6 JUNE 1868, Page 24

Father Fernie, the Botanist. By James Nicholson. (Porteous : Glasgow.)

—Botany, attractive as it is in practice, is singularly uninteresting in books, and Mr. Nicholson is quite justified in seeking to enliven it by the help of fiction. We cannot think, however, that this fiction should have been a religious biography. The dialogue in the botanical excursions is lively and readable enough, and appears to give a good deal of information. But an index is absolutely necessary to make the book of practical use.