.16 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



GENERAL NOTICES. 



Tiie author's Fungi : their Nature, Influ- 

 ence, and Uses, which appeared in 1875 and 

 passed through several editions, has long 

 been the standard, and probably one of the 

 best and most comprehensive works in our 

 language on the subject. The rapid ad- 

 vance in knowledge of the life history and 

 development of these organisms during the 

 last ten years, and especially the lai'ge 

 scheme of classification carried out by Prof. 

 Saccardo, have, however, made it essential 

 that, in order to keep pace with the times, a 

 guide and introduction should be prepared 

 for the use of students, which, without super- 

 seding the volume of 1875 as a popular in- 

 structor, should treat the subject more after 

 the manner of a text-book, adapted to the 

 illustration of recent discoveries, and an ex- 

 planation of the methods of classification. 

 The present work * is the result of an effort 

 to supply this want. The first part of the 

 book organography relates to the general 

 character and features of the fungi. An at- 

 tempt is made in the introduction to differ- 

 entiate them from the other cryptogams, 

 and particularly from the other thallophytes, 

 the algae and the lichens. Then the my- 

 celium is described, and in the succeeding 

 chapters the carpophore, or the supporter of 

 the fructification ; the receptacle, or envelope 

 of the fructification where there is an en- 

 velope; the fructification, fertilization, di- 

 chocarpism, or the existence of two distinct 

 forms of fructification ; saprophytes and 

 parasites, or fungi that grow on dead and 

 those that grow on living organisms; and 

 the constituents of fungi. The second part 

 is devoted to classification, and begins with 

 a chapter on fungi in general, after which 

 the phycoroycetes, the higher fungi, the me- 

 romycetes, and the mycomycetes, and their 

 subdivisions naked, spored, puffball, dis- 

 coid, subterranean, capsular, gaping, conju- 

 gating, rust, mold, and slime fungi, and the 

 rest are described. The third part includes 

 chapters on the Census of Fungi and their 



* Introduction to the Study of Fungi. By M. 

 C. Cooke. Pp. 330, 8vo. London : Adam and 

 Charles Black ; New York : Macmillan & Co. 

 Price, $3.50. 



geographical distribution, and an appendix 

 on collecting, to all of which are added a 

 glossary and an index, together with bibli- 

 ographies of each department. 



The sixth edition of M. Schutzcnberger's 

 standard work on Fermentation * is substan- 

 tially a new book. It has been brought up 

 abreast of the present condition of the sci- 

 ence, which has made so great advances un- 

 der the impulse given it by the discoveries 

 of Pasteur. Nothing is required to be said 

 of the importance of the theory of fermen- 

 tations in science, and in its innumerable 

 applications in the industries, agriculture, 

 hygiene, and medicine. Many of the most 

 important economical processes are depend- 

 ent upon the action of ferments. In other 

 processes the equally important thing is to 

 prevent or stay it. In the first part of the 

 book the author treats of the fermentations 

 brought about by the intervention of an or- 

 ganized or figured ferment alcoholic, vis- 

 cous, lactic, ammoniacal, or butyric and by 

 oxidation ; the second part is devoted to fer- 

 mentations provoked by the soluble products 

 elaborated by living organisms. 



A series of Chemical Experiments has 

 been prepared by R. P. Williams, author of 

 two other chemical books (Ginn, 60 cents). 

 The experiments are adapted for use with 

 any text-book of chemistry, or without a 

 text- book. They are especially designed to 

 show the properties of substances and classes 

 of substances, and more than half of the one 

 hundred and two experiments or, more 

 properly, sets of experiments deal with 

 the reactions used in qualitative analysis. 

 By means of a systematic and condensed 

 mode of statement, directions for a great 

 many operations are put into a moderate 

 compass. The qualities that the author has 

 especially aimed to give his manual are thus 

 stated : " In preparing the experiments the 

 author has endeavored, first, to select such 

 as are most instructive and best illustrate 

 the subject without being too elaborate; 



* Les Fermentations (Fermentation). Par P. 

 Schfitzenberger, Membre de l'lnstitut. Sixth 

 edition. Pp. 315, 8vo. Paris : F6lix Alcan. 



