Charles S. Newhall adds to his series of books on the plants of Northeastern America a very attractive volume on the Vines. This book is printed and bound with the characteristic clearness and good taste of the publishers, Messrs. G. P. Putnam's Sons, and will make a very useful addition to the library of every country or seaside house. From beginning to end the book is relieved of the heaviness and dullness of a scientific treatise by well-chosen quotations, verse and prose, and the absence of technical terms makes it available to every one whose eyes are open and whose interest in out-of-doors is such as to make a knowledge of the habits as well as of the names of plants desirable. By means of the three keys, or " Guides," based on the characters of leaves, flowers, and fruits, respectively, one can determine the name of any vine during any of the three seasons of the year when out-of-door objects are most likely to attract one's notice. The list of families and genera among which vines-Frail things, fair things, that creep and climb-are found furnishes an interesting basis for comparison: for instance, in the Crowfoot Family there is but one genus of plants which need support, namely, the favorite Clematis; in the Pea Family there are nine genera, in the Rose Family four, in the Lily Family but one, in the Fern Family one, in the Club-Moss Family one. Thus the list includes flowerless as well as flowering plants. But for any satisfactory comparison one must turn to the species rather than to families and genera, for there may be erect plants as well as vines in a genus. Such diversities as these suggest a variety of interesting questions, which the users of Mr. Newhall's book and others may ponder-as to why plants apparently closely related should behave so very differently, as to the advantages which accrue to the individuals, and to the species of plants, whose inherited tendencies and whose developed structures lead them into such different habits of life.No better idea of the general usefulness of the book can be given than by one suggestive paragraph: For some reason, perhaps because of its climbing habit and its inappropriate popular name of American Ivy, the Virginia Creeper is often feared as something poisonous. It climbs a tree trunk somewhat as does the Poison Ivy (Rhus radicans, I.), but it is easily distinguishable and is entirely harmless. One should remember that the Virginia Creeper has five finger-like leaflets that are suggestive of the fact that one's own five fingers can safely handle it; while the Poison Ivy has but three. Then follows a quotation from Darwin on the means by which the Virginia Creeper attaches itself to the flat or expanded surfaces which it selects as its supports.The book is "fully illustrated from original sketches." One cannot help wishing that these "sketches" were a little less sketchy and much more life-like, though it must be conceded that even such figures as these will greatly assist anyone who seeks to know the name of a vine before knowing more.Such books as this are a gratifying relief from the usual sort of "popular science."-The Literary World, Vol. 28 [1897]* * * * *Mr. Charles S. Newhall, the author of those valuable volumes "The Trees of Northeastern America" and "The Shrubs of Northeastern America," has now given to the world the logical sequence of those books in The Vines of Northeastern America. No student of Mr. Newhall's pages can remain unconvinced that, in equal and sometimes larger measure than the trees and shrubs, the vines have a personality of their own. "The vines are all characters, even cranks, some of them; and the better we know them, the more of individuality they seem to have; and with it all, the better we like them." The book is one of signal interest and worth.-The Outlook, Volume 56 [1897]