5 o2 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



the outset of the war, it is certainly to be hoped that more attention will be paid 

 in the future to the manufacture of such compounds, and the publication of the 

 second edition of Dr. May's well-known book is therefore very welcome. The 

 general arrangement of the subject-matter has been maintained unchanged, but 

 several useful additions have been made ; thus we note a section on the try- 

 panocidal action of the benzidene dyes — Trypan Red and Trypan Blue — and the 

 antiseptic action of dyes of the acridine series, such as Flavine and its derivatives. 

 A short account is also given of recent work upon antiseptics of the chloramine 

 type, and the account of Salvarsan and allied bodies has been brought up to date. 



P. H. 



BOTANY 



Plant Physiology. By Vladimir I. Palladin. Authorised English edition, 

 with 173 illustrations. Edited by Prof. Burton Edward Livingstone, 

 Ph.D. [Pp. xxv + 320.] (Philadelphia : P. Blakiston's Son & Co., 1918. 

 Price $3 net.) 



This translation is based on the German translation of the sixth Russian edition, 

 and on the seventh Russian edition of 1914, and with it Prof. Palladin's famous 

 text-book becomes for the first time available to English readers. The editor 

 states that the body of the text aims to be primarily a true translation of the 

 German edition. The few alterations that have been made consist mainly in 

 some modification of the order of presentation, or slight additions that render 

 certain statements more easily understood, such changes being indicated by being 

 enclosed in brackets. Editorial notes have been added here and there in the 

 form of foot-notes, signed " Ed." Prof. Palladin's leaning towards the chemical 

 side of Plant Physiology is apparent from .the much greater space devoted to 

 plant nutrition in Part I. than to growth, movement, and reproduction, which 

 together constitute Part II. ; wherever possible formulas and equations are given 

 to illustrate the chemical changes which take place within the plant, or which may 

 be brought about in vitro; the physico-chemical side of the question also receives 

 attention, the .book opening with a discussion of the energy content of com- 

 pounds, and the thermochemical aspect of many changes is discussed. Rather 

 short accounts are given of the chemistry of chlorophyll and the proteins, but any 

 defects in this respect are made up for by frequent reference in the foot-notes to 

 sources from which more detailed information may be obtained ; it is, indeed, a 

 feature of the book that it is supplied with an exhaustive bibliography and an 

 immense number of references to original papers. The book, which is well 

 printed on good paper and contains 173 very good illustrations, will form a 

 welcome addition to the rather limited number of smaller books on Plant 

 Physiology. 



P. H. 



Plant Genetics. By John M. Coulter, Head of the Department of Botany in 

 the University of Chicago, and Merle C. Coulter, Instructor in Plant 

 Genetics in the University of Chicago. [Pp. ix + 214.] (Chicago: The 

 University of Chicago Press, 1918. Price Si. 50 net.) 



This textbook has originated from a course of lectures to botanical students at 

 Chicago in their last undergraduate or first graduate year, the purpose of the 

 lectures and the book being " not to develop professional geneticists, but merely 

 to initiate students of botany with the point of view of working geneticists, so that 

 they can appreciate an important phase of botanical literature." 



