62 JOURNAL OF THE N.-Y. MICROSCOPICAL SOCIEIY. [April, 1894. 



the reader, as he examines the successive chapters with their thorough, clear, 

 and masterly exposition of the necessary successive steps in the knowledge of 

 the microscope and its applications. The book is one of the best of its kind : 

 a labor-saving implement to the beginner, in the class room or out ; and to the 

 amateur, who perhaps for years has been feeling his way and attempting in 

 various directions to invent methods of his own, an unspeakable boon in 

 condensing the experience of a host of workers, and bringing this so conve- 

 niently at hand where it can be laid hold of at once, as occasion requires. 

 Prof. Gage is to be congratulated on the able manner in which he has im- 

 proved and augmented the instruction in this volume. 



The Biology of Ferns by the Collodion Method. By 

 George F. Atkinson, Ph.B., Associate Professor of Crypto- 

 gamic Botany in Cornell University. Part I. — Descriptive, 

 with 163 illustrations in the text. Part 11. — Methods. New 

 York : Macmillan & Co., 1894. Pp. 134. Price, $2.00. 

 In seven chapters of Part I. of this work the author, in condensed but lucid 

 and satisfactory manner, conducts the reader through the subject of the 

 biology of ferns under two main subcHs-isions — the gametophytic phase, or 

 the prothallus, with its archegonia, antheridia, and resulting fertilization ; 

 and the sporophytic phase, or that of the popularly known fern proper, from 

 embryo through the examination of stem, root, and frond to the fructification, 

 and occasional sporophytic budding, or production of bulbs. In the eighth 

 and concluding chapter of the same part is a short exposition of the structure 

 of the Ophioglosseas, introduced, as the author says, because they "present 

 excellent subjects for comparative study." Part II. is an exposition of the 

 technique of the collodion method of infiltration and embedding employed in 

 securing the preparations demonstrating and illustrating the successive steps 

 of Part I. The highest commendation of this collodion method is the state- 

 ment that it has produced the beautiful and accurate illustrations here dis- ■ 

 played. The one hundred and sixty-three illustrations are all original, 

 chiefly by the author ; but the delicate and encouraging compliment of 

 accrediting each pupil as the preparator and draughtsman, when he has so 

 furnished an occasional illustration, is exceedingly refreshing in these days of 

 ordinarily free-hand appropriation of everything within reach considered as 

 advantageous for the occasion. The paper, presswork, and beautiful figures 

 illustrating the logically arranged and instructive text of this publication 

 combine to render it in every respect most admirable. The work is intended 

 primarily as a text book, a guide, instructor, and incentive in the class room 

 for those who have before them the coveted prize — " Ph.D." But it also 

 gently and invitingly opens the door of access, in view of many an amateur 

 outside the class room, to a department of examination and discovery among 

 the most fascinating in all the domain of botany. 



