318 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



" The object of this -work," writes Sir D. Brandis in the Introduction, 

 " is restricted, and is entirely practical. It is intended for foresters and 

 others who may wish to make themselves acquainted with the immense 

 variety of trees, shrubs, climbers, bamboos, and palms in the British 

 Indian Empire," 



" Lessons in Elementary Biology." By T. J. Parker, D.Sc, 

 F.R.S. Hvo., 503 pp. 127 illustrations: (Macmillan, London.) 10s. Gd. 



Contrary to Huxley's view that a student should begin with 

 vertebrates, the author adopts the plan of taking the lower forms of life, 

 on the ground that it has " the advantage of logical treatment of 

 proceeding from the simple to the complex." Theoretically this may be 

 true, but it places difficulties before a beginner, w T hich he is not prepared 

 for in " the new and strange region of microscopic life," as Huxley 

 says. This is equally applicable to botany. Balfour's " Text Book " of 

 the middle of last century began with tissues and, as we know, had the 

 effect of repelling and not attracting beginners. Henfrey was the first to 

 reverse the order in his "Elementary Text Book," still one of the best. 

 The present author evidently prefers zoology, occupying 399 pages, 

 only seventy-seven being devoted to botany ; and of this, forty-seven are 

 given up to cryptogams, a single chapter (the last) being ali that is 

 devoted to Monocotyledons and Dicotyledons, which in our opinion 

 should come first. For advanced students the bock is excellent, but for 

 beginners long experience has convinced us that Huxley and Henfrey 

 were right, 



" The Teaching Botanist. A Manual of Information upon Botanical 

 Instruction ; together with Outlines and Directions for a Comprehensive 

 Elementary Course." By W. F. Ganong. Hvo., pp. 270. , (Macmillan, 

 New York and London.) 5s. 



This is a valuable book for all concerned in teaching botany in 

 schools and colleges. The following are some of the subjects dealt with. 

 Part I. — Essays on Botanical Pedagogics. These contain : — 1. The 

 Place of the Sciences in Education and of Botany. 2. What Botany is 

 of most worth? 3. On things essential to good Botanical Teaching. 

 4-8. On Drawing and Descriptions, Laboratories, Collections, Books, and 

 Common Errors. Part II. — Outline of an Elementary Course, &C. 



An important feature lies in the author's insisting upon the ecological 

 aspect of botanical teaching. Thus, he rightly urges that " topics of 

 ecology should accompany the study of the structures best explained by 

 them." Again, alluding to the natural tendency of students to ask " why," 

 ho adds, " For the cultivation of this instinct of causation anatomy and 

 morphology should, from the first, be viewed in the light of the factors 

 determining them ; that is, they should be approached through physiology 

 and ecology." So, in giving in detail a lesson on shoots and roots, he 

 describes it as "The Ecology of Shoot and Boot." It is this important 

 aspect of botanical teaching in which our English text-books are so 

 deficient. The method of describing entire plants, which has long 

 prevailed in England, does not seem to have been adopted in America to 

 ao great an extent 



