244 



J^cricws and Book Notices. 



indicate that gradual progress from the most barbaric savage, 

 whose weapons of stone were rudely chipped and neither 

 ground nor polished ; until, as he advanced in intelhgence and 

 skill, we meet with a class of implements which, after being 

 fashioned by chipping, have been ground or. polished at their 

 edges only, and again still further \\\W\ those which are more or 

 less ground or pohshed, not only at the edge, but over the entire 

 surface.' 



A list of his papers, and also of the various honours con- 

 ferred upon and held by Sir John Evans, appear as an appendix 

 to the notes in the ' Geological Magazine.' 



Quite recently the scientific world has had to deplore the 

 loss of far too many of its leaders, and to the list must now be 

 added the name of vSir John Evans. We feel sure that every 

 reader of this journal will join us in extending to Lady Evans 

 and her family our sincere sympathy in a loss which must be 

 even greater to them than to the scientific world. 



T. S. 



The Annual Report of the Public Museums and Meteorological 

 Observatory of Bolton for 1907, gives a resume of the work accompHshed, 

 as well as a list of the additions. The Reports of the Hastings, Norwich, 

 and Taunton Castle Museums are also to hand. 



Plant Biology, by F. Cavers, D.Sc, etc., pp. ix and 460. Chve, 3/6. 



Dr. Cavers is well known to our readers by his excellent studies on 

 liverworts ; the book now under notice is ' prepared to satisfy the require- 

 ments of teachers who prefer modern methods of work.' The title is 

 suggestive of the newer outlook in botany, and the work marks a great 

 advance on the time, not far distant, when elementary text-books were 

 little more than glossaries of morphological terms. The life work of a plant 

 is now taking its proper place, and at the same time morphology, histology 

 and physiology are endowed with a new interest. All the organs, root, 

 leaf, stem, flower, fruit and seed are considered from the point of view 

 of function, the work they do is emphasised rather than the forms they take. 

 Other chapters deal with nutritition, growth and irritability, ecology and 

 biology of plants, as well as the biology of the soil, and four useful appen- 

 dices deal with Greek and Latin roots, botanical terms, natural orders, 

 and hints on practical work. 



The author has tried to avoid writing a cram book, and students in 

 want of a short-cut will find it useless, but to those who wish to know the 

 elements of botany, and will conscientiously work through the numerous 

 (we had almost said too numerous) experiments and observations outlined, 

 will find here an excellently-planned course. Teachers too will find it 

 especially helpful, and by its means be provided with abundant illustrations 

 of the right kind. One or two slips occur which require modification, 

 e.g., on page 235 the statement — ' it follows that the stamens and pistil 

 are not the " female " organs ' is clearly not what the author intends to 

 say. The index is altogether too meagre to be of much use, and some errors 

 occur in the reference numbers, e.g., ' buds 90,' there being no mention of 

 buds on that page. Such points as these, as well as a few apparently 

 hastily-written passages, require emendation, but on the whole the book 

 is a most welcome addition to our elementary text-books on botany. 



Naturalist, 



