By A. N. M'Alpine, with preface by Robert Wallace, 16mo. Pp. 92. 18 plates. Edinburgh; David Douglass. Of all plants, it would seem that grasses are the most difficult to identify by leaves alone; and yet there are no plants in which such indentification is so important. The herbage of pastures rarely comes into flower, or in case it is not pastured too closely, the inferior species which cattle will not eat often mature, and the better species are obscured. It is a fact that there is no adequate knowledge of the composition of permanent pastures, and the avowed object of this neat little hand-book is to afford a key to their study. To be sure, this is not a horticultural subject, but the method of presentation is so novel and so well wrought that a review of it is in place wherever good work is appreciated. The method of the little book is very simple. In fact, its simplicity is its vital feature, for to be intricate would mean to be useless. It is intended for the intelligent farmer as well as the professional botanist. The author divides his essay into two parts, the first of which considers the common pasture grasses, and the second, grasses in general.

He divides all grasses into twelve groups, which are characterized by leaves and leaf-sheaths. Group 1 considers colored grasses; group 2, the variegated species; 3, the bulbous and flat-ribbed grasses; 4, cord-rooted ; 5, acute-sheathed ; 6, net-sheathed ; 7, bitter-tasted ; 8, bristle-bladed ; 9, hard-bladed ; 10, hairy ; 11, eared ; and 12, ribless-bladed grasses. Into one or another of these groups the diligent observer can place all British grasses of any economic importance. The book is so novel in its character, and this subject is so important, that it should be in the hands of every student of plants.

The Art of Preparing Vegetables for the Table. By Sutton &- Sons, Reading, England. /6mo. Pp. 68.