standpoint in ethics—not in biology or psychology or any other science, and that, therefore, he has advanced the cause of objective research in this most baffling field. A few books of this character and the present inextricable tangle in ethical theory might be in a fair way toward ravelling up.
BOTANICAL BOOKS.
Dr. D. H. Scott has rewritten a series of lectures given at the University College, London, 1896, and published them under the title of 'Studies in Fossil Botany' (A. & C. Black). This book will be a most useful one to the botanist, since it presupposes no knowledge of paleontology', and discusses only the portions of a subject of major importance to the student of plants. A perusal of this work will impress the reader with the enormous amount of light thrown on the natural affinities of plants by the results of paleobotanical investigations during the last ten or twelve years.
'Elements de paleobotanique' (Carré & Naud), by R. Zeiller, is a comprehensive text-book, in which the entire subject receives a thorough and systematic treatment. The preservation of fossils, classification and nomenclature, systematic examination of the principal types of fossil vegetation, floral succession, climate, etc., are among the principal topics taken up at length. The bibliographic list in the appendix covers eighteen pages and is inclusive of the greater number of important titles.
Professor Percival, of Southeastern Agricultural College, Kent, England, has written a text-book of 'Agricultural Botany' (Duckworth & Co.), which will meet the needs of students interested in plants from a cultural point of view more nearly than any similar textbook hitherto published. The eight chief divisions of the book are concerned with the general external morphology of the plant, internal morphology, physiology, classification, and special botany of farm crops, weeds, farm seeds and fungi, considered chiefly in relation to some of the common diseases of plants and bacteria. The matter is arranged in two portions; a didactic discussion of the principles of the subject, which has been kept as free as might be from technicalities, and a series of demonstrations and experiments, by which all the more important points are actually seen in the plant. The point of view throughout the entire book is entirely different from that of the lecturer on pure botany, and the perspective of the entire subject is rearranged to meet the new conditions. It is impossible, of course, that all the more important recent discoveries, even in such a basal portion of the work as the nutrition of plants, should be put into practise immediately, but it is to be said that Professor Percival's book is fairly abreast of the times, although adhering to some anachronisms. The introduction and use of the book in America would be followed by a notable improvement of the instruction in botany in most agricultural schools.
'The New Forestry' (Pawson & Brailsford, Sheffield), by Mr. John Simpson, is a manual adapted to British woodlands and game preservation. One chapter is devoted to the management of a woodland as a place for sheltering and rearing pheasants and other game birds and animals. The remaining chapters are devoted to practical directions as to rotation, allotment, cultural methods and general administration of forests, with a consideration of the numerous factors that must be taken into account in forestry operations on an English estate. The practical value of the book is enhanced by estimates of expenses and selling values.
THE BEET SUGAR INDUSTRY.
The report on the 'Progress of the Beet-Sugar Industry in the United States in 1899 presents a very hopeful outlook for the success of this industry over a quite wide range of territory. The report was prepared by the Department
