so 



for the whole work — viz., 25 fr. in advance — appears to be very- 

 moderate, and it should be noted that it is to be raised on com- 

 pletion, which is promised by 1903. Further instalments of this 

 undertaking will be eagerly looked forward to. G. C. K. 



The Microscopy of the more commonly occurring Starches. 

 By Hugh Gait, M.B. 7| x 4|in., 108 pages, 22 illustra- 

 tions from photographs. London, 1900 : Bailliere & Co. 

 Price 3s. Qd. net. 



A comparative study of the starch grains of various plants 

 is a very interesting and profitable one to all microscopists, 

 and a good working knowledge of the subject is absolutely in- 

 dispensable to those who, in the capacity of analysts, etc., 

 have occasionally to report upon various unknown compounds 

 submitted to them for examination. Under these circum- 

 stances it is somewhat surprising that there seems to be no 

 book dealing with the starches in a thoroughly comprehensive 

 w^ay. Until such a work appears the present book, supplemented 

 by W. Griffiths's Httle treatise published in 1892 on "The 

 Principal Starches used as Food," for the sake of its photographs, 

 will probably be helpful to many who are in want of a concise 

 account of the microscopic appearances of the commoner starches. 



The essential portion of the book consists of a series of short 

 chapters, each of which is devoted to a description of the shape, 

 size, markings, behaviour towards polarised light, etc., of a 

 particular starch. Altogether the author treats of thirteen 

 varieties — namely potato, rye, rice, oat, maize, pea, sago, tapioca, 

 wheat, barley, Bermuda arrowroot, " tous-les-mois," and haricot 

 bean starch. A synoptical table at the end of the book brings 

 together the principal facts recorded in connection with each 

 starch in a very useful way. One thing the author especially 

 insists upon, and rightly so, namely, that the markings occurring 

 on some starches are never so plain as they are shown in the 

 figures in the text-books of botany, hygiene, etc. But on the 

 other hand, we think he rather overstates the difficulty of seeing 

 these lines. He says of potato starch, for instance, that "these 

 lines are in all cases faint ; indeed, to see them at all it is 

 often necessary to reduce the aperture of the diaphragm of the 

 microscope very considerably, or to use oblique light. . . . The 



