1898] SOME NEW BOOKS 425 
undoubtedly it would be in life. Below it, on a bottom that is 
apparently muddy, is a Holopus, which certainly ought to have been 
attached to the rocks, though not on the same page as the Pentacrinus, 
of which genus there appear to be other specimens, wildly waving 
about on a vertical precipice in the background. Fortunately, this is 
the only picture of the kind. The printing of the book is excellent, 
but the type and paper used have made the volumes rather too portly 
for comfort. With the works of the two Perriers, of Delage and 
Hérouard, of Blanchard with his corps of specialists, and of Roule, 
our friends across the Channel suffer from no lack of home-made 
text-books. And on this they are distinctly to be congratulated. 
PLANT LIFE 
PuaNtT Lire CoNSIDERED WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO ForRM AND Function. By 
Charles Reid Barnes, Professor of Plant Physiology in Chicago University. 12mo, 
pp. X+428, with 415 text-figures. Holt: New York, 1898. Price $1.12. 
WE have nothing but praise for this excellent introduction to the 
study of plants. The author describes it as an attempt to exhibit 
the variety and progressive complexity of the vegetative body; to 
discuss the more important functions ; to explain the unity of plan 
in both the structure and action of the reproductive organs; and 
finally to give an outline of the more striking ways in which plants 
adapt themselves to the world about them. It is meant to supple- 
ment genuine and regular work in the laboratory. There are four 
parts: Part I. The vegetative body, traces the increase in morphologi- 
cal differentiation from the unicellular organism to the seed-plant, and 
then discusses the general structure of root, shoot, stem, and leaves. 
As regards the terms primary and secondary, we note that the former 
is used to express the original root developed from the egg, the latter 
being applied to adventitious roots wherever developed. Part II. 
Physiology, deals with the general facts of the physiology of the 
individual, namely, maintenance of form, nutrition, growth, and move- 
ment. Reproduction is treated separately, under the headings vege- 
tative and sexual, in Part III. Part IV. Ecology, contains chapters 
dealing with forms of vegetation in relation to different sets of con- 
ditions; Mesophytes, or the ordinary land plants with which dwellers 
in fertile temperate climates are acquainted; Xerophytes, or plants 
adapted to dry conditions ; Hydrophytes, or those adapted to a more 
or less aquatic life. This part also comprises chapters on symbiosis, 
the relations of plants to animals, and the protection and distribution 
of spores and seeds. There are several useful appendices, including 
directions for a course of laboratory work, and for collecting and 
preserving material, with lists of apparatus, reagents, and reference 
books. An important feature of the volume is the great number 
of excellent figures, with an unusually full explanation in each case. 
THE PHYSIOLOGICAL StuDY OF PLANTS 
PRACTICAL PLANT PHystoLocy : an Introduction to original research for students and 
teachers of Science, Medicine, Agriculture, and Forestry, By Dr W. Detmer. 
Translated from the second German edition by S. A. Moor. 8vo, pp. xx +556, with 
184 illustrations. London: Sonnenschein & Co, 1898. Price 12s. 
Yet another botanical hand-book translated from the German! The 
translator’s desire in undertaking this work is to promote the teaching 
2G 
