58 NATURAL SCIENCE [July 



Botany from the German 



A Text-Book of Botany. By Drs E. Strasburger, F. Noll, H. Schenck and A. F. W. 

 Schimper. Translated from the German by H. C. Porter, Ph.D. 8vo, pp. x-f 632, 

 with 594 illustrations, in part coloured. London: Macmillan & Co., 1898. Price, 

 18s. net. 



Lehrbuch der Botanik fur Hochschulen. Von Drs E. Strasburger, F. Noll, 

 H. Schenck und A. F. W. Schimper. Dritte verbesserte Auflage. 8vo, pp. viii + 

 570, with 617 illustrations, in part coloured. Jena : Fischer, 1898. Price, 7 M. 

 50 Pf. in paper covers ; 8 M. 50 Pf. bound. 



When we reviewed the original German edition of this book shortly 

 after its appearance in 1894 (Natural Science, vol. vi., p. 423) we 

 congratulated the publisher (Fischer of Jena) on the issue of a text- 

 book of the first order for the small sum of seven shillings, and at the 

 same time hinted that a translation into English had been arranged. 

 The translator, Dr Porter, assistant instructor in Botany at Penn- 

 sylvania University, has taken more than three years over his work, 

 and in the meantime the ' Lehrbuch,' which has apparently met with 

 a well-deserved success, has run into a third, much improved, edition. 

 So the book as it is put into the hands of our students is two editions 

 behind, which, considering certain advances in knowledge and modi- 

 fications of views which were accepted four years ago, places its 

 readers at some disadvantage. Apart from this defect the edition 

 now before us is a good reproduction of the original text, for which 

 we believe some thanks are due to Mr A. C. Seward, who revised the 

 proofs. It is, however, unlikely that the translation will meet with 

 the success that has attended the ' Lehrbuch.' This might have been 

 the case had the publishers seen their way to issuing it at half-a-guinea, 

 but at its present price it is the most expensive text-book of its kind, 

 and has, moreover, to compete with one which, though in some respects 

 inferior, is three shillings cheaper, and has already become established 

 in many of the English botany schools. It is matter of special regret 

 that only a small number of students should have the advantage of 

 reading Prof. Strasburger's excellent introduction to Morphology, 

 which is by far the best of the four sections. Dr Noll's contribution 

 on Physiology is unequal, though fair on the whole, but the section 

 dealing with the Cryptogams, by Dr Schenck, is perhaps the least 

 satisfactory, the chapters on the Bryophyta and Pteridophyta are 

 scarcely full enough. Prof. Schimper's account of the families of 

 seed-plants is useful and well-arranged. 



The foregoing criticisms as to the relative value of the different 

 sections of the book apply also to the third edition of the ' Lehrbuch.' 

 Prof. Strasburger remains facile princeps with his introduction to 

 Morphology and Anatomy. In this part also we find the most 

 evidence of revision and bringing up to date. The intimate structure 

 of the cell, its nucleus, and other contents is at present one of the 

 most favourite objects of study, and the modification of former views 

 or the birth of new ones find expression in the text-book in the altera- 

 tion of old figures and the introduction of new. We regret to find in the 

 section on Physiology that the antiquated explanation of the formation 

 of starch as the first product of assimilation by direct union of carbon 

 dioxide and water still finds a place. The equation is an absurd one 

 from the purely chemical as well as from the physiological point of view. 



The small increase in size of this third edition (the original con- 



