xxiv SCIENCE PROGRESS. 



Open Air Studies in Botany. By R. H. Praeger, B.A., B.E., M.R.I.A. 

 London: Chas. Griffin & Co., 1897. 



The idea of this book is distinctly good. It is of course not quite 

 original, having already been developed by Warming and others. The 

 author's aim is to give an account of the characters of the flora of a 

 locality regarded from the standpoint of the physical conditions there 

 prevalent, and he has wisely refrained from attempts at too ambitious 

 a treatment. Thus he selects types such as a meadow, an alpine, a 

 bog flora, and treats of those constituent plants which may be found 

 growing at a particular season. In fact the book forms a series of 

 excursions, and as such it will be of use in indicating not only the 

 general character of a physical flora, but also what time of year it may 

 most advantageously be visited. A good feature of the volume lies in 

 the photographs of plants in their natural surroundings, but the repro- 

 ductions are not very successful in every case. The glossary is perhaps 

 the weakest part of the book, many of the definitions as they stand, if 

 not actually erroneous, are at least misleading. These defects ought to 

 be remedied in a new edition if it should be called for. On the whole 

 the book is useful and interesting, even where one does not agree with 

 the writer's statement or opinions. 



Lehrbuch der Botanik fur Hochschulen. Von Dr. E. Strasburger, Dr. 

 Fritz Noll, Dr. Heinrich Schenck, Dr. A. F. W. Schimper. 

 Dritte verbesserte Auflage, mit 617 z. th. farbigen Abbildungen. 

 Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1898. 



Students of Botany will welcome the new edition of the " Bonn 

 Text-book". That the book has achieved success is abundantly 

 proved by its having passed into the third edition in less than four 

 years, and we may add that its success is well deserved. 



The original plan was excellently conceived and its execution has 

 been materially improved in its present form. A few new illustrations 

 meet the eye of the reader, whilst some of the old ones have been 

 replaced by better ones. Amongst the latter, we notice that the centro- 

 spheres and centrosomes are now absent from the Phanerogam cell. 

 The text also has been brought up to date, thus recognition is accorded 

 to Williams' recent work on the Dictyotaceae. 



A bibliography at the end of the volume will prove a useful addi- 

 tion, though it might, perhaps, have been with advantage distributed 

 through the various sections to which it respectively belongs. Alto- 

 gether the authors and the publisher may be congratulated on having 

 produced one of the best botanical text-books of its grade in existence. 



A Student's Text-Book 0/ Zoology. By Adam Sedgwick, M.A., F.R.S. 

 Vol. i. Pp. xii., 619. With 472 illustrations. London : Swan 

 Sonnenschein & Co., 1898. 



As Prof. Sedgwick states in his preface, this work is intended to 

 replace his translation of Claus' Lehrbuch, and is consequently pre- 

 pared upon the same lines. 



