i68 



NATURE 



[April 7, 192 1 



wattles, probably Casuarius galeatus, Vieill. ; and 

 a Masked or Blue-faced Gannet (Sula cyanops, 

 S. personata) from the Royal Scottish Museum. 



The Elder Edda and Ancient Scandinavian 

 Drama. By Dr. Bertha S. Phillpotts. Pp. 

 xi + 2i6. (Cambridg-e : At the University Press, 

 1920.) 21s. net. 

 The publication of this important monograph on 

 the Elder Edda furnishes a scientific basis for 

 the interpretation of this collection of primitive 

 Icelandic poetry. Up to the present the attempt 

 to localise these poems by differentiating between 

 the literary and historical outlook of the Nor- 

 wegians and Icelanders has yielded contradictory 

 results, and the same is true of the effort 

 to establish a relative chronology of the poems 

 by attributing cases of similarity of expression 

 or even of metre to direct imitation. In short, 

 the reliance on philology, and on philology alone, 

 as a key to the problem has proved to be fruit- 

 less. The line of investigation now followed, 

 based on recent work in connection with the 

 drama generally, and particularly with that of the 

 Greeks, promises more hope of success. The 

 poems are now shown to have originated in primi- 

 tive folk-drama, for the existence of which ample 

 evidence is adduced. The Eddie poets failed to 

 secure epical expression because they were ham- 

 pered by this dramatic tradition. The book is not 

 easy reading, because the author has tried to com- 

 bine the historical with the literary interpretation, 

 and its completion has been hindered by the loss 

 of some notes and manuscript while she was en- 

 gaged in war work. It is, however, a fine piece 

 of literary criticism, and the translations of pas- 

 sages in the Edda which form an important part 

 of the text are so good that it may be hoped that 

 the author will supply a complete version of this 

 remarkable collection of early poems. 



An Introduction to Bacterial Diseases of Plants. 

 By Erwin F. Smith. Pp. xxx-f-688. (Phila- 

 delphia and London : W, B. Saunders Co., 

 1920.) 50S. net. 



This treatise, the first of its kind on the bacterial 

 diseases of plants, is written by a recognised 

 authority, whose work epitomises a considerable 

 part of the history of the subject from the time 

 when Burrill discovered, in 1882, that the fire- 

 blight of apple- and pear-trees is due to Bacillus 

 amylovorus. Since that time the number of 

 known bacterial diseases in plants has greatly in- 

 creased, and such diseases have now been de- 

 scribed and studied in a large number of orders 

 of flowering plants, as well as in Cycads and 

 Pinaceae. The first part of this work deals with 

 the general relations of the bacteria to the host 

 plants, the second part with methods of culture 

 and technique — a field in which the author is a 

 past master — while the main body of the work is 

 devoted to a detailed study of fourteen selected 

 diseases, including Bacterium campestre, the 

 cause of black-rot in Crucifers ; Bacillus phyto- 

 phthorus, which produces a black-rot in potatoes; 



NO. 2684, VOL. 107] 



B. amylovorus, and Bacterium tumefaciens, the 

 cause of crown-gall in many plants. The last- 

 named produces tumours in the plant which the 

 author, in his pioneer studies of cross-inoculation, 

 has not hesitated to compare with cancer. The 

 work is admirably illustrated, and will be of great 

 service to all who are interested in plant 

 pathology. R. R. G. 



Highways and Byways in Northumhria. By 

 P. Anderson Graham. Pp. xviii-f38o. (Lon- 

 don : Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1920.) 75. 6d. 

 net. 



This volume is mainly of architectural and archaeo- 

 logical interest, and should prove a delightful 

 companion to all whose interests He in those 

 directions. Mr. Graham takes his readers up and 

 down the country, missing little that is quaint or 

 has the romance of age. Naturally, he has much 

 to say about the Roman wall and Holy Island, 

 but the book is well balanced, and shows no 

 undue favour to any part of the county. There 

 is some account of the wild cattle of Chillingham, 

 and a few notes on the bird life of the Fame 

 Islands, but otherwise natural history comes in 

 for little notice. More than a hundred sketches 

 by the late Mr. Hugh Thomson add to the charm 

 of the book. 



Botany with Agricultural Applications. By Prof. 

 J. N. Martin. Second edition, revised. 

 Pp. xii + 604. (New York : John Wiley and 

 Sons, Inc.; London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 

 1920.) 21S. net. 



Although another introductory botanical text- 

 book might seem superfluous, yet this one, written 

 especially for agricultural students, has certain 

 features which justify its existence. The first part 

 is concerned with the structure and physiology 

 of seed plants, and a useful feature is the almost 

 exclusive use of plants which are of interest par- 

 ticularly to the farmer in the Middle Western 

 States, where the work was written. The second 

 part takes up all the plant groups, and again 

 plants of economic interest are introduced in many 

 instances. The final chapters form an elementary 

 introduction to the subjects of ecology, variation, 

 heredity, and evolution in plants. Many new 

 drawings are introduced, and although they vary 

 much in quality, some of them will form a useful 

 addition to plant illustrations. 



Phytoplankton of the Inland Lakes of Wisconsin. 

 Part i. By G. M. Smith. (Wis. Geol. and Nat. 

 Hist. Survey, Bull. No. 57, Scientific Series, 

 No. 12.) Pp. iii-l-2434-5i plates. (Madison, 

 Wis., 1920.) 



This work is a systematic treatment of the Myxo- 

 phyceae, Phaeophyceae, Heterokontae, and the 

 Chlorophyceae, excluding the Desmidiaceae, of the 

 region mentioned. The large number of forms 

 considered are well illustrated with line draw- 

 ings, and several new genera and species are 

 described. 



