

 their faculties of observation, which is far beyond even the gain in their 

 knowledge of botany." We quite agree with the author, and believe the 

 wish of some teachers to abandon plant descriptions to be a grave mistake. 



"First Stage Botany." By A. J. Ewart, D.Sc. 8vo., 320 pp. (Clive, 

 London.) 2s. 



This little book is designed for the elementary stage of the Board of 

 Education. Morphological structure, and less anatomy than in other 

 books of the same description, are features in accordance with the design 

 of this book. It is a good book of its kind ; but we hope in the future 

 editions more prominence will be given to ecology, or the adaptations of 

 structure to the plant's own requirements as studied in the field. 



" Botany for Beginners." By E. Evans. 8vo., 300 pp. (Macmillan, 

 London.) 2s. Gd. 



This is not the only book on botany written to meet the requirements 

 of the Board of Education. It consists of the usual combination of 

 morphology, anatomy, and elementary physiology, and is very well done. 

 It is hoped that ecology and the adaptations of plants to their environ- 

 ments will be allowed more prominence in future editions. 



"Wild Flowers of the British Isles." Illustrated and written by 

 H. Isabel Adams, F.L.S. ; revised by Jas. E. Bagnell, A.L.S. Ito., 108 pp., 

 2 ( J plates. (Heinemann, London.) 30s. net. 



This large volume contains 29 families only, out of 89 of British 

 flowering plants, terminating with Compositac ; so that it can only be 

 called an "incomplete flora." The descriptions of the species are in as 



