BOTANY. 1017 



The pentosans, G. T^KRTUANn {Bui. Astioc. Chim. Snrr. rt Dli^flU., /.v {WOI), No. 

 I .', /III. lOl'.i-lO.'r,). — A historical and descriptive article on tlie pentosans. 



The action of ammonium chlorid on various silicates, V. \V. Ciaiik and (t. 

 STKKiKK {Zlxrhr. AiKiiytDi. ('Iitni., .'9 {190,i), No. S, pp. S;LS-;J,')j). 



A new viscometer, L. MEooi-rr {./our. Soc. Chem. Ind., 21 {190£), No. 2, p. 106, 

 fig. 1). 



BOTANY. 



A university text-book of botany, D. II. Campbell {Nev York: Tht- MonniUan 

 Co., 190J, pp. A'T'-f ,57.9, ph. 1.5, fujx. 4.->'^)- — This recent contrihntion to American 

 l)otanical literature is, as its name suggests, a text-book for use in college's and uni- 

 versities and is in no way intended as a laboratory guide, nor to supplant any of the 

 numerous botanies for secondary schools. The authoi- has presente(l in a very com- 

 j)act form an outline of the essentials of botany, and the woi'k is intended niore as a 

 reference text-book than otherwise. As far as possible the illustrative material has 

 been (b-awn from our native flora, and this feature will doubtless connuend itself to 

 American students. After a general introduction the author considers the plant 

 body, describing its parts, structure, and function. A similar chapter is devoted to 

 the plant cell, after which the classification of plants is treated in several chapters. 

 In this the several orders are described, beginning with the lowest and ending with 

 the highest, the sequence of orders following in the main that of iMigler and Pi-antl 

 in tlieir Die nati'irlichen Ptlanzenfamilien. The physiology of the plant is dis- 

 cussed at considerable lengtli, the method of treatment being based largely on that 

 of rfeffer's recent work, V)ut the results ol)tained by other reqent investigators have 

 been quite extensively incorporated. Chapters are devoted to the relation of plants 

 to their environment and to their geological and geographical distribution. Short 

 lists of works that are believed to be of most value for the student are appended to 

 the various sections, and the illustrations are for the most part new, many having 

 been drawn expressly for this work. 



The movements of plants, F. Darwin {Nature \^Londou'\, G.5 {190 j), No. 167-2, 

 pp. 40-44, .figs- 6). — Tliis article is a lecture delivered by the author before tlie British 

 Association for the Advancement of Science, in which an attemi)t is made to explain 

 the different movements in plants and their physiological causes. The author 

 appears to consider that gravity in some of its modificatif)ns is the i)rincij)al stimulus 

 to plant movement. 



Injuries to plants by London fog* and engine smoke, G. Henslow {.Tour. Roy. 

 Iforl. Soc. [Loudon], 20 {1901), Nos. 3-3, pp. 310-313).— This is a lecture delivered 

 to the students at the gardens of the Royal Horticultural Society, in which the injuri- 

 ous effects of fog and smoke are shown. A similar paper by the author lias been 

 noted (E. S. R., 12, p. 826), in which the i)ercentage of sulphurous acid occurring 

 in the atmosphere was given. These figures are erroneous, at-conling to the present 

 paper. The average amount of sulphurous acid in dull weather sliould hava been 

 6 mg. per 100 cu. ft. of air. The amount in a light fog was S.K) mg., while in a 

 thick yellow fog itamounte<l to 20.4 mg., instead of percents as given in the previous 

 article. 



Influence of mineral salts on the production of tubercles on pea roots, E. 

 Makchal {('oiiijiI. Rend. Acad. Sri. I'url^, 1.33 {1901), No. 24, pp. 10.32, ' 10;}3) .—Ry 

 means of peas grown in water cultures, the author has investigated the effect of dif- 

 ferent salts of potassium, sodium, calcium, ammonium, and magnesnun upon root 

 tul)ercle develojnnent. The different salts were used in strengths ranging from 0.5 

 to 5 gni. ])er liter of its culture nu'dium. The results showed that the alkaline nitrates 

 in the proi)ortion of 1 : 10,000 (checked the production of root tubercles on jx'as grown 



