224 NATURAL SCIENCE [October 
pages filled with theory and bristling with technical terms. Dr 
Goebel, professor at Munich University, is to be congratulated on the 
attempt in his recently published Organographie der Pflanzen (part 
1) (Fischer, Jena) to clothe and breathe the breath of hfe into 
those dry bones. Taking his text from Herbert Spencer when 
insisting on the interdependence of structure and function, and the 
impossibility of giving any true explanation of natural phenomena 
without keeping in view this co-operation, he puts before us a 
system of morphology based on physiology and biology. As in the 
case of most reformers he sometimes goes too far. Few botanists 
will follow him, when, for instance, he sets aside entirely homologies 
of stem and leaf-structures, preferring instead physiological analogies 
as a basis of terminology. 
Notwithstanding such occasional examples of over-zealousness, 
Prof. Goebel’s book is a most useful addition to botanical literature,. 
and should be read and marked by all advanced students and 
teachers of botany. The subject matter falls under five sections, 
namely, general segmentation of the plant-body ; symmetry relations; 
difference in formation of organs at different stages of development ; 
young forms, malformations and their significance for organography ; 
and influence of correlation and external stimuli upon form. We are 
especially glad to note the clear-headed treatment of the section on 
malformations which have been too much pressed into the service of 
morphology. Malformations, which by the way cannot be sharply 
distinguished from variations, follow certain laws, and are either in- 
herited or caused by external factors. The study of monstrosities 
lends support to Sach’s theory of ‘Stoff und Form,’ which insists 
that ‘differences in form of plant-organs are based on differences in 
material, and that alterations of form are due to alterations in the 
nutritive processes.” 
RIND FUNGUS AND SUGAR CANE 
THE Experimental Fields Station at Skerretts School, Antigua, has 
just issued a report by Messrs Francis Watts and F. R. Shepherd 
on the results obtained in the experimental cultivation of the Sugar 
Cane. These are a continuation of those which have been conducted 
since 1891, and comprise a study of a number of varieties of cane 
which have been established at the station for six years, an attempt 
to introduce additional varieties, and a record of results obtained on 
the applications of various manurial substances to the Bourbon cane 
in the hope of ascertaining the manurial requirements of the sugar 
cane under the conditions prevailing at Skerretts. 
The chief result seems to be that the Rind fungus (7'richosphaeria) 
is a specific disease, because it cannot be attributed to a deficiency 
of lime in the soil as some writers have suggested. The disease 
