420 JOURNAL OF THE EOYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



likely to browse upon them is the camel ; and this has so tough a lining 

 to its mouth that it lives on the " Camel's-thorn " Acacia. So too, cows 

 and sheep will eat holly, and horses chopped furze. 



Such a priori assumptions are survivals of the old false reasoning of 

 our forefathers. Again, the author says that in dissected submerged leaves 

 " the assimilating area is increased " (p. 220) ; but if a leaf blade has the 

 flat parts cut out and only the " skeleton " remaining, it is obvious the area 

 is reduced. Ecology, which always looks for explanations, soon observes 

 that water is the cause ; while experiments verify this by the development 

 of full-sized leaves under water when properly nourished by nutritive salts. 

 Moreover, if a leaf be half in and half out of the water, the lower half only 

 is dissected. 



Fig. 45, 1 a, of Forget-me-not, has long ago been shown to be erroneous ; 

 for the buds appear in pairs, not singly, the inflorescence being a raceme, 

 not a cyme. 



The oft-corrected mistake of Darwin's, that self-fertilization is in- 

 jurious, is still maintained (p. 213); for self-fertilized weeds are by far 

 the most prolific. 



Primula (p. 381) is no exception to the rule of having two coty- 

 ledons. 



Monocotyledons are said to be of "low growth " (p. 381). The author 

 has forgotten palm-trees and many Dracaenas. Climbing palms grow more 

 than 300 feet in length, and bamboos, 100. 



The cotyledon of a monocotyledon is not strictly, but only apparently, 

 " terminal," because the axil is turned to one side, giving only a seemingly 

 lateral source to the plumule. 



The above are some of the more important points which might be 

 corrected with advantage in a second edition ; but the author — a skilled 

 teacher indoors— has not grasped the full significance of Ecology as an 

 outdoor educational weapon. 



''Field and Woodland Plants." By W. S. Furneaux. 8vo., 383 pp. 

 (Longmans, London, 1909.) 6s. net. 



This book is described as " a guide to the study of our wild plants, 

 which, though comparatively free from technical terms, shall be strictly 

 correct and scientific." "A large portion has been allotted to the descrip- 

 tions of plants . . . but not a little has been devoted to an attempt to 

 create an interest in , . . habits." 



Though the author writes " not a little " we should like to have seen a 

 great deal more than there is. The book consists practically of seasonal 

 and local selections of plants, popularly but generally accurately described ; 

 such being doubtless intended, as the author says, as a "guide " or help to 

 beginners, who can compare the living plant with the text. But as a 

 member of the " Outdoor Series," it is quite inappropriate. The author 

 appears to know nothing of Ecology, or the true method of studying 

 plants in the open. He has made some groups as, " Heath, Down, and 

 Moor." Nothing, however, but structural characters is given to each 

 plant : not a word is there as to their general xerophytic features, nor of 

 the causes or advantages of such. The book is thus quite behind the 

 present-day method of studying plants. Though for the most part the 



