Phytography as a Fine Art

Abstract

THE late Prof. Moll's book on phytography A is remarkable in several respects. Written between the ages of seventy-two and eighty-two years by a blind man suffering from gradually increasing deafness, with the aid of three successive secretaries and the use of Braille, it represents a triumph of human will-power and endurance over grave bodily disabilities. The subject of the work is stated to be the improvement of the art of phytography in all possible directions. The book actually consists, however, of a highly complex morphological system by the aid of which a fairly adequate description may be drawn up in a more or less mechanical way, even by a botanist who possesses little or no natural aptitude for the task. The system is valuable also to the skilled describer, since it may frequently serve as a reminder to include essential characters which might otherwise be easily overlooked.

Phytography as a Fine Art:

Comprising Linnean Description, Micrography and Penportraits. By Dr. J. W. Moll. Pp. xix + 534. (Leyden: E. J. Brill, Ltd., 1934.) 15 guilders.