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able to the beginner in moss study. It is often more difficult for the novice 
to settle upon the genus than it is to determine the species after the genus is 
found. Whether a specimen is an Anomodon or Leskea, or whether a Bar- 
bula or Tortula, are good examples of this sort of trouble. The expert does 
not see why, of course, but the beginner does, as some of us could testify 
from past experience. It is true that there are scores of American species 
and many genera not found in the work, but the most commonly occurring 
ones are 'described, and the smaller number of prominent forms is a help 
rather than a disadvantage. The only objection to the book is its price, 
which is something over six dollars to American students. 
Greencastle, Indiana. 
Grout, A. J. Mosses w T ith a Hand-Lens, a Non-Technical Handbook of 
the More Common and More Easily Recognized Mosses of the North- 
eastern United States. Second Edition, Revised, Enlarged and Includ- 
ing the Hepatics. 8vo. pp, xvi -j- 208, 151 figures in text. Published by 
the author and by the O. T. Louis Company, New York City. 
The first edition of this book was reviewed by Dr. Best (Bryologist, 
4:28. 1901), who described its purpose and general character. The call for 
a second edition within so short a time shows clearly that there is a demand 
for a work of this nature, and that the first edition has been of distinct ser- 
vice to students beginning the study of bryology. . The second edition fol- 
lows the same general plan as the first, but there are a number of noteworthy 
additions, In the first place, about fifty species of mosses, not included in 
the first edition, are described and figured. In the second place, certain 
characters are made use of which can be discerned with the hand-lens by 
making preparations on glass slides, similar to those required for the com- 
pound microscope. In this way the features of the leaf-margin, the length 
of the costa, certain peristome characters, the position of the reproductive 
organs, and even the general peculiarities of the leaf-cells are consistently 
included in some of the descriptions. 
The most important addition, however, is found in the portion of the 
work devoted to the Hepaticae, which are treated in the same way as the 
mosses. As there is no other popular work dealing with our American liver- 
worts, the present chapters will be especially welcome. Fifty-four species, 
representing forty genera, are described and the majority of these species 
are figured. With the exception of Fossombronia, Marsupella and Diplo- 
phylleia, all of our more common genera are included. The author empha- 
sizes the fact that many of our hepatics can be identified, even when sterile, 
by characters derived from the purely vegetative organs. To a great extent 
this is true, but a satisfactory knowledge of a genus or species can of course 
be secured only by the study of fruiting specimens. It is to be hoped that 
Dr. Grout’s book will arouse interest in the hepatics, as it has already done 
in the mosses, and that collectors will devote more attention to these neg- 
lected plants. Even in the East our knowledge of the distribution of com- 
mon species is still far from complete. Alexander W. Evans, 
New Haven, Conn. 
