Studies in Biology for New Zealand Students

Abstract

THIS is a detailed study of the coarse and minute anatomy of a very familiar and widely-diffused weed. A native originally of the palæarctic region, it has now found its way to all temperate climates. It has certainly received at Prof. Hutton's hands, in the Antipodes, a more systematic investigation than ever fell to its lot in Europe. The treatment is much the same as that given to the bean (Faba vulgaris) in Huxley and Martin's “Elementary Biology,” though with a more botanical bias. The weakest part is the treatment of the root, where nothing is said about the mode of origin of branches. An earlier stage should have been taken, showing the arrangement of the fibro-vascular tissues before they had coalesced into a central cylinder. This however is simply by way of criticism. The method of treatment is excellent, and the Canterbury students are fortunate in being in the hands of a teacher who has such a thorough appreciation of the biological method as applied to botany.