Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
December,  1911.  j 
Book  Reviezi's. 
579 
A  Manual  of  Structural  Botany.  An  Introductory  Text- 
book for  Students  of  Science  and  Pharmacy.  By  Henry  H.  Rusby, 
M.D.,  Professor  of  Materia  Medica  in  the  College  of  Pharmacy  of 
the  City  of  New  York  (Columbia  University)  ;  Pharmacognosist 
of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture ;  Member  of  the 
Committee  for  the  Revision  of  the  United  States  Pharmacopoeia 
since  1890.  Octavo,  248  pages,  with  599  illustrations.  Philadel- 
phia and  New  York:  Lea  &  Febiger,  191 1.    Cloth,  $2.50  net. 
From  the  prefatory  note  we  understand  that  the  present  volume 
is  the  first  of  two  companion  volumes,  the  second  of  which  will  be 
devoted  entirely  to  Commercial  Pharmacognosy.  For  this  reason  the 
book  has  been  designed  as  an  introductory  work  tO'  this  subject, 
as  well  as  to  general  botany.  It  has  been  planned  to  suit  the  needs 
of  students  of  both  general  science  and  pharmacy.  The  elementary 
facts  of  plant-physiology  have  been  considered  in  connection  with 
the  anatomy,  but  the  subjects  of  vegetable  histology  and  of  micro- 
scopical methods  and  technique  are  omitted  from  this  volume,  its 
object  being  to  teach  the  reader  all  that  it  is  possible  for  him  to  do 
in  the  examination  of  drugs  with  the  naked  eye  or  with  the  pocket 
lens.  With  the  exception  of  the  last  25  pages,  this  volume  of  Dr. 
Rusby 's  work  on  Structural  Botany  "  reminds  one  very  much  of 
The  Structural  Botany  or  Organography  on  the  Basis  of  Mor~ 
phology  "  of  Prof.  Asa  Gray,  published  more  than  30  years  ago. 
The  treatment  of  the  subject  is,  however,  quite  different.  Dr.  Rusby 
considering  the  phytomer  or  phyton  as  the  unit  of  structure.  He 
regards  the  flower  as  a  modified  branch.  Nearly  one-half  of  the 
book  is  devoted  to  the  study  of  the  flower,  including:  Anthology,  or 
its  general  nature  ;  the  laws  of  floral  structure;  the  perigone ;  the 
androecium ;  the  gynoecium ;  the  torus  and  disc;  dissection  and 
analysis  of  flowers ;  and  pollination  and  fertilization. 
In  the  remaining  chapters  which  deal  with  the  structure  of 
higher  plants,  we  find  a  rather  detailed  and  elaborate  discussion  of 
carpology  or  the  functions  and  structure  of  the  fruit,  the  seed, 
general  structure  of  roots  and  stems,  extension  and  appendages 
of  the  stem,  the  leaf  and  anthotaxy.  There  is  a  brief  chapter  on 
the  cryptogams,  and  then  follows  a  discussion  upon  botanical  classi- 
fication and  analysis,  botanical  nomenclature  and  the  collection  and 
preservation  of  botanical  specimens. 
Dr.  Rusby  is  well  known  for  his  studies  in  systematic  botany, 
and  as  the  author  of  a  number  of  lengthy  monographs  on  the  Flora 
