Apkil 20, 191 1] 



NATURE 



241 



Jish researches. Surely in the story of the meta- 

 bolism of the carbohydrates room might have been 

 found for the classic work of Brown and Morris, 

 and Brown and Escombe on the physiology of the 

 foliage leaf and of the germinating barley grain ; in 

 )ther places for the work of the Cambridge school on 



|the enzymes, the phenomena of gaseous interchange, 

 md the conditions of respiration ; and for the re- 



"^searches of Chittenden, Vines, and others on the 

 phenomena of proteolysis. The discovery of erepsin 

 is not mentioned, though its importance in the meta- 

 bolic phenomena of proteins is beyond dispute. The 

 author is apparently satisfied with the researches of 

 the German scientific world, which, from the point of 

 view of the advancement of knowledge, can only be 

 regretted. J. R. G. 



AGRICULTURAL ESSAYS. 

 Lectures Agricoles. By Prof. C. Seltensperger. Pp. 

 576. (Paris: J.-B. Bailliere et Fils, 191 1.) Price 

 5 francs. 



IL y a trois manieres d'enseigner : on peut instruire 

 en amusant, instruire en ennuyant, et meme 

 •ennuyer sans instruire." The book before us opens 

 with this incontestable statement, and when we reach 

 the end we feel that the editor has kept well clear 

 both of the second and third methods, and has suc- 

 ceeded in maintaining interest throughout. 



The plan of the book is, we believe, entirely new 

 in agriculture. It is not a text-book in the ordinary 

 ^ense of the word. There is a scheme running 

 through it, but the chapters are not written by one 

 Muthor, or even written expressly for the book, but 

 ?irc taken from the writings of the best known French 

 agriculturists. Thus there is a lack of continuity and 

 in absence of detail, but by way of compensation the 

 'cader gets a fine breadth of view, and he is intro- 

 duced to the best agricultural experts in his country. 



M. Schloesing writes on the soil, and succeeds in 

 a very few pages in giving a picture that will carry 

 the student a long way in his studies. M. Nivoit 

 writes on railways and agriculture ; he points out that 

 I'Vance is not specially rich in minerals, but she has 

 a good soil and an incomparable geographical posi- 

 tion; thus a great variety of crops is possible, and good 

 transport facilities become indispensable. Instances 

 ue given of what has already been accomplished : the 

 Compagnie Paris-Lyon-Mediterranee carries fruit from 

 \vignon to Pari- in 24 hours, to London in 40 hours, 

 to Hamburg and Berlin in 80 hours. The advantage 

 to the grower is enormous, but the local consumer 

 may suffer; where formerly he could often buy fruit 

 it very low prices, he may now have to pay actually 

 more than in some of the markets further off. This, 

 however, is a detail that is easily remedied. 



The applications of electricity in agriculture are 

 dealt with by .M. Petit. It is regarded only as a 

 -ource of power, the direct effects of the. discharge 

 n plant-growth not being considered. As a driving 

 [lOwer it has many advantages, and it is attracting 

 attention in France; for us here, unfortunately, it is 

 as yet inaccessible in country districts. 



A numbor of chapters deal with the general economic 

 i\Q. 2164, VOL. 86] 



and social problems of agriculture. Where there are 

 so many small holdings and so few hedges as in 

 France, the question of boundary lines between one 

 man's property and his neighbours' becomes a fruitful 

 source of dispute and of vexatious litigation. M. 

 Muret deals with this problem, and gives some very 

 useful advice to the disputants. 



There are a number of admirable illustrations 

 throughout the volume, which, however, are not 

 always connected with the text, and are sometimes 

 not even explained. In several chapters, especially 

 those dealing with insect and fungoid pests, the 

 absence of detail is felt more than it is elsewhere. 

 References are, however, always given to inexpensive 

 text-books where the further information can be ob- 

 tained. Considering the very wide range covered — 

 practically the whole of the agriculture of France — • 

 and the very modest price of the book, it must be 

 put down as one of the most generally useful of the 

 admirable series to which it belongs. 



MICROSCOPY FOR ZOOLOGISTS AND 

 ANATOMISTS. 

 Grundzilge dcr niikroskopischen Technik fiir Zoologen 

 tind Anatomen. By A. B. Lee and P. Mayer. 

 Vierte Auflage. Pp. vii + 515. (Berlin: R. Fried- 

 lander and Son, 1910.) 

 T N this the fourth edition of an established publica- 

 -•- tion the authors have not found it necessary to 

 make any material alteration in the contents of the 

 previous edition. They have added, however, much 

 new substance derived mainly from various micro- 

 scopical journals; medical periodicals, numerous 

 though they be, having, to the authors' regret, been 

 almost entirely unproductive. As will be gathered 

 (from the title the scope of the work is limited to 

 anatoiiiical and zoological microscopy. Such limita- 

 tion is strictly observed. Even in the general para- 

 graphs all temptation to wander off into by-paths is 

 sternly resisted. Although the authors give freely 

 of their own experience, they refer largely to the 

 labours of others. The book is, in fact, crowded with 

 condensed information, which has been industriously 

 and exhaustively compiled during the last four years 

 from suitable sources in many languages. References 

 to these sources arc always given. Nine chapters (131 

 pages) are devoted to the preliminary operations of 

 killing, fixing, hardening, and imbedding. Seven 

 chapters (94 pages) deal with staining; five (45 pages) 

 with cements, varnishes, injections, and bleaching. 

 Nine (140 pages) of the remaining ten chapters treat 

 minutely the specific examination of the embryo and 

 of various tissues and organs : one chapter (39 

 pages) is restricted to invertebrates. There is a 

 copious index of no less than sixty-two pages, so that 

 consultation of the contents is easilv made. 



A glance at any chapter, or group of chapters, 

 readily reveals the thoroughness of compilation and. 

 the judgment of the authors. Thus, the essential 

 process of imbedding is introduced by a general 

 chapter (No. 6) on the subject. This chapter {inter 

 alia) summarises the merits and demerits of the chief 

 varieties of microtomes. It also summarises the ad- 



