ECONOMIC BOTANY

by Albert F. Hill '10. McGraw-Hill Book Cos. 1937. 592 pages. 54.00.

Ted Hill's Economic Botany is a development of material used in a course formerly given by the author at Yale University. While designed primarily as a text, the book should appeal to the general reader especially interested in the plants or plant products that intimately concern his everyday life, or in the numerous less familiar products such as amber, mescal, or zedoary.

A brief summary of the structure and life processes of plants is given, but most of the space is devoted to a detailed study of individual topics,—Fibers, Wood, Rubber, Gums, Drugs, Spices, Beverages, Cereals. Emphasis is placed on the history, preparation, and utilization of the plants and plant products rather than on statistical material. The chapters on The History of Food Plants, Medicinal Plants, and Fruits are particularly commended, but those on Forest Products, and Forest Resources are not as well done as the rest. The inclusion of numerous illustrations, a systematic list of the plant species discussed, and a fairly comprehensive bibli- ography, are features that add materially to the usefulness of the book.