i894. SOME NEW BOOKS. 463 



work by the success which attended his efforts in applying in his 

 classes the " collodion method " to the preparation of the very 

 delicate tissues of ferns, and especially to the infiltration of prothallia, 

 without shrinkage. The iirst part of the book, occupying nearly 

 three-fourths of the whole, is descriptive, and is an account of the 

 history of development and anatomy of Ferns in the limited sense of 

 the homosporous leptosporangiate Filicina*. It is profusely illustrated 

 by admirable figures, all reproduced from preparations made by the 

 author or his pupils by the method referred to, and serving at the 

 same time as a first-class recommendation of that method. Chapter I. 

 deals with the gametophyte, from the germination of the spore to the 

 fertilisation of the archegonium ; while the sporophyte is the subject of 

 the five following chapters. Chap. II., on the embryo, contains a very 

 fine figure (fig. 49) of the young evahryo oi A diantmn concinnuin. In 

 Chapter'^ III. and IV. the morphology and anatomy of the stem, root, 

 and leaves are illustrated, while Chapters V. and VI. form a valuable 

 contribution to our knowledge of the structure of the sporangium in 

 the different families and tiieir manner of dehiscence, with the 

 distribution of the spores. Under ^Substitutionary Growths' (Chap. VII.) 

 we find an account of the development of the buds or bulbils on the 

 pinnules or in the axils of the leaf of Aspleniums and other ferns 

 where sporophytic budding occurs. Part I. concludes witli a chapter 

 on the Ophioglosseae, which are introduced, not because of any near 

 relation to the Filices, but because fresh material is easily procurable, 

 while its members present excellent subjects for comparative study. 



Part II., Methods, comprises notes on technique (preparation 

 of the collodion, etc.), and hints for the preparation, infiltration, 

 sectioning, fixing and examination of the prothallia and other organs 

 of which the structure or development is to be studied. 



The book is not a large one, considerable space is given to 

 figures, and the text is not crowded ; it is, therefore, not exhaustive, 

 but merely an admirable and readable illustration of what has been 

 done, and done well, by a certain method, and a guide to further 

 work on the same lines. The general appearance of the book is quite 

 up to Messrs. Macmillan's standard, and when we remember that 

 every one of the 163 figures is new, the price cannot be considered 

 exorbitant. 



Flowering Plants. 



An Introduction to Structural Botany (flowering plants). By D. H Scott, 

 M.A., Ph.D., &c. 8vo. Pp. xii. and 288, with 113 figures. London : A. & C. 

 Black, 1894. Price 3s. 6d. 



This book, which "is intended as a first guide to the study of the 

 structure of plants," forms a new departure in elementary botanical 

 works. It stands out from the ever-increasing crowd of guides, text- 

 books, and manuals in virtue not only of originality of design, but 

 also of the fact that the subjects treated have been specially investi- 

 gated for the purpose of the book, so that we have not the mere 

 compilation of a book-man, but an account based on the results of the 

 author's own observation. Three plants, the wallflower, white lily, 

 and spruce-fir, are selected as illustrating respectively the dicotyle- 

 donous, monocotyledonous and gymnospermous types of seed-plant, 

 and in as many chapters the author gives us a clear, well-arranged, 

 and concise account of their external characters, the structure of the 

 stem, leaf, root, flower, fruit, and seeds, and the development of the 

 reproductive organs and embryo. There is also a shorter chapter on 



