424 NATURAL SCIENCE. j UNE , 



How is it done ? Here is a text-book of the first order, bearing the 

 names of at least two of the best botanists in Germany, well printed 

 and profusely illustrated, some of the figures being new, and all for the 

 equivalent of seven shillings. Is the cost of production so much less 

 in Germany ; or is the publisher satisfied with less profit ; or is, it an 

 advertisement for Bonn University, with which all the authors are 

 connected ? 



A text -book is generally the work of one man, whose qualifica- 

 tions to speak with authority may be of very unequal value in the 

 different branches. This difficulty is satisfactorily avoided in the 

 present work. Professor Strasburger supplies the first section, 

 " Morphology," including external form and internal structure. We 

 could have no higher authority for this branch, and the 130 pages 

 form an excellent introduction to the general facts of form and 

 structure. The portion dealing with the cell and its contents is of 

 special interest, embodying, as it does, so much of the writer's own work. 

 Dr. Noll is responsible for the Physiology (pp. 132-256), which is 

 a well-arranged general account of the life-processes in plants. We 

 are surprised, however, to see the process of assimilation represented 

 on p. 169 as consisting of the union of carbonic acid gas and water to 

 form starch. This is scarcely in accordance with modern views. The 

 second half of the book, " Special Botany," is divided between Dr. 

 Schenck and Professor Schimper. The former deals with the Crypto- 

 gams (pp. 258-363), the latter with the Phanerogams (pp. 364-512). 

 This systematic portion is very well illustrated, one feature being the 

 indication of the common poisonous plants by coloured figures. But 

 why are Lolitim Umulentum and Vincctoxiciim officinale left uncoloured ? 

 The scheme of classification is similar to those generally adopted on 

 the continent. 



A translation of this work by Dr. A. C. Porter, assistant instructor 

 in botany at the University of Pennsylvania, is to be issued by Messrs. 

 Macmillan. We are glad that America and not England is concerned. 

 The slavish adoption of continental text-books has gone quite far 

 enough in our own country. We are well able to supply our own 

 students with indigenous productions, as evidenced by the admirable 

 hand-book which we now proceed to notice. 



We have already reviewed the first half of Professor Vines' text- 

 book, which appeared in January of last year, and are now glad to 

 welcome the complete work. Dr. Vines' English edition of Prantl, 

 which appeared fourteen years ago, has long been insufficient for the 

 advanced student, who has been restricted to new editions of time- 

 honoured but woefully out-of-date handbooks, or else forced to select 

 from the excellent but somewhat too exhaustive German works of 

 Sachs, Goebel, and De Bary, translations of which have been issued by 

 the Oxford University Press. The second half of the book deals 

 with the classification of flowering-plants and physiology. The 

 introduction to the former is a most able account of the life-history of 

 seed-plants, and is the fullest expression we have seen of the relation 

 existing between these and the Pteridophyta. The scheme of classi- 

 fication resembles that adopted in Prantl. and Vines' text-book, with 

 slight differences. Among others we notice the insertion of many of 

 the Monochlamydeous orders among the Polypetalae, though the sub- 

 class Monochlamydeae is still kept up. A strange mistake occurs on 

 p. 590, where the old-world Balanophova is described as a " Brazilian" 

 genus. The section on Physiology (pp. 666-783) is an excellent 

 sketch of the subject, but we expected a somewhat fuller treatment 

 from Dr. Vines. For this, however, he will perhaps refer us to his 



