spree! 7 a 
278 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [ APRIL 
exclusively, or more scientifically than Schimmel & Co., of Leipzig. Not con- 
tent with much original work in the chemistry of these substances and costly 
experimentation with methods of manufacture, this firm commissioned Dr. E. 
Gildermeister, of Leipzig, and Dr. Fr. Hoffmann, of Berlin (the latter long 
and honored leader in pharmaceutical affairs in this country), to prepare a 
work on volatile oils,* treating them in an exhaustive and critical manner from 
the modern standpoint. This work, published about a year ago, has been 
oe yeaa into English by Dr. Edward Kremers, of the University of Wiscon- 
sii. The recent rapid development of the knowledge of the volatile oils 
sey the sti volume doubly useful. With the chemistry of these bodies 
it happily combines much interesting historical matter and a description of 
the modern processes of distillation. Abundant references to original chemi- 
cal sources make the work an important aid to the investigator. 
Though primarly chemical and technical, the list of plants, arranged 
according to families, from which volatile oils are obtained will be interesting 
for the botanist and the whole book is a mine of information. Four hundred 
and thirty oils are described, the botanical sources, percentage present in 
various parts, mode of preparation and composition being given.—C. R. B 
NOTES POR STUDENTS. 
HAROLD L. Lyon, of the University of Minnesota, has announced® that 
Nelumbo, “both in its anatomy and embryogeny conforms to the type of the 
monocotyledons.”’ His full paper will be awaited with interest.—J. M. C. 
LEWIN ° contradicts the view of Stahl that raphides are important as a 

means of protection against herbivorous animals. There is no evidence of » 
mechanical injury to animals, nor of poisonous effects soi produced 
through eating plants that contain these crystals.—H. C ES 
’" Mryosut? has performed a number of experiments in order to determine 
the influence of various substances in the soil or water upon flower colors. 
His results are not uniform, though he finds in general that aluminium com- 
pounds change lilac to blue (as Molisch previously observed), while potash 
changes lilac to green, and many acids change it to red. H.C: Cowes. 
W. C. WorSDELL® has concluded that the Bennettitales are more primi- 
tive than the modern cycads, as shown by their stem structure, radial 
*GILDERMEISTER, E. and HOFFMANN, FR.: The volatile oils. Written under the 
auspices of the firm of Schimmel & Co., Leipzig. Authorized translation by EDWARD 
KREMERS. Det pp. viii+ 733, fgs. 83, maps 4g. Milwaukee: Pharmaceutical Review 
Pub. Co. 
RE 13:470. Igor. : 
° Ber. deut. bot. Gesell. 18 : 53-72. 1900. 7 Bot. Centralbl. 83 : 345- 1900. 
* The affinities of the mesozoic fossil Bennettites Gibsonianus. Ann. Bot. 14: 717- 
721. 1900. 


