Botany Primer. By Dr. .T. D. Hooker. (Macmillan and Co.)—
This is certainly the most difficult of all the primers for school children to undertake. Although in method and matter it leaves nothing to be desired, as might have been expected from such an authority, yet the large number of technical terms, persistently used throughout the book, shows either that it is intended for a higher class of learners than the rest, or else Dr. Hooker does not possess the faculty of writing for children in the same degree as Professors Roscoe or Geikie. The greater part of the work treats of structural botany and is intended to be practical, the specimens to be examined during the lessons are easily procurable, and the only instruments required are a pocket-lens, a sharp pen-knife, and a pair of forceps. The suggestion of a school-garden arranged for botanical purposes is excellent, but we fear there are few teachers who would devote their culinary plot to the scientific advance- ment of their scholars. In one chapter, the author has treated the question of origin of species in the happiest manner, summing up the whole in ceven short and easily understood propositions.
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