REVIEWS OF BOOKS. 



317 



simple language as possible ; but instead of giving a brief " description of 

 botanical terms," in which some used (as " dichotomous ") are omitted, 

 it would have been better to have had an index, referring to the page 

 wherein each term is first used and explained. The illustrations are 

 carefully and accurately drawn ; but too many are often crowded on the 

 same plate. The Latin names might have been italicised in the index. 



" The Principles of Horticulture. A Series of Practical Scientific 

 Lessons." By W. M. Webb, F.L.S. 8h inches by 6 inches, 136 pp. 

 (Blackie & Son, London.) 2s. net. 



This is an excellent book for beginners, with good self-explanatory 

 illustrations. It deals with such subjects as A Sample Plant and its 

 Parts ; Internal structure ; Seed and Embryo ; Food of Plants ; Joint 

 Work of Root, Leaves, and Stem ; Formation and Improvement of 

 Soils &c. ; Flowers and Fertilisation ; Fruits ; and many other things 

 which a learner ought to know. 



We note on pp. 17 and 44 no mention of the pericycle, which supplies 

 the " long fibres," and the secondary roots ; while on pp. 40-43 the name 

 is apparently given to the endoderm, the inner boundary of the cortex, 

 the pericycle being the layer within, and in contact with, the endoderm. 

 Some good descriptions and figures of common fungi are added, and a 

 table of fungoid diseases with remedies. 



" Flowers of the Field." By the Rev. C. A. Johns. Revised throughout 

 and edited by C. Elliott. With 92 coloured illustrations by E. N. Gwatkin, 

 and 245 cuts in the text. 8vo., 316 pp. (Routledge, London.) 7s. 6d. net. 



So far from being "revised throughout," the Introduction contains 

 all the old misstatements of the original edition ; such as embryo being 

 regarded as a seed and confounded with the plumule cfec. The editor 

 has struck out several species and the whole of the grasses and sedges. 

 Moreover, he has headed every left-hand page, from 290 to 300, 

 with the word Glumaceae, including nine families not one of which 

 belongs to this group ! The families he persistently miscalls " tribes." 



We observe that he has struck out all the accents — an important help 

 to young botanists not familiar with Latin. With regard to the illustra- 

 tions, the plates, we suppose, are intended to attract, but the value of the 

 original large woodcuts of Johns is not enhanced by greatly reducing 

 their size. 



As the S.P.C.K. has already issued an edition edited by Prof. Boulger, 

 we naturally compared the two ; and, whereas the former is thoroughly 

 up to date and accurate, the present one is most decidedly not so ; and if 

 any young student use it, he will find he has something to unlearn when 

 he becomes an advanced botanist. We cannot recommend this edition. 



" Indian Trees. An Account of Trees, Shrubs, Woody Climbers, 

 Bamboos, and Palms, indigenous or commonly cultivated, in the British 

 Indian Empire." By Sir Dietrich Brandis, K.C.I. E. 8vo., 767 pp. 

 (Constable, London.) 16s. net. 



This most important work gives really complete botanical descriptions 

 of every species, with its Indian distribution or origin in foreign countries. 



