52 REVIEWS. 



medical students, and to all who would obtain a clear view of 

 the present state of vegetable anatomy and i)hysiology, — a 

 knowledge of which, most interesting in itself, is almost indis- 

 pensable to the correct understanding of the minute anatomy 

 and physiology of animals. Professor Mohl is, without ques- 

 tion, the first of vegetable anatomists, and his statements carry 

 with them the highest authority on this class of subjects. We 

 copy the short preface which he has contributed to the Eng- 

 lish translation, as it gives a clear view of the nature and 

 scope of the work. 



" Mr. Arthur Ilenfrey having informed me that he intends 

 publishing an English translation of the present treatise, I 

 take this opportunity of making known to the English reader 

 the purpose I had in view in the preparation of the book. 

 The following pages were not originally intended to appear as 

 an independent work, or to give a summary of the wide subject 

 of the Anatomy and Physiology of Plants, but appeared as an 

 article in the ' Cyclopedia of Physiology,' published by Dr. 

 Rudolph Wagner of Gottingen, drawn up to furnish students 

 of Animal Physiology, and more particularly the medical 

 profession, with a review of the anatomical and physiological 

 conditions of vegetables (of the cell), in order to enable them 

 to form a definite judgment upon the analogies whicli might 

 be drawn between the structure and vital functions of animals 

 and plants. This intention, together with the circumstance 

 that I was compelled to crowd the whole exposition into the 

 space of a few sheets, rendered it necessary to direct especial 

 attention to the individual cell, as the fundamental organ of 

 the vegetable organism. Since, however, the cell only pre- 

 sents itself in anatomical and physiological independence in 

 the lowest plants, and since, in the more highly organized 

 plants, both the structure and the physiological functions of 

 the individual cells become subject to greater dependence 

 upon the other pai'ts of the plant, in proportion as the collec- 

 tive organization of the vegetable is more complex ; moreover, 

 since functions then present themselves, of which no trace can 

 be found in the lower plants, it became requisite to take ac- 

 count of the plants of higher rank, and of the various organs 



