JNOVEMBER 13, I919J 



IS/il U Kt. 



275 



definite starting-point, and can be examined and 

 studied in detail without recourse to the micro- 

 scope. It is pointed out that in the plan of con- 

 struction of the hig-her plants the outstanding 

 feature is the capacity for indefinite vegetative 

 increase which may be termed "continued 

 embryology." 



The cellular construction of the plant and the 

 various functions of the cell, cell-division, and 

 protoplasmic continuity naturally follow, and 

 then the tissues are dealt with in further detail. 

 The sequence of events next leads to an account 

 of leaf and root from the morphological point of 

 view, followed by chapters on the relation of 

 plants to water, and on nutrition, storage, and 

 respiration. In the chapter on growth and move- 

 ment due attention is paid to the statolith theory 

 in connection with geotropism. Succeeding 

 chapters deal fully with the mechanical construc- 

 tion of the plant body, modifications of form in 

 the vegetative system, such as bulbs, tubers, 

 climbing plants, etc., the irregular nutrition of 

 parasitic, semi-parasitic, and carnivorous plants, 

 and vegetative propagation, all of which aspects 

 of plant life are fully discussed with a wealth of 

 well-chosen examples. 



The inflorescence and flower and the formation 

 and development of the seed with all that is 

 entailed occupy some eighty pages and bring this 

 first division of the book to its logical conclusion. 

 This portion is not a mere chronicle of well- 

 known facts, but is illuminated by a considera- 

 tion of flower colours, pollination, and the details 

 of fertilisation, and closes with a description of 

 the mode of dispersal of some of the better-known 

 seeds and fruits. 



The second part of the book is arranged in four 

 divisions, dealing respectively with the Gymno- 

 sperms, Pteridophyta, Bryophyta, and Thallo- 

 phyta, followed by two chapters, one on sex and 

 heredity, the other on the alternation of genera- 

 tions and the land habit. These two essays very 

 fittingly come at the end as a summary of the 

 previous chapters dealing with the life-histories 

 of the lower plants. 



As in the earlier part of the book, these more 

 specialised chapters on the ferns, mosses, fungi, 

 and algae are treated on broad lines, and there 

 is no superfluity of detail lo obscure the salient 

 features. 



The book concludes with two app>endices, one 

 on the types of floral construction in Angio- 

 sperms, the other on vegetable foodstuffs, both 

 of which considerably enhance the value of the 

 volume. In the former a few types of flower are 

 descrilx^d, and notes are added on the natural 

 families to which the particular examples belong. 

 The plants chosen are easily accessible and also 

 represent characteristic features of families the 

 products of which are of economic importance. 

 Further, they are of interest in connection with 

 the production and dispersal of seeds, floral 

 biology, etc. The illustrations in this appendix 

 have been drawn for the most part by Dr. J. M. 

 Thompson, and are particularly clear and useful. 

 \'0. 261 1, VOL. 104] 



The glossary-index, which completes the book, 

 occupies thirty-two pages, and furnishes a further 

 example of the thorough and careful manner in 

 which Prof. Bower has carried out his object. 



We have for so long been accustomed to rely 

 on translations of German text-books for our 

 elementary botanical students that it is very grati- 

 fying to find them superseded by so excellent and 

 comprehensive a study of the living plant from 

 one of the most eminent of our own professors 

 and teachers. A. W. H. 



OUR BOOKSHELF. 



Influenza: A Discussion opened by Sir Arthur 

 Newshohne. Pp. 102. (London : Longmans, 

 Green, and Co., n.d.) Price 35. 6d. net. 

 The discussion on influenza at the Royal Society 

 of Medicine in November last summarises 

 very completely our knowledge of this obscure 

 epidemic disease. Sir Arthur Newsholme, in his 

 opening remarks, expressed the opinion that 

 influenza is a specific disease recognisable in 

 severe outbreaks, and pointed out that, with the 

 exception of plague and cholera, it has on occa- 

 sion travelled farther and more rapidly over the 

 world than any other recognised disease, and that 

 it is one over which preventive medicine so far 

 has secured little or no control. 



Dr. Stevenson directed attention to certain 

 features of the 1918 epidemic which differed from 

 those of the past twenty-seven years, viz. (i) its 

 intensity was greatly in excess of that of any of 

 its predecessors, and (2) the sudden and startling 

 change which occurred in 1918 in the age dis- 

 tribution of influenzal mortality. In all previous 

 years the majority of deaths — generally about 

 70 per cent. — occurred at ages above forty-five. 

 But in July, 1918, only about 30, and in October 

 about 20, per cent, of the persons dying were 

 more than forty-five years of age, and only 5-5 

 per cent, of the deaths of this outbreak were at 

 ages above sixty-five, as agamst an average of 

 37 per cent, for the years 1890-1917. 



Several speakers dealt with the aspects of the 

 epidemic in the Navy and in the Army, and in 

 France, America, and South Africa, which corre- 

 spond closely with those observed among the civil 

 population here. 



With regard to the bacteriology of the disease, 

 most of the observers noted the presence of the 

 influenza bacillus, the pneumococcus and the 

 streptococcus, but no very definite opinion is ex- 

 pressed as to the nature of the virus. Prophy- 

 lactic vaccination receives scant notice, probably 

 because the data were insufficient at the time of 

 the meeting. 



As regards treatment, Mr. E. B. Turner 

 claimed that large doses of salicin constitute a 

 specific, and certainly his experience, based on the 

 observation of 2500 cases, suggests that this drug 

 deserves an extended trial. 



R. T. Hewlett. 



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