March 30, 1882] 
tion of the Microscope and its Accessories—give a sketch 
of all the principal stands and apparatus in connection 
therewith ; and is followed by two more, giving excellent 
directions for the management of the microscope, and for 
the preparation, mounting, and collecting of microscopical 
objects. 
The second portion of the volume is devoted to an 
account of some of the more interesting forms of minute 
life to be met with, both in the animal and vegetable 
kingdoms. As this portion of the volume travels over a 
very wide field of research, so it is here that the greatest 
opportunities for criticism present themselves, but it is 
just to remark, that, despite the wonderful revolutions that 
have occurred in the domain of biology within the last 
few years, and despite the difficulty of keeping ever on a 
level with modern advances, a struggle only ending with 
one’s life, Dr. Carpenter shows not only a wondrous 
energy, but a positive freshness in the adopting of new 
views. The notes on the green chromules of plant-cells 
are not quite up to the modern researches of Pringsheim, 
and we regret to find the author's sanction given to the 
use of the term Gozzdia for the products of free cell- 
formation in the Cryptogams. The paragraph on the 
Nostocs might advantageously have been improved. No 
reason is given for uniting the Batrachospermez with the 
Florideze. The chapter on protophyte and other fungi, 
seems very carefully written: the position of the myxo- 
mycetes is left doubtful, but Chlamydomyxa is brought 
into the same chapter. The new views on lichens are 
accepted, but the vacant space on the page which meets 
the view, might well have been occupied with a list of the 
alge which play the part of hosts to the lichen fungi, 
which list would have proved, we think, that these forms 
do furnish objects of special interest, even to the ordi- 
nary microscopical worker, Dr. Carpenter’s assertion not- 
withstanding. 
It seems improbable that the antherozoids represented 
on page 396 as escaping from the Clpidium-like cell in the 
ultimate cell of the lateral branchlet of Sphacelaria tribu- 
Zoides belong to the plant, and it is a pity that no illustra- 
tion of a trichogyne is given inthe account of the Floridex, 
so as to call the reader’s attention to what he may ex- 
pect to see when looking for this special often rapidly- 
disappearing hair-cell. Nor is the open trichogyne in the 
easily procurable Coleochceta alluded to. Very scant 
justice 1s done to the Rhizocarps, and the true significance 
of the growth of the embryo in Lycopods appears to us to 
be overlooked. 
Elfving’s researches on the vegetative cells in the pollen- 
plants of the Angiosperms surely ought to have been 
referred to, as it opens a new and easy field of investiga- 
tion to the microscopists. 
The chapters devoted to those divisions of the anima] 
kingdom which present objects of interest for microscopical 
research are well illustrated, and have been brought fairly 
up to the mark. The illustrations of Foraminifera are 
very good. The subject of Eozoon might perhays have 
been better treated of in the chapter on geological investi- 
gation, and from the manual point of view is a little too 
controversial. We find no reference to the occurrence of 
calcareous algz in a fossil state, and yet this is a subject 
which ought to command the attention of some of our 
microscopical workers. 
NATURE 
593 
Nothing that we have written must be taken as 
detracting from the extreme usefulness of this volume, 
which has for so long a period of time supplied an 
existing want. 
Of a somewhat different type is Mr. George E. Davis’s 
“Practical Microscopy.” This author’s object is to 
supply a book upon the lines of the late Prof, Quekett’s 
“Practical Treatise on the Use of the Microscope,’’ and 
his book treats of the forms of mi:zroscopic stand, of eye- 
pieces and objectives, of test objects, of section-cutting, 
and of the preparation and mounting of objects. In a 
chapter on the delineation of objects, a very detailed 
account is given of the subject of “ photomicrography ;”’ 
dry plates are preferred, and the various methods of using 
the camera are described, and the different modes of de- 
velopment are given, This volume will prove extremely 
useful to most practical workers, and the illustrations are 
both numerous and effective. 
OUR BOOK SHELF 
Elemente der Anatomie und Physiologie der Pflanzen. 
von Dr. Julius Wiesner. 276 pp.; 101 woodcuts. 
(Vienna : Holder, 1881.) 
THIS book is intended, as the preface tells us, to act asa 
syllabus or skeleton of Prof. Wiesner’s lectures, thus 
sparing his students the labour of writing out full notes, 
and allowing them to give their intelligent attention to 
what is beingsaid. The pretensions of the book are thus 
humble enough, and are, we think, well carried out. 
The anatomy of plants is treated of in 153 pages, and 
into this space a great deal of matter is crowded. The 
style is simple and straightforward, and the author does 
not attempt to render his subject-matter easy by the slip- 
shod method sometiines called popular. From the nature 
of the boo it mist necessarily have somewhat the cha- 
racter of a catalogue ; but the monotony which might be 
expected is not by any means a prominent fault. The 
numerous original drawings are from the hand of Dr. 
Wichmann, a pupil of Wiesner’s, and are extremely well 
executed, thoug they lack the peculiar charm which we 
find in Sach’s illustrations, and almost nowhere else. It is 
refreshing to meet with so large a proportion of original 
illustrations, instead of the usual reprints, and in this 
respect the book contrasts favourably with more ambitious 
works. How far the divisions into which the presentation 
of the anatomy falls will prove acceptable to profes_ed 
anatomists, seems to us somewhat doubtful. 
The physiological section of the book is, in some ways, 
probably, better than the first part, since it is the work 
of a physiologist in his own department. On the other 
hand, such a subject as physiology does not so well bear 
the somewhat abrupt treatment necessary in a work like 
the present. Again, Wiesner’s standpoint in physiology 
is not attractive to many people, nor is it a very com- 
monly accepted one. Few teachers, for instance, would 
wish their students to learn that negative heliotropism is 
due to the existence of negatively heliotropic elements. 
Yet this theory is the only one compatible with the 
somewhat obscure treatment of negative heliotropism 
here given. 
Sounds and their Relations, By Alexander Melville Bell. 
(London: Trubner and Co, 1882.) 
Mr. MELVILLE BELL’S name is a sufficient guarantee of 
the value of his work. His Vszble Speech formed the 
starting-point of those recent investigations, both in Eng 
land and on the Continent, which have thrown so much 
light upon the nature of sounds. In spite of the many 
new facts which have been observed and brought together 
since its first publication, its importance still remains 
