NOTES 645 



No. 5. Elementary Notes on the Reproduction of Angiosperms. A. H. 

 Church, 1919. Ten Lecture Schedules. (Pp. 24. 2s. net.) 



We do not much like the circulation of lecture notes : although of use 

 and sometimes of value to the student, they inevitably suggest cramming, 

 and call to mind the evils connected with " payment by results." In the 

 present instance, however, it would appear, from the note on " Minimum 

 Botany," that the author's object is to illustrate the inadequate amount of 

 time allocated to Botany for medical and forestry students by the Uni- 

 versity authorities. The author concludes : " At this time of the world's 

 history it is remarkable that in a university of primary importance, the 

 teaching of Plant-biology should be of such a meagre description. 



" The fundamental laws of all living organism, including extensions to 

 sociology and theology, are based on biological problems ; and biology, or 

 a knowledge of the laws of life, in some form, should be part of the mental 

 equipment of every educated person. It is again to Botany, as dealing with 

 the primary life of the world — the great independent kingdom of auto- 

 trophic vegetation, the base of the pyramid of life, whether in the sea or on 

 land, and on which we ourselves, as animals, are still dependent for our 

 supplies of food and energy — that one must look, not only for the inter- 

 pretation of the primary laws of existence, but also for the broader views 

 rendered possible by the wider range of plant-races, as expressed, for ex- 

 ample, in the elementary mechanism of phyletic progression." 



New Scientific Periodicals. 



We are glad to welcome several new or comparatively new publications. 

 Mr. Murray is bringing out a monthly popular journal of knowledge called 

 Discovery, edited by A. S. Russell, M.C., D.Sc, under a trust of which Sir 

 Joseph Thomson is one of the members. The work is likely to interest 

 readers very widely, and the first number contains many good articles. The 

 Macmillan Company, New York, started the publication last October of 

 the Journal of Industrial Hygiene, which will evidently be valuable to all 

 Health Officers and other public workers. Last year the Commonwealth 

 Institute of Science and Industry (Dank's Buildings, Bourke Street, Mel- 

 bourne) began their monthly journal ; and, lastly, our Medical Research 

 Committee continues the invaluable summaries of medical literature which 

 it issued during the war, in the form of monthly abstracts and reviews called 

 Medical Science, published for the Committee by the Oxford University Press 

 — a most ably conducted work. We wish them all success. 



A Simple Apparatus for High-power Photomicrography (R. E. Slade, D.Sc, 

 F.I.C., and G. I. Higson, M.Sc, A.I.C.). 



The apparatus has been designed for the rapid production of photo- 

 micrographs in the course of an investigation on photographic emulsions. 

 A magnification of 2,000 has been found most successful for the work in 

 hand. 



The apparatus is mounted on a block of ash three feet long, three inches 

 thick, and eight inches wide. This optical bench rests on two partially 

 inflated air-cushions, and is prevented from falling, sideways by a rubber 

 ball. This arrangement for eliminating vibration, which was suggested 

 to the authors by Prof. Bragg, has been entirely successful. 



The apparatus proper consists of a microscope in the horizontal position 

 which is pushed home against stops fitted on the bench. The source of 

 illumination is a 100 c.p. Pointolite lamp on a universal joint for centring. 

 This lamp is contained in a light-tight box between which and the substage 

 condenser of the microscope is a light-tight connection provided with a 



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