THE AMERICAN BOTANIST 
15 
the same values in any group. One thing is certain, however : 
the scientist who gives us the first fundamental laws for distin- 
guishing these species from sub-species and forms, will make a 
lasting impression upon botany and be hailed as a second Darwin. 
In the vicinity of New Orleans, where the thermometer 
rarely registers freezing temperatures, it is a source of unceasing 
interest to me to watch the bahavior of the plants. Were it not for 
an occasional breath from the north sweeping down the Mississippi 
valley and bringing w^ith it a much lower temperature, many spe- 
cies that now are leafless would be green and perchance in 
bloom. The ordinary temperature is warm enough, but succes- 
sive cold days put an end to renewed growth. At the first really 
cold night the lusty castor oil plants — many of them with trunks 
three inches through — wilted like poke- weed. The banana 
''trees" followed suit, and now, shorn of their leaves, stand with 
brown and ungainly stumps, waiting for spring. It gives one a 
curious feeling to see the banana turn deciduous; one would as 
soon expect it of the cocoanut. Certain palms weather the cold 
without protection, and many plants that drop their leaves in the 
North, here retain them. The elder is still holding to some of its 
leaves and no doubt will pull through without losing them all. 
On New Year's day, asters and goldenrods were still showing 
blossoms and the chickw^eed, of course, was in profuse bloom, but 
the woods and fields, for the most part, have a waiting expectant 
look. In the North, with such weather, I would have been sure 
of finding dandelions, but dandelions do not grow in this part of 
the w^orld. Although not snowbound, Nature is nearly as dor- 
mant here as in New England. 
BOOKS AND WRITERS. 
G. Frederick Schw^arz, author of ''Forest Trees and Forest 
Scener}^" is a scientist, but he has brought back from the w'oods 
and imprisoned in this little book some very readable matter about 
our forest trees and the character, distribution and adornment of 
American forests. He has a delightful style, entirely free from 
technical terms, and is particularly felicitous in his descriptions 
