54 NOTICES OF BOOKS. 
6. Pernicious and troublesome plants; (with the eminently per- 
nicious ones distinguished from the rest;) and 
7. Plants which are chiefly mere weeds upon farms, and ought 
to be expelled, or superseded by more useful ones. 
From this catalogue alone, it will be seen how extended is its 
scope to others besides agriculturalists, and we can safely say it is 
a work as much called for in England, as it can be on the other 
side of the Atlantic. It constitutes a closely printed 12mo volume 
of two or three hundred pages. 
Experimental Inquiry into the cause of the Ascent and Descent 
OF THE SAP, with some observations on the nutrition of Plants, 
and the cause of Exposmose and Exosmosg, with plates; by 
G. Ramey, M.R.C.S.E., &e. London: Pamplin, 1847. 
This little book well deserves an attentive study. It is the 
result of Experiments, carried on by the author during, and since, 
the year 1840 ; and a short account of some of them was communi- 
cated to the Royal Society in 1842. His mode of experimenting, 
and the opinions he has thence deduced, are detailed in the 
present Essay. The importance of the subjects may be judged of 
by the titles of the several paragraphs.— Ascending or crude Sap. 
Elaborated Sap. Direction taken by the Sap. Cyclosis. Struc- 
ture through which the sap moves first to be determined. Object — 
.. ofthe Experiments instituted. Sap not propelled. Some Plants — 
. wunsuited for Experiments. Ascent of Sap due to a vital process 
in the leaves. Structure through which the crude Sap ascends. 
Intercellular tissue, its position and variation in different plants, 
and its character. Cause of the ascent of Sap; its lateral diffu- 
sion. Effects of Transpiration. Experiments confirmatory of the 
explanation why crude Sap ascends. Effects of a solution of sugar 
upon plants. Crude Sap attracted, not propelled. Supposed effects 
of Endosmose. Use of the Pith. Descent of the elaborated Sap. — 
. Experiments to determine the passages conveying the elaborated —— 
i ums observations and deductions from the Papers Inde- 
