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In ‘Nature and Work of Plants’ (Macmillan) Dr. MacDougal approaches the subject of botany by a study of the functions of the plant, of the things which it must do to live and adapt itself to its surroundings. Such an introduction to the subject from the physiological point of view is a radical innovation in the matter of elementary texts. A second departure from the practice of current texts is the omission of illustrations, in order that the attention of the student may not be distracted from the plant at work by a picture of something it has done. The technique is simple and the book seems well-fitted to awaken enthusiastic interest and lead the student further into the subject. Chapters are devoted to such subjects as: composition and purposes of plants, the manner in which the different kinds of work are divided among the members of the body, the way in which new plants arise, and the relations of plants to each other.
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Miss Alice Lounsberry’s ‘Guide to the Trees’ (Stokes & Co.) is an example of a type of popular books in botany indispensable to the amateur, and of great value to the working botanist. Nearly two hundred species, including shrubs, have been described. “Among them are all those most prominent in northeastern America, and a few distinctive or rare species from the South and West. Several also that are not indigenous but which have become identified with the tree life of this country are presented.” The author has grouped forms of similar habit together in such manner that sections are devoted to: Trees preferring to grow in moist soil, lowlands and meadows; trees preferring to grow near water, in swamps, and running streams; trees preferring to grow in rich soil, in forests and thickets, and trees preferring to grow in light, dry soil and upland places. The general notes of information appended to the technical descriptions add much to the reading value of the book, which is beautifully illustrated by sixty-four colored plates, after paintings by Mrs. Rowan, and a hundred sketches in black and white.
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The amount of interest centered in the preservation of the forests of the national domain, and the establishment of forestry in the courses of several educational institutions, makes Mr. Bruncken’s ‘North American Forests and Forestry’ (Putnam & Sons) most timely. The author discusses the sociological aspects of forestry, and the distribution of forests in North America. It is of interest to note that the forest is treated as a living plant formation subject to many vicissitudes in the struggle for existence with neighboring societies of plants, particularly with the bog and prairie. The fate of the forest in front of the advancing pioneer is well delineated, and forest finance management and protection are most sensibly considered. Perhaps no other work offers the citizen such a rational presentation of all aspects of the numerous questions involved in forestry as the one under discussion.
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Sachs’s ‘Physiology of Plants’ has long been a classic among botanists because of the immense amount of new results which were brought out in its pages, marking the dawn of a new epoch in the history of botanical investigation. A large share of its conclusions have become invalidated by the general advance of the subject, however, and the next most notable work, Pfeffer’s ‘Plant Physiology,’ is one which is bound to exert even a more lasting influence in the guidance and furtherance of research. The first volume issued, dealing with the metabolism and sources of energy in plants, is cyclopedic in its completeness of review of investigations in this phase of the physiology without cumbering its bibliographical lists with titles of unimportant papers. In general, subjects yet under controversy are set forth with judicial fairness, and the author has made himself familiar with the work of Russian, English and American botanists in a manner not practiced by some of his contemporaries. The translation of this work by Dr. Ewart (Clarendon Press) has given opportunity for the correction of any slight omissions in the bibliography, and the completed book must be regarded as of the greatest value not only to the botanist but to the animal physiologist who would cover the domain of that illusive subject known as “general physiology.”
ANTHROPOLOGY.
Probably the most striking sign of the increasing interest in the study of primitive man is the organization of well-equipped expeditions for the investigation of prehistoric remains and particular groups of existing savages. Of the latter class, the Cambridge expedition to Torres Straits, under the leadership of Professor A. C. Haddon, has returned to England, and various preliminary reports of the results of its work have already appeared. A new departure in the scheme of work of this expedition was the introduction of psychological observations under experimental conditions among the natives. The tests which were made were necessarily simple, but covered a fairly wide field. They included tests of visual acuteness, color vision and color blindness, acuteness and range of hearing, appreciation of tones and differences of rhythm, tactile acuteness and localization, estimation of weights, simple reaction-times to visual and auditory stimuli, estimation of intervals of time, memory and a number of tests of a more general character.