STUDIES IN SEEDS AND FRUITS 109 



the principal references. But here again the ineptitude of the 

 arrangement is manifest ; no reference to the plates is given — 

 for this one has to turn hack to a list (facing the introduction), 

 of which no indication is given in the contents of the book. 

 Moreover, although the principle of having only one index is 

 rigidly adhered to, the index is far from complete — e.g., the 

 synonyms, other than those under Iris, are omitted (Xiphion 

 for example finds no place). 



We regret to find so much ground for criticism in so handsome 

 and so important a volume, but we have by no means exhausted 

 the notes which we jotted down when going through the work. 

 These of course relate to points which concern the botanist only, 

 and the horticulturist, to whom the book chiefiy appeals, will not 

 be affected by such matters of detail. The lovers of beautiful 

 pictures also will not be deterred from acquiring the volume, 

 for the appeal to them is in no way lessened by what has 

 been said as to the letterpress. But the University of Cambridge 

 has thrown away an opportunity of producing a work which 

 might easily have been as beautiful in its typography as it is in 

 its illustrations. 



Studies in Seeds and Fruits : an Investigation with the Balance. 

 By H. B. Guppy, M.B., F.K.S.E. Williams & Norgate. 

 Price 15s. net. 



Dr. Guppy is to be envied in that he can devote all his time to 

 original research, and can apparently pursue such research in any 

 part of the world to which its needs may direct him. His 

 previous work led us to expect at his hands painstaking observa- 

 tion and experiment, and cautious unprejudiced deductions. Such 

 work is bound to yield some results of interest and value. In the 

 present volume we have these same qualities ; and yet we feel 

 dissatisfied with the result. In the first place, Dr. Guppy 

 restricts his methods to the simplest — to little beyond an oven 

 and a balance — when we should often be glad of the additional 

 information that chemical testing or analysis could afford. 

 Secondly, he glories in the discursive character of his work, a 

 feature which renders it very difficult to estimate with any regard 

 to brevity or coherency. Lastly, it is borne in upon us that the 

 book is too big, that its five hundred pages contain masses of 

 notebook details which we could well spare, though these serve, of 

 course, to demonstrate the author's conscientiousness. We 

 hasten, too, to acknowledge that he lays us under an obligation 

 by providing excellent summaries of his chapters. 



After this grumble, however, one is fain to admit that his 

 results, though mostly physiological, constantly prove very sugges- 

 tive in many other directions. An impermeable seed-covering 

 proves effective in securing delayed germination or greater lon- 

 gevity for the resting seed. Hygroscopicity is shown to be a 

 physical, rather than a vital, property; and it is certainly a 

 warning against much of the exaggerated post-Darwinian teleo- 

 logy that Dr. Guppy is able to show most convincingly that 



