1898] SOME NEW BOOKS 57 



to such distinct structures as a true sheathed or unsheathed filament, 

 a branched zoogloea, and a monihfonn series of cocci. To make con- 

 fusion worse confounded in this way is inexcusable, and we hope Dr 

 Fischer's better example may find followers. The captious critic 

 might perhaps suggest that, in using the word ' zusammengesetzteste ' 

 (p. 3), the author, without malice prepense, casts a slur on the German 

 language which it does not deserve ; it is certainly rich enough to 

 supply him with a less barbarous superlative. The book deals almost 

 exclusively with such bacteria as are concerned in metabolism, fer- 

 mentation, nitrification, and various physical and industrial processes ; 

 it contains brief chapters on morphology, classification, distribution, 

 habitat, and conditions of life, the general principles of nutrition and 

 culture, respiration, and effects produced by chemical and physical 

 agencies, with a more detailed account of the relation of micro- 

 organisms to nitrogen and carbonic acid, and a short mention of bac- 

 terial diseases affecting plants and animals. The figures in the text 

 are excellent ; many are new, at any rate to text-books, which are too 

 often illustrated only by miserable reproductions from the most anti- 

 quated sources. Altogether the book is one which may be read with 

 both pleasure and profit in its present form, but which merits and 

 might command a wider circle of readers. 



Botany in the Field 



Opek-Air Studies in Botany : Sketches of British Wild Flowers in their 

 Homes. By R. Lloyd Praeger. 8vo, pp. xiii + 266, with frontispiece, 6 plates and 

 68 illustrations in the text. London : C. Griffin & Co., 1897. Price, 7s. 6d. 



" Come forth into the light of things, 

 Let nature be your teacher." 



The quotation from Wordsworth which appears in the title page of 

 this book is an appropriate text for the matter contained in its eleven 

 chapters. In a series of brightly written descriptive accounts of 

 familiar scenes in our own islands, Mr Praeger contrives both to interest 

 the reader and tell him a good deal worth knowing about plants. 

 " We stand," he says, " in fancy, out in the open country, with the 

 wild flowers at our feet, the hum of insects and the rustlino- of the 

 Wind in our ears, and the blue sky overhead, and we use these powers 

 of observation that have been given to us. Thus only can we hope 

 to comprehend the life of a plant, or of a plant-community, and ap- 

 preciate the conditions under which each species lives, and the adap- 

 tations by which each is able to maintain its position in the plant- 

 world, and fulfil its proper functions." It is not a text-book, and with 

 students working merely for examination will not find favour ; but 

 to nature-lovers in general, and wild-plant lovers in particular, " Open 

 Air Studies " will be a very welcome and a very healthy companion 

 and guide. Being resident in Ireland, the author has taken most of 

 his scenes " from the meadows and mountains, streams and seashores 

 of that fair land," and the addition of place and date beneath the title 

 of each chapter gives a circumstantial appearance, and adds a spice of 

 interest to what follows. But as the spots selected are not exceptional 

 in their vegetation, and familiar flowers not rarities are described, 

 the majority of the scenes might be equally well located in similar 

 places in any part of the British Isles. They are as follows : — A 



