40 
The Ohio Naturalist. 
[Vol.X, No. 2, 
A NEW LABORATORY GUIDE FOR HIGH SCHOOL BOTANY. 
Under the title, “Laboratory Botany for the High School,’’ 
Prof. Willard N. Clute has published, through Ginn & Company, 
a little volume that will be an important addition to the text- 
books intended for secondary schools. The author is a high 
school teacher as well as a practical botanist and the book before 
us shows that it is the outcome of a course adapted to the age 
and capacity of the students for which it is intended. 
The one essential to a good high school course is that it should 
not ape the general course given to more mature students in the 
college. The high school has a field of its own. 
“Laboratory Botany” can be used for a half year or a year 
course. The work is so arranged that a greater or less amount of 
an exercise can be taken without difficulty. The language is 
simple, which makes it easy for the student to concentrate atten- 
tion on the necessary scientific terms. There are review ques- 
tions and suggestions to the teacher that are very opportune. 
The definitions at the end of each chapter are perhaps one of the 
best features of the book. It is just such convenient lists that the 
beginner needs to consult. 
The work begins with simple exercises on the living cell and is 
followed in order by chapters on seeds, roots, buds, stems, 
leaves, flowers, and fruits and seeds. The first part ends with a 
study of trees and the ecology of the flower. The first part will 
make a good half year course for the spring semester, although 
the author shows that it can easily be given in the fall if one has 
access to a greenhouse. 
The second part deals with the spore plants, beginning with 
the blue-green algae and ending with the angiosperms. The 
more important structures are considered and emphasis is laid 
on the relationship and classification of the various groups. 
This work can be given either in the fall or spring but to the 
mind of the reviewer it would appropriately follow work in the 
spring. 
Finally the book closes with thirty-six experiments in phsviol- 
ogy. These can be scattered through the general work, given 
successively or used for general demonstrations as the teacher 
may desire. 
The course thus outlined is practicable and workable and 
fitted to the mental capacity of the average high school student 
and will give a substantial botanical training both for practical 
life and as a stepping stone to further botanical studies. 
John Id. Schaffner. 
Date of Publication, December 17, 1900. 
