603 



that the spiral is the typical disposition, assume that the elongation 

 is suspended from time to time, to allow of the accumulation of the 

 cycle into a circle, and that each internode separating these circles is 

 made up of as many internodes or cauline merithals as the whorl 

 contains leaves." — p. 81. 



There may be nothing new in all this, but it is clearly and neatly 

 expressed, and much good matter is compressed without injury. It 

 is, however, very evident that Mr. Henfrey's strong point is structure : 

 he has not only read, but understood what has been done by our con- 

 tinental neighbours, and has taken the now unusual plan of following 

 and verifying their observations. For a long time our magazines and 

 other publications, in default of original contributions, have been 

 crammed with translations from the German, not because such papers 

 are good or useful, but because they are German : the Ray Society 

 presents glaring instances of this, and circulates rubbish which the 

 translators appear to understand as little as those who attempt to 

 read it.* It is quite refreshing to find an author really understanding 

 and appreciating the Germans, and from his own knowledge of the 

 subject capable of digesting, and even in some instances, checking 

 and correcting slight errors in their views, and this Mr. Henfrey has 

 certainly achieved. We shall conclude our notice with the following 

 extracts from Mr. Henfrey's chapter on the " Physiology of Vegeta- 

 tion." 



" The vital processes are so intimately connected, and so greatly 

 depend upon each other, that divisions into distinct classes or sys- 

 tems of function must be in a great measure artificial. But an ar- 

 rangement sufficiently natural may be found by taking the phenome- 

 na in the order of their succession in the life of the plant ; these, 

 indeed, move as it were in a circle ; the highest function, develop- 

 ment, being at once dependent on and reproducing those of absorp- 

 tion and respiration ; but since absorption must precede all else, and 

 is that function which is most particularly dependent upon external 

 circumstances, it affords a convenient starting-point. Next in order 

 will follow the circulation^ or to speak more correctly, the distribution 

 of the fluids absorbed, bringing them within the influence of respira- 



* An extraordinary puff of this Society has just appeared in the 'Athenaeum,' but 

 whether this puff be a legitimate bait for new members, laid by one of the salaried of- 

 ficers of the Society, or a paid advertisement, or a burlesque, slily slipped into the edi- 

 tor's box by some malicious wag, it is difficult to say. Be this as it may, the puff, 

 like the squeaking of Punch, arrests our attention, and we now feel it a duty to review 

 a set of publications which previously we felt inclined to pass by without notice. 



