November 24, 192 1] 



NATURE 



397 



unpublished. The book serves to complete the 

 life-history of one who has been styled a " hero 

 and tyjie of the intellectual energ^y of the 

 cig-hteenth century," and whose name, in spite 

 of his errors and his misguided loyalty to a false 

 philosophy, is imperishably fixed in the annals of 

 science. T. E. Thorpe. 



The Actinomycetes. 



Morphologie und Biologic der Strahlenpilze. 

 (Actinomyceten.) By Prof. Rudolf Lieske. 

 Pp. ix + 292+Tafel 4. (Leipzig: Gebruder 

 Borntraeger, 192 1.) 108 marks. 



THIS volume by Prof. Rudolf Lieske, of the 

 Botanical Institute at Heidelberg, on the 

 morphology and biology of the Actinomycetes, 

 forms a valuable addition to the literature of this 

 subject. In a general introductory chapter there 

 are an account of the occurrence of Actinomvcetes 

 in Nature and an annotated list of recorded species, 

 references being given to original descriptions. 

 This section also contains a discussion of the rela- 

 tion of Actinomycetes to Bacteria, Mycobacteria, 

 Hyphomycetes, etc., the conclusion — from which 

 many of us Avould dissent — being that the former 

 are a primitive stem from w^hich the latter have 

 been derived. 



The second section, dealing with the morphologj- 

 of Actinomycetes, suffers from the lack of a 

 thorough comparative study of growth forms 

 under different standardised conditions. Still. 

 Prof. Lieske approaches his subject with a more 

 experimental and dynamic attitude of mind than 

 that of a recent American investigator of Actino- 

 mycete morphology-, and his results are cor- 

 respondingly enlightened. In the study of higher 

 organisms there has been developed a physiologi- 

 cal anatomy ; in the study of lower organisms 

 perhaps our greatest need is a physiological 

 morphology. When we abandon teleology and 

 learn to interpret shape and structure in terms 

 of physico-chemical relationships we shall begin 

 to build a true micro-organismal morphology. 

 The Actinomycetes would be a good group on 

 which to commence. Prof. Lieske finds that thev 

 p>ossess a true mycelium with typical monopodial 

 branching, and " Luftsporen " are formed endo- 

 genously. The questions of cell nuclei and a 

 possible primitive sexuality are left open, but it is 

 disappointing to find "involution forms " dis- 

 missed as merely teratological growths — surely 

 mycologists and bacteriologists have too long 

 been content with this futile label. 



The third section, dealing with the physiologv 

 XO. 2717, VOL. 108] 



of Actinomycetes, is perhaps the best, but again 

 suffers from a too timid and unimaginative view- 

 point. There is the usual consideration of the 

 relation of the organisms to carbon, nitrogen, etc 

 — all useful data ; but the very important enzymic 

 relations of Actinomycetes, their antagonistic or 

 additive reactions with other micro-organisms and 

 their function in the soil economy, the very 

 interesting pigments produced — these and other 

 vital issues are treated too summarily. The 

 fourth section deals with animal and human 

 diseases such as "Madura foot," "lumpy jaw," 

 etc. There is also a useful summarv of methods 

 of staining and the preparation of specimens. 

 The last section of eight pages concerns the 

 .Actinomycetes in their relation to higher plants, 

 and is merely a very inadequate account of potato 

 scab and the root nodules of the alder. The work 

 closes with a bibliography of 378 titles, of which 

 322 are German, while important works such as 

 Poncet's comprehensive monograph are omitted. 



The most serious difficulty in the study of 

 Actinomycetes is the specific determination of the 

 organisms isolated, and here Prof. Lieske 's work 

 gives no help. It needs to be supplemented by 

 Drechsler's beautiful drawings in the Botanical 

 Gazette and Waksman's cultural data in the 

 Journal of Bacteriology. The book is finely pro- 

 duced with 114 text illustrations and four beauti- 

 fully coloured plates, and in spite of its defects is 

 a very valuable addition indeed to the literature 

 of this important and obscure group of organisms. 



W. B. Brierley. 



Emin Pasha's Last Collections. 

 Die Tagebiicher von Dr. Emin Pascha. Her- 

 ausgegeben niit UnterstCitzung des Hamburg- 

 ischen Staates und der Haniburgischen Wissen- 

 schaftlichen Stiftung von Dr. Franz Stuhlmann. 

 Band 6, Zoologische Aiifoeichnungen Emin's 

 und seine Briefe an Dr. G. Hartlaub bearbeitet 

 von Prof. Dr. H. Schubotz. Pp. viii-i-301. 

 (Hamburg und Braunschweig : Georg A\'ester- 

 mann, 1921.) 200 marks. 



THE volume under review gives us notes, 

 mainly ornithological, on the last collec- 

 tions made by this remarkable German-Jewish ex- 

 plorer in the equatorial Egyptian Sudan, including 

 the south-eastern part of the Bahr-al-ghazal 

 region, the Latuka-Lango district, and the north- 

 west coast of the Albert Nyanza ; but the author 

 treats also of birds and mammals which have 

 come under his observation in the countries 

 between the south shores of the \'ictoria Lake and 



