The True Grasses

Abstract

THIS appears to be a very good translation of a work which does not materially differ from Bentham and Hooker's “Genera Plantarum,” except that the diagnoses are much briefer, though, on the other hand, they are supplemented by some figures which, by the way, are printed much too black. What part Effie Southworth took in the translation is not apparent, for the preface is signed by F. Lamson-Scribner, dating from the university of Tennessee, without any mention of the former. In fact, the book was first published in America. It is important to state that some botanical knowledge is necessary to enable a person to use the book, and also that, with the exception of the cereals and a few others only the general are dealt with. Of these there are upwards of 300, and a rough estimate of the total number of species in the world puts them at 3000. Prof. Hackel is a well-known and accepted authority on this difficult family, so that the translation will be welcome to those botanists who are not familiar with either Latin or German. The introductory chapter on the structure, morphology and physiology of grasses enhances the value of this little book.

The True Grasses.

By Eduard Hackel. Translated from “Die Natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien” by F. Lamson-Scribner and Effie A. Southworth. Pp. 228. 8vo, with 110 illustrations in the text. (Westminster: Archibald Constable and Co., 1896.)