By L. H. Bailey, Jr. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 1885.

This is of a class of books very acceptable to the readers of the Gardeners' Monthly, a class which tells in a pleasant and popular way the interesting stories about plants that only those immersed in the full flood of science are usually supposed to know much about. The following is a specimen of the little book. After figuring and describing the Witch Hazel the author says :

"Superstitious notions were long associated with the witch-hazel. Its common name is a record of the foremost of these notions combined with the resemblance of the plant to the true hazel. The branches were once used as ' divining rods,' by means of which deep springs of pure water and veins of precious metals were supposed to be revealed. Even in recent years I have seen forked branches of the peach and linden dexterously balanced in the hand and their occult vibrations taken as infallible indications of streams of pure water beneath the surface. Fortunately for the magicians who perform with these mysterious branches, there are few places where any intelligent person would look for water that springs may not be found at a reasonable depth. Astology was also debtor to the witch-hazel branches, if Token has written aright :

'Mysterious plant! whose golden tresses wave With a sail beauty in the dying year, Blooming amid November's frost severe. Like a pale corpse-light o'er the recent grave. If shepherds tell us true, thy wand hath power, With gracious influence, to avert the harm Of ominous planets.'

"The witch-hazel has been held long in repute on account of its medical virtues, and it is the source of popular remedy of the present day. The Indians are said to have made preparations of its bark for the treatment of tumors and inflammations. The wych-hazel of England is an elm, whose wood was used in olden times in the construction of wyches or chests. This antique spelling is often erroneously applied to our American shrub".