REVIEWS. 
351 
FLOWEKS. 
”E have received two little books intended to aid the student during his 
earlier steps in the practical study of botany. One of these is a 
pamphlet* for the use of beginners, and for teachers in schools, arranged 
somewhat on the same model as a small book by Mr. Henslow, which we 
noticed some time since. The author, Dr. Andrew Wilson, has selected the 
following illustrations of floral structure, — the buttercup, wallflower, prim- 
rose, apple, dead nettle, tulip, daffodil, iris, pea, and daisy ; and his explana- 
tion of the structure of these, and of the mode in which it may be investi- 
gated, is exceedingly simple and clear. In a concluding section he notices 
the conditions which modify flowers, and gives examples of schedules for 
filling up with the characters of those examined by the student, followed by 
a brief lesson on the general physiology of the plant, which contains a great 
amount of useful information in a very small space. 
The second book f is of a more ambitious character, and is intended for 
the behoof of more advanced students. It consists essentially of a series of 
analytical tables of the natural order and genera of British flowering plants 
and ferns, arranged on a peculiar principle : — The left hand page in each 
opening contains a table of symbols indicating the floral character, and those 
of the leaves and fruit, with the name of the order or genus thus illustrated ; 
on the opposite page we find brief characters of the respective groups, with 
the English name of the type form. These tables are preceded by a short 
glossary of terms, and followed by a table showing the numerical strength of 
the different natural orders in the British flora, and by a catalogue of the 
species of British plants. 
It is a somewhat curious experience to be set to read the characters of 
plants by means of a system of picture-writing, and in examining the book 
one feels at first a little puzzled to know what some of the symbols mean ; 
but on further examination the rough places become smooth, and we have 
no doubt that Mr. Messer’s book will prove a considerable boon to young 
students of botany. Of course the figures are all purely diagrammatic : but 
the book is very nicely printed and got up. 
T HIS is, for the most part, a carefully edited print of the note-book of a 
teacher of mathematics. Its leading idea is undoubtedly that of a repeti- 
* Introduction to the Study of Flowers, being Practical Exercises in 
Elementary Botany. By Andrew Wilson, Ph. D., F.B.S.E. 12mo. Chambers : 
London and Edinburgh, 1880. 
f A New and Easy Method of Studying British Wild Floicers ; Being a 
Complete Series of Illustrations of their Natural Orders and Genera, ana- 
lytically arranged. By Frederic Messer. 8vo. London : David Bogue. 1880. 
X A Synopsis of Elementary Besults in Pure and Applied Mathematics. 
By G. S. Carr, B.A. London: C. F. Hodson & Son. Vol. I. part i. (xxiv. 
and 256). 
PUBE AND APPLIED MATHEMATICS.^ 
tion book for ‘ cramming,’ and it seems to us that it is not only well adapted 
