Practical Botany for Beginners

Abstract

THIS excellent little book, written by Prof. Bower in 1894, appears in a second edition after being subjected to careful revision. Mr. Gwynne-Vaughan now shares with Prof. Bower the author's responsibility. The more prominent changes are the adoption of the nomenclature introduced with the stelar conception and a more elaborate description of grosser morphological features. The number of seeds described is increased to eight Dicotyledons and three Monocotyledons, and more than twenty flowers are taken as types of these two groups. The main types remain the same, except that the elm gives place to the lime. Other additions are the stems of Ricinus, Veronica Beccabunga (aquatic Dicotyledon), Elodea Canadensis (aquatic Monocotyledon), and leaves of Ligustrum, Hedera, Deschampsia and Phormium. The paragraphs on reserve and transitory materials have been considerably added to and improved, so that suitable material and the necessary tests are given for demonstrating the presence of starch, proteids and various sugars in the vegetative parts and in seeds. Exception may be taken to certain types chosen—for instance, Marchantia and Fucus—but obviously the general occurrence of these has weighed with the authors in their choice. Passing to methods of manipulation, glycerine and chlor zinc iodine are almost exclusively recommended as mounting media; in several cases, notably Pinus, double staining and mounting in Canada balsam would give better results, while mounting in water avoids undue swelling of the walls of phloem cells such as follows the use of glycerine and Schulze's solution.