Journal of Applied Microscopy. ^^'^^^ 



CURRENT BOTANICAL LITERATURE. 



Charles J. Chamberlain. 



Books for review and separates of papers on botanical subjects should be sent to 



Charles J. Chamberlain, University of Chicago, 



Chicago, 111. 



REVIEWS. 



Coulter, John M. Plant Relations. A First This is quite different from any of the 

 Book of Botany. New York, D. Appleton recent text-books which have aimed 



& Co. Pp. VII + 264; 206 figs., 1890. ^ ^ . J c ^i J 



' ^ & ' vv |.Q rneet the needs of the secondary 



schools. It is dominated by ecology, written from the standpoint of Warming, 

 and also contains some of the fundamentals of physiology, but there is scarcely 

 a trace of morphology. The book is designed to suggest work for half a year, 

 and a companion book devoted to morphology, evolution and classification, also 

 designed to suggest a half year's work ; will appear soon. The elegant literary 

 style, the refreshing freedom from technical terms, and the inherent interest of 

 the subject matter, make the book a delightful one to read. The illustrations, 

 as a rule, are excellent and many of them are new. It is a departure to place 

 ecology before morphology, and the value of this arrangement can be deter- 

 mined only by actual experience. The companion book will enable each teacher 

 to adopt what he regards as the most teachable sequence. A pamphlet of 

 twenty pages containing suggestions to teachers accompanies the book. 



c. J. c. 



^ ^^. . ^ , ,^ , ■ The brilliant results of Nawaschin and 



Sargent, Ethel. On the Presence of Two 



Vermiform Nuclei in the Fertilized Embryo- Guignard on the fertilization of Llhum 



sac of Lilium Martagon. Proc. of the ^^g supported by the present brief 



Royal See. 65: 163-165, 1899. t-r- j i 



paper. Miss Sargent finds that during 

 fertilization the male nucleus is applied to the female nucleus, while the second 

 male nucleus is applied to both the polar nuclei. In one case, in which the two 

 polar nuclei were not in contact, the much elongated " antherozoid " united 

 them like a bridge. In several preparations it was noted that the pollen tube, 

 after fertilization had taken place, contained two small nuclei. Since both 

 generative nuclei are accounted for, these are probably due to the division of 

 the tube nucleus. c j. c. 



Von Schrenk, Hermann. A Disease of Taxo- ^^ has been estimated that thirty per 



dium known as Peckiness, also a Similar cent, of the lumber obtained from the 



Disease of Libocedrus Decurrens. Re- ,,1 ^r^ j- j- a- 1 1 



printed in advance from the eleventh annual bald cypress, Taxodium dtstic/ium, shows 



report of the Missouri Bot. Garden. Pp. the disease described in this paper. 



^^' ^ ■ ' ^^' The decay occurs in sharply localized 



areas, giving the logs in cross section the appearance of having been bored full 



of holes, varying in diameter from one-fourth to three-fourths inches. This 



feature has led lumbermen to apply the term " pecky." The wood between the 



holes is apparently perfectly sound, and shows no peculiarity in microscopic 



structure. The cell-walls are changed into compounds which diffuse through 



