i8 95 . SOME NEW BOOKS. 273 



again, but remain bare. Here the formation of flower buds pro- 

 gresses gradually higher up the branch and leaves the wood behind 

 bare, while in apples and pears the same parts of the branch (often 

 continually increasing in thickness) develop fresh fruit buds and are 

 thereby always clothed." The next paragraph describes phenomena 

 especially characteristic of pear trees, and in part of only some varieties 

 of the same. Of this, six lines are omitted in the translation, and there 

 is also no mention whatever of the pear. Throughout the book 

 slovenly translations are continually cropping up. Thus in section 18 

 (p. 105), line 2, bast-system is a correct rendering of "Rinden-Korper" 

 and " tissues meant for conduction " will do for " Leitungswegen " 

 five lines further down ; but why is " Leitungswege " in the next line 

 rendered "phloem bundles"? And is "medullary bundles exist, 

 therefore, in plants which withdraw their reserve substances into the 

 roots " a translation of " Markstandige Strange finden sich hier also bei 

 Pflanzen, welche im Winter ' einziehen' " ? On p. 42, in speaking 

 of the value of kainit (wrongly stated to be a sulphate and chlorate 

 of magnesium), the translation says, " In light soils, in which there is 

 little humus, clay, or other absorptive substances, manuring with 

 kainit would enrich the soil . . . The common salt which is also 

 present acts as a solvent, etc." This means the common salt which 

 is present in the soil. Sorauer says, " The common salt present in 

 the potassium salt" i.e., in the kainit. The introduction of terms by the 

 translator does not always induce to increased clearness. In describ- 

 ing beterostyly in the primrose, on p. 239, we read : " Some specimens 

 have a long style, so that the stigma will reach to the top of the corolla- 

 tube ( K pin-eyed).' n " In other specimens the reverse will be the case 

 {hetevostyly)." This unhappy contrast of the special case " pin- 

 eyed " with the general principle " heterostyly " does not occur in the 

 original. On p. 34 the chlorotic condition resulting from absence of 

 iron in the soil is erroneously explained as etiolation ; this also is 

 an alteration. 



Seeing that such departures from' the original are allowed, it is 

 a pity that a few useful alterations have not been made. Thus, the 

 employment of the word " lime " to indicate sometimes the carbonate, 

 sometimes the hydrate of calcium, is confusing. Still more so are the 

 two statements relating to the fixation of the free nitrogen of the air. 

 On p. 32 we are told that leguminous plants absorb nitrogen from the 

 air by their green leaves, while on pp. 49-50, in an excellent review of 

 the subject, the root tubercles are correctly described as centres of 

 assimilation of atmospheric nitrogen. The account, on p. 122, of 

 formation of starch as a result of loss of water by the cell from in- 

 creased transpiration in sunlight, when "we may imagine the 

 starchy substance to be forced out of the thickened {concentrated) cell- 

 sap," is scarcely in accord with modern views. 



The English itself is not always beyond reproach. We find, for 

 instance, will for shall, and on p. 44, " Besides these cryptogamic or 

 flowerless plants, many more highly-organised plants afford us 

 examples of plants, etc.," with nine other " plants " in three-quarters 

 of a page. 



In our opinion an opportunity has been missed. It was pos- 

 sible with but very little departure from the original copy to have 

 produced a cheap, reliable, and scientific handbook for gardeners and 

 others interested in gardens or horticulture generally. Such a book 

 would have had a large sale, for it would have better supplied a greater 

 want than did Fream's " Agriculture," the sale of which, a few years 

 ago, was enormous. 



