520 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



complex types of the stele met with in ferns is dealt with in a clear and concise 

 manner, and is of course of importance in appreciating the relationship and 

 sequence of forms met with in fossil ferns, such as the Osmundaceas for example, 

 which have been so successfully investigated by Kidston and Gvvynne Vaughan. 



The interesting group of fossil ferns to which Renault gave the name of 

 Botryopteride£e, containing " altogether extinct and generalised " types, has been 

 shown to contain plants of considerable diversity of structure and Prof. Seward 

 has now substituted the term Coenopterideae (Koii'dy = Latin com?mims, common or 

 general) for the Botryopterideae in the wider sense and subdivides it into the 

 Botryoptereas and Zygoptereas. The new term has certainly advantages over the 

 descriptive but somewhat clumsy name of Inversicatenales suggested by Paul 

 Bertrand and the Primofilices of Arber, which latter prejudges somewhat their 

 evolutionary position. 



The last chapter contains a number of genera belonging probably to the 

 Pteridosperms, with other ferns of more doubtful affinity. The better-known 

 Pteridospermas and their seeds will be dealt with in vol. iii., the appearance of 

 which will be awaited with eagerness. For in spite of the substantial intellectual 

 fare provided in vol. ii., the food for thought is of so stimulating a nature that the 

 reader looks forward with a whetted appetite to the appearance of vol. iii. and 

 has not the feeling of satiety which a less enthusiastic or a less skilful author 

 would have produced in his readers with a book containing so much detailed 

 information. But the engaging way in which Prof. Seward introduces descriptions 

 and illustrations of recent plants in explanation of fossil forms and of their 

 structure, makes the subject one of living interest and carries the reader along, 

 be he geologist or botanist. The copious references to the extensive literature 

 on recent and fossil plants will be of the utmost value to the serious student of 

 palaeobotany, and in every other respect, in typography, illustrations and index, 

 vol. ii. of Prof. Seward's Fossil Plants enhances the reputation alike of the author 

 and of the Cambridge Biological Series. F. E. Weiss. 



A Textbook of Experimental Physiology for Students of Medicine. By 



N. H. Alcock, M.D., D.Sc, and F. O'B. Ellison, M.D., with a Preface 

 by E. H. Starling, M.D., F.R.C.P., F.R.S. [Pp. xii + 139.] (London : 

 Churchill, 1909. Price 5^. net.) 

 This work is to be welcomed not only for its own sake, but also for the indication 

 which it affords of the extension of the view that medical students would be better 

 trained for their future work if they did more physiological experiments upon man. 

 In the Preface Prof. Starling rightly insists upon the importance of the change 

 which is taking place in the practical teaching of physiology in this country. More 

 attention is paid to experiments upon the higher animals, and this change has 

 received recognition in the revised regulations for the examinations in Physiology 

 in the University of London. 



The practical course laid down in this text-book begins with a chapter upon the 

 physiological anatomy of the rabbit ; this will serve as a useful revision of the know- 

 ledge obtained by the student during his study of biology. There then follows a 

 course of special exercises which deal with muscle, circulation, digestion, respira- 

 tion, blood, secretion of urine, temperature, nervous system and special senses. 

 There is a good selection of experiments anddemonstrations ; the diagrams are 

 clear but there are no graphic records. 



It is very difficult to devise a satisfactory course of experimental physiology for 

 large classes of students. It will probably be found that the reaction against 



