BOOK EEVIEWS. 



195 



development of the ovules may lead us to suspect a hybrid origin, and 

 there is much work for the hybridist in the endeavour to obtain existing 

 forms by hybridization of known varieties. 



Major Wolley Dod fears it will be felt he has done " nothing original 

 and has left the genus in confusion. ' ' We cannot agree. His work is 

 so 'thorough and his criticism so good that it cannot help affording the 

 greatest assistance to future workers, and if, as we agree, there are large 

 fields .left to conquer, we look forward to a revised edition later on, 

 when he will take up the questions he has perforce left unsettled. 



It would be a great help to students if the new edition, when it 

 comes, could be accompanied by a few photographs and diagrams 

 illustrating the differences of habit, serratures . of the leaves, and other 

 important and typical organs of the British roses. 



"Methods of Plant Histology." By C. J. Chamberlain, A.M., 

 Ph.D. Ed. 2, 8vo. x. + 262 pp. (University Press, Chicago, 

 1905.) 9s. net. 



This little book is a fit companion for the serious student of botanical 

 histology. It deals with the necessary apparatus, reagents for killing 

 and fixing, and for staining. Staining methods are fully described, 

 and the action of differential stains is dealt with. The making of tem- 

 porary mounts and of microchemical tests occupies a chapter. Then 

 follows a full description of methods of section-cutting, embedding, 

 and section-mounting. 



Following the chapters on general technique special types are 

 bhosen, and the best methods of studying them are described. 

 - : We can confidently recommend this book as a very handy laboratory 

 companion. 



' ".Flowers of the Field." By the Eey. C. A. Johns, B.A., F.L.S. 

 Edited by Professor G. S. Boulger, F.L.S. Ed. 33, 8vo. 1. + 611 pp. 

 (S.P.C.K., London, 1911.) 7s. 6d. 



When a book has attained to the dignity of a thirty-third edition, 

 and has been before the public for fifty-eight yenrs, little need be said 

 in its favour. Not a few who now take more than a dilettante interest 

 in the British flora, and among them the editor of the present edition, 

 and the writer of this notice, gained their first acquaintance with the 

 " flowers of the field " under the guidance of this book, and as years 

 have passed its value has been enhanced by revision and additions 

 and so on, so that it has more than held its own among its numerous 

 competitors. The present edition is a still further improvement upon 

 its predecessors, and the editor has taken the opportunity of revising 

 the nomenclature in view of the Vienna Laws, and one may express 

 the hope and belief that except in a few instances the names here given 

 Represent something much nearer finality than is the case in any other 

 popular book. It is a complete flora, too, and includes the latest dis- 

 coveries among British plants, such as Luzula pallescens, &c. This 

 edition, like the last, has a number of excellent coloured illustrations. 



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