554 



NATURE 



\_April 1 1 , I 



the Ustilaglneas. The two groups have Httle in common, 

 and it must not be supposed that their association in this 

 work imphes any near relationship between them. The 

 bond of union is rather to be found in their common 

 biological character as more or less injurious parasites. 



In Chapter VIII., the mycelium of the Ustilagineas is 

 described, and attention is specially called to the fact 

 that it usually spreads throughout the tissues of the host- 

 plant, thus differing from the localized mycelium of most 

 Uredineae. 



The next chapter treats of the development of the " teleu- 

 tospores" (resting-spores)ofthe Ustilaginese. The singular 

 processes by which the " spore-balls " arise in such genera 

 as Soroporium, Tubercinia, and Urocystis are clearly 

 described in accordance with the researches of von 

 Waldheim, Woronin, de Bary, and others. The facts 

 are not, as a rule, new, but they are well put together. 

 The germination of the teleutospores is described in the 

 following chapter. The extraordinary processes of con- 

 jugation, in which both the promycehum itself and the 

 sporidia so often take part, are described; and due weight 

 is given to Brefeld's important discovery that these cell- 

 unions do not take place when the spore is allowed to 

 germinate in a food-solution, instead of in pure water. 

 There are many points here which invite more detailed 

 notice, but this may be the better dispensed with, as most 

 of the facts have already been brought before English 

 readers, in the translation of de Bary's work and in some 

 of Prof. Marshall Ward's papers. 



The subject of Chapter XL, the infection of the host- 

 plants by the Ustilagineas, is of great practical interest. 

 In the case of the bunt {Tilletia tritici), it is well known 

 that the sporidia borne on the promycelium of the teleuto- 

 spores infect the embryo of the germinating grain, the 

 germ-tubes penetrating the cells of the leaf-sheath. But 

 how smut {Ustilago segetuni) infects wheat has long been 

 a mystery. The spores ripen in the young flowers, and 

 have disappeared long before the grain is mature. At- 

 tempts at infection of the grain or seedling are almost 

 always unsuccessful ; and, on the other hand, the protective 

 dressings of the grain, which are so effectual against bunt, 

 are of no avail as against the attacks of smut. The experi- 

 ments of Jensen render it most probable that the plant is 

 infected by the spores while flowering, and that either the 

 ovum itself is entered by the mycelium, or that the spores 

 remain dormant in the grain until its germination, and 

 that then the parasite " grows with the growth, and 

 strengthens with the strength " of the young plant. It 

 would appear, then, that the only remedy against the 

 attacks of the Fungus would lie in the destruction of all 

 affected ears at the earliest stage when the disease is 

 visible, and before the spores have ripened. 



The last two chapters of the introduction are among 

 the most interesting to specialists, but do not require any 

 analysis here. They deal with the culture of spores, and 

 with the artificial infection of plants. Under the latter 

 head it may be noted that only the Uredineee are taken 

 into account. The directions given are those of a master 

 of the subject, and cannot fail to be a most useful guide 

 to those who intend to undertake such investigations for 

 themselves. 



The longest, and no doubt the most valuable, part of 

 the work consists in the description of all British species 



of the two families; pp. 1 19-271 being devoted to the 

 Uredineae, and pp. 272-301 to the Ustilagineae. Atten- 

 tion has already been called to the admirable biological 

 notes by which the descriptions of all the more important 

 species are accompanied. In the specific diagnoses, the 

 aecidiospores (when present) are first described ; then the 

 uredospores, and, lastly the teleutospores. Next fol- 

 lows a complete list of synonyms, and then the host- 

 plant or plants are enumerated, after which the biology 

 of the species is discussed. The account of the Ustila- 

 gineae is completed by the description of a few genera, 

 such as Graphiola and Protomyces, of doubtful systematic 

 position. 



A glossary is appended to the work, and in some of 

 the explanations of terms there is room for criticism. 

 Thus, in defining conidium as " an asexual spore," it 

 seems to be too easily assumed that the other spores are 

 sexual. The word endochrome is no longer required, and 

 might perhaps be allowed to become obsolete, h. germ-pore 

 is not an " opening," but a pit, and a hypha does not neces- 

 sarily consist of " an elongated cell." The word periblctn 

 means the young cortex itself, not " that part of the root 

 of the host-plant which lies beneath the cortex," while 

 sterigma is certainly not " the same as basidium." 



The eight plates contain a great number of good figures, 

 many original, others taken from the works of de Bary 

 Brefeld, Woronin, &c. 



A list of the authors quoted is given, and the book is 

 especially well provided with indices, which are three in 

 number. The first, a very useful one, gives the names 

 of all the host-plants of the Uredine^ and Ustilagineas 

 respectively. Then we have a general biological index ; 

 and, lastly, an index of species, including all the 

 synonyms. 



The book is exceedingly well got up, but we must pro- 

 test against the vivid yellow of the cover, presumably 

 intended to recall the colour of the uredospores ! Perhaps 

 the decorous brown of the teleutospores would have been 

 more becoming if symbolical colouring was wanted. 



D. H. S. 



THOMAS ANDREWS. 

 The Scientific Papers of the late Thomas Andrews, M.D., 

 F.R.S., Vice-Presidefit and Professor of Chemistry, 

 Queen's College, Belfast. With a Memoir by P. G. 

 Tait, M.A., Sec. R.S.E., and A. Crum Brown, M.D., 

 F.R.S., Professors in the University of Edinburgh. 

 (London : Macmillan and Co., 1889.) 

 ^ 1 7" E have here in a compact form the biography and 

 VV scientific works of a man who has left his mark 

 on the science of his time. 



Born at Belfast in 181 3, Thomas Andrews after ac- 

 quiring the rudiments of his education at two excellent 

 public schools in his native town, went at the age of 

 fifteen to the University of Glasgow, where he attended 

 the classes of chemistry and natural philosophy for one 

 or two sessions ; and in the following years he continued 

 his studies at Paris, Dublin, and Edinburgh, taking the 

 degree of M.D. at Edinburgh in 1835. He immediately 

 began to practice as a physician at Belfast, and also to 

 teach chemistry as Professor in the Belfast College, which 

 was a higher department of the Belfast Academical Insti- 



