A TEXT-BOOK OF BOTANY 27 



sporophyte and gametophyte in the " special botany " of the 

 higher plants in earlier editions. Another noticeable feature 

 which strikes one on a first perusal is the belittling of the 

 distinction between septate and non-septate multinuclear bodies, 

 so that the term "coenocyte" does not appear, and the word 

 "cell" is made to embrace such structures as Botryclium or 

 Caulerpa. 



It might have been well in such cases as this, for the sake of 

 students extending their reading to other works, even to include 

 and explain a terminology which is not accepted. These are, of 

 course, matters on which teachers are sure to differ. Personally, 

 for instance, we see no gain in iihlc&oterma over endoderm, and we 

 think that the sooner the prefix "medullary" is dropped in writing 

 of the rays the better. So, too, as a question of translation, we 

 fail to see the advantage of " translocation" over "transfer," and 

 we are quite certain that it is less likely to cause confusion if we 

 speak of the " dispersal" rather than of the " distribution " of seeds. 



It may well make us humble as to the advance of physiology 

 since the days of Stephen Hales, that it still has to be ac- 

 knowledged that " no generally accepted solution of the much 

 discussed problem of the ascent of water has yet been attained " ; 

 and we remind ourselves of some of the divagations of Euskin into 

 botanical criticism in complaining that the term " sap," although 

 employed, does not appear to be anywhere explained or defined. 

 It does not appear in the index, and its use on pp. 201-2 in 

 connection with bleeding hardly agrees with that on p. 80 as a 

 synonym for latex. The section on the Assimilation of the Food- 

 materials appears to us one of the most valuable accessions to the 

 whole work, although" C0 2 -assimilation" is certainly an awkward 

 expression for speech, if not for writing. 



The section on Cryptogamia is certainly comprehensive, since 

 it comprises descriptions, all too brief, of the Myxomycetes and 

 Flagellata now mostly relegated to the animal kingdom. The 

 convenient recognition of the Lichenes as a distinct Class of 

 Thallophyta raises the number of Classes, stated as fourteen on 

 p. 332, to fifteen. Excellent as is the summary account (pp. 

 470-2) of fossil Cryptogams, considering the immense importance 

 of the questions connected with them, more space might be given 

 to this topic. Fossil gymnosperms are somewhat more adequately 

 treated (pp. 540-3) ; but the half page given to fossil angiosperms 

 (pp. 714-5) seems altogether insufficient. 



Modern view T s as to the probable origin of the Monocotyledons, 

 which are well summarised, lead to the treatment of this sub-class 

 at the close of Prof. Karsten's excellent section on Phanerogamia, 

 under which, by the way, the once popular term " Spermaphyta," 

 the inaccurate form of " Spermatophyta," finds only the barest 

 incidental mention. It is chiefly in this section of the work 

 that the beautiful coloured text-figures of official species, which 

 must render the book peculiarly attractive to the pharmacist, 

 occur. One of these on an earlier page, however, that of 

 Laburnum Aclami Poit., is a lesson on graft-hybrids in itself. 



