224 NATURAL SCIENCE [October 



pages filled with theory and bristling with technical terms. Dr 

 Goebel, professor at Munich University, is to be congratulated on the 

 attempt in his recently published Organographie der Pfianzcn (part 

 1) (Fischer, Jena) to clothe and breathe the breath of life into 

 those dry bones. Taking his text from Herbert Spencer when 

 insisting on the interdependence of structure and function, and the 

 impossibility of giving any true explanation of natural phenomena 

 without keeping in view this co-operation, he puts before us a 

 system of morphology based on physiology and biology. As in the 

 case of most reformers he sometimes goes too far. Few botanists 

 will follow him, when, for instance, he sets aside entirely homologies 

 of stem and leaf-structures, preferring instead physiological analogies 

 as a basis of terminology. 



Notwithstanding such occasional examples of over-zealousness, 

 Prof. Goebel's book is a most useful addition to botanical literature, 

 and should be read and marked by all advanced students and 

 teachers of botany. The subject matter falls under five sections, 

 namely, general segmentation of the plant-body ; symmetry relations; 

 difference in formation of organs at different stages of development ; 

 young forms, malformations and their significance for organography ; 

 and influence of correlation and external stimuli upon form. We are 

 especially glad to note the clear-headed treatment of the section on 

 malformations which have been too much pressed into the service of 

 morphology. Malformations, which by the way cannot be sharply 

 distinguished from variations,, follow certain laws, and are either in- 

 herited or caused by external factors. The study of monstrosities 

 lends support to Sach's theory of ' Stoff und Form,' which insists 

 that " differences in form of plant-organs are based on differences in 

 material, and that alterations of form are due to alterations in the 

 nutritive processes." 



Eind Fungus and Sugar Cane 



The Experimental Fields Station at Skerretts School, Antigua, has 

 just issued a report by Messrs Francis Watts .and F. R. Shepherd 

 on the results obtained in the experimental cultivation of the Sugar 

 Cane. These are a continuation of those which have been conducted 

 since 1891, and comprise a study of a number of varieties of cane 

 which have been established at the station for six years, an attempt 

 to introduce additional varieties, and a record of results obtained on 

 the applications of various manurial substances to the Bourbon cane 

 in the hope of ascertaining the manurial requirements of the sugar 

 cane under the conditions prevailing at Skerretts. 



The chief result seems to be that the Eind fungus {Trichosjihaeria) 

 is a specific disease, because it cannot be attributed to a deficiency 

 of lime in the soil as some writers have suggested. The disease 



