SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE. 



and the same phenomena of reproduction. 

 As the beginning of the plants and of the 

 study of them we are told of the living prin- 

 ciple in them, represented by the protoplasts, 

 which are considered as the seat of life, and 

 of their movements, secretions, and construct- 

 ive activity, and their communication with one 

 another and with the outer world. The next 

 steps are the absorption of nutriment from 

 inorganic substances and organic and the 

 changes it produces in the soil; the con- 

 duction of food; and the formation of or- 

 ganic matter from the absorbed inorganic 

 food, with the functions of chlorophyll and 

 the green leaves. Metabolism and the trans- 

 port of materials are considered with refer- 

 ence to the organic compounds in plants, the 

 transport of substances in living plants, and 

 the propelling forces in the conversion and 

 distribution of materials. Under the head- 

 ing of the Growth and Construction of Plants 

 are included the Theory of Growth, Growth 

 and Heat, and the Ultimate Structure of 

 Plants. The last chapter of the present 

 volume relates to plant forms as completed 

 structures, and in it are discussed the pro- 

 gressive stages in complexity of structure 

 from unicellular plants to plant bodies and 

 the forms of leaf, stem, and root structures. 

 The volume concludes with the observation 

 that the just pride and satisfaction we may 

 have in what we have gained in the knowl- 

 edge of plants "must not blind us to the 

 recognition of the fact that most questions 

 concerning the life of plants are as yet only 

 at the commencement of their solution." 

 The work is illustrated by about one thou- 

 sand original wood-cuts and sixteen plates in 

 oil colors. 



Menschutkirfs Analytical Chemistry* is 

 a college manual embracing both qualita- 

 tive and quantitative analysis. Its most 

 distinctive feature is the care that the au- 

 thor has taken to make the student under- 

 stand the reasons for what he is doing. In 

 the qualitative determination of metals the 

 corresponding compounds of all the metals 

 of a group are studied, and the conditions 

 necessary for the separation of one group 

 from another are deduced (General Reac- 



* Analytical Chemistry. By N. Menschutkin. 

 Translated by James Locke. London and New 

 York: Macmillan & Co. Pp.612, 8vo. Price, $4 

 net. 



tions), after which the behavior of the 

 compounds relied upon for detecting single 

 metals (Special Reactions) is considered. A 

 systematic course of analysis for the group 

 in hand follows. With the metalloids, on 

 the contrary, the special reactions of these 

 elements and their compounds are first con- 

 sidered, and the student then passes to the 

 complicated methods required for detecting 

 the elements when occurring together. In 

 the quantitative part the chief methods of 

 gravimetric and volumetric analysis and the 

 analysis of organic compounds are set forth. 

 Here the author has followed also, so far as 

 practicable, the procedure employed in the 

 qualitative part. 



It is generally accepted now that all life 

 originated in the sea, and very probably in 

 the littoral or coast region. The constantly 

 varying conditions here, due to the surf and 

 the tides, doubtless had a large share in de- 

 termining form and structure ; the violence 

 of the surf beating its inhabitants to death, 

 and the retreat of the tide exposing them to 

 the attacks of predatory birds and beasts 

 and to new atmospheric conditions. Hence 

 in all probability have originated the various 

 forms of adaptation which are calculated to 

 bring about the survival of the fittest. The 

 widespread effect of these factors in shaping 

 present forms lends a special interest to the 

 study of the littoral life of to-day. The general 

 plan of classification in the work before us * 

 is not that of any single authority. The au- 

 thors have adopted the views of the leading 

 specialists in the various groups. While 

 this has the advantage of placing before the 

 student the results of recent investigation, 

 it occasions a certain number of discrepan- 

 cies where the departments overlap, which 

 are likely to lead to confusion. Up to re- 

 cent times the mollusca have been regarded 

 as one of the four subdivisions of the great 

 family Malacozoa. The progress of investi- 

 gation, however, tends to the belief that the 

 mollusca are not so closely related to these 

 groups as such a classification implies. The 

 authors think that any attempt definitely to 

 relate them to one group or another is to go 



* Mollusks and Recent and Fossil Brachiopods. 

 Vol. Ill of the Cambridge Natural History. By 

 A. H. Cooke, A. E. Shipley, and P. R. C. Reed. 

 London and New York: Macmillan & Co, Pp. 

 535. Price, $2.CO. 



