BOOK KEVIEWS. 



297 



To the owner of woodlands or his agent this book should appeal, 

 and we congratulate Mr. Maw on his laborious and well-planned work. 



" A Popular Dictionary of Botanical Names and Terms, with their 

 English Equivalents." By G. F. Zimmer, F.E.H.S. 8vo., vii + 

 122 pp. (Eoutledge, London, 1912.) 2s. Qd. net. 



Many will find this a useful reference book, for it always adds to 

 the interest of a name to know its meaning, and often assists the 

 memory. The trivial or specific names of plants (omitting commemora- 

 tive names) form the great bulk of the list, and as far as we have tested 

 them the meanings are accurate and comprehensive. Perhaps a word 

 of caution may be of service to those who have not greatly studied 

 plant nomenclature. While plant names are often descriptive, their true 

 intention is rather to designate than describe. This being so, we can 

 conscientiously retain those descriptive names which were founded 

 upon an error, which they commemorate and sometimes perpetuate. 

 Scilla peruviana, e.g., has nothing v/hatever to do with Peru, and there 

 are hosts of other similar examples. 



We would suggest to the author that in the next edition he should 

 add to the usefulness of his very useful book by . indicating the pro- 

 nunciation of the names. 



"Deutsche Flora." By H. Oossmann. New ed. 8vo., 448 -f 

 xxix + 148 pp. (Ferdinand Hirt, Breslau, 1911.) Li*nen boards, 

 7.50 M. 



This flora of Germany is also published in two parts, one con- 

 taining the text, the othet the plates, at 4.25 M. and 3.75 M. respec- 

 tively. It is a. light, neatly bound volume, slipping easily into the 

 pocket and therefore convenient for use in the field. The text is in 

 German, and short clear descriptions of the plants occurriug in Germany 

 are given, and for each family and for the larger genera useful " keys " 

 have been arranged. The meaniuig and pronunciation of the names are 

 indicated, and a brief note of the distribution of each species and its 

 habitat completes the description. Two thousand four hundred and 

 thirty-nine species are described, and a liberal view of the German flora 

 is taken, for we find such plants as Eschscholtzia, Weigelia, and many 

 other exotics included. The figures are excellent, clear, and accurate. 

 They include large numbers of native British plants. We can heartily 

 commend it to anyone desiring an elementary flora of Germany. 



" The Life of the Plant. " By Professor C. A. Timiriazeff. Trans- 

 lated from 7th Eussian ed. by Miss Anna Cheremeteff. 8vo., xvi -i- 

 355 pp. (Longmans, Green, London, 1912.) 7s. 6d. net. 



The translator has done her work admirably, and has enabled a first- 

 rate work to become available for the English student who has no 

 : Bussian — and how few have ! 



I The theme of the book is plant physiology, and although the view- 

 ! point of the author is perhaps not quite that of many plant physiologists 



