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BOTANICAL TEXT-BOOKS
IT is a pretty dull week when some one does
not put out a new botanical text-book intended
for high-schools, colleges and universities, and
not infrequently these consist of 300 to 600
pages each, covering a wide range of topics.
The great diversity of training given in the
colleges of our country and of Europe, makes
it next to impossible for any capable man to
produce a book all sections of which will fit
a large number of teachers. I think we may
well learn a lesson regarding this multiplicity
of books from the teaching of English literature.
Instead of compelling each member of a
class to purchase complete sets of Burke, Pat-
rick Henry, Webster or Clay, select speeches
of these men are printed separately, which are
inspiring and can be used by the students ac-
cording to their different tastes. So here im
botany, why should not some one, by this plan,
prepare a considerable number of pamphlets,
each suited to the needs of some teacher,
which his own judgment will lead him to

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select. It usually discourages a student some-
what to buy a large text-book, one half or one
third of which is used in his classes, and the rest omitted.
W. J. BEAL