Recent Text-books 
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neglects this preliminary consideration he is very likely to succeed only in 
presenting a large number of more or less disconnected phenomena of plant 
life, which will tend to bewilder the mind of the reader. In an extensive work 
of reference such a method of treatment is perhaps justified, but in a book 
intended to be read it is fatal. In such a book the writer should set out to tell 
a connected story, and while the theme of this story is the same, its treatment 
must depend on the attitude of the writer towards plant life. From this 
point of view it is clear that we may have several different treatments, according 
as the story of plants is approached from the side, for example, of the detailed 
evolution of the plant world, of the physical and chemical forces at work in 
determining their form, structure and activities, of their relations to the actual 
places they occupy on the surface of the earth, or of their relations to the life 
of man. These aspects may of course be combined in various ways or each may 
serve successively as the theme of a separate section. If a choice has to be 
made between them we must prefer the second as the most fundamental, and 
after that the third and fourth. The first was dominant 20 or 30 years ago, 
when the tremendous stimulus to the comparative study of plant form from 
the standpoint of detailed evolution given by the general acceptance of the 
reality of the process of evolution was still fresh. Though it will always retain 
its interest and its vivid appeal to the imagination it must suffer from the 
drawback that while our knowledge of the actual causation of the variety 
of organic forms remains so meagre, we lack the material for a real causal 
treatment of the subject and tend to fall back upon teleological interpretations 
which are often false and always sterile. 
The more fertile modes of approach are those mainly adopted in the books 
before us. Of these the work of Professor Fritch and Dr Salisbury must be 
taken in conjunction with their earlier volume, first published in 1914 and now 
in its fourth edition—sufficient proof of its success and popularity —An Intro¬ 
duction to the Study of Plants (Bell, 7 s. 6 d.). That book is an admirably clear 
observational and experimental introduction to botany, involving no use of 
the microscope and thus suitable for schools. The volume under review is 
intended for first year students of botany at the universities. It is divided into 
two parts, the first dealing with the anatomy of the seed plants and the 
second with the life-histories of the lower groups. The type method is abandoned, 
as in most of the recent books, for the sake of a more general description of the 
various groups, what are regarded as inessential details, which, according to 
the authors, have “little educational value or significance,” being omitted. 
“Such physiology” is introduced “as is more appropriately considered in 
relation to microscopic structure.” “Features, whether of plant-anatomy or 
plant-chemistry, which are of commercial importance are emphasised through¬ 
out, and it is hoped that this may serve to combat the frequent ignorance of 
botanical students with respect to the economic aspects of their subject.” 
A large proportion of the illustrations are original and they are mainly taken 
from British or commonly cultivated plants. They are clear, well drawn and 
well reproduced, and demonstrate the authors’ extensive first-hand acquaint¬ 
ance with the structural features of plants, and the careful thoroughness 
which they have put into the selection. The book is well written and very 
readable. For what it professes to be it would be difficult to improve upon, 
and it should be exceedingly useful to students, who will gain from its study 
