la Ncthige ira oi 
1903] CURRENT LITERATURE 233 
much to remind the reader of the Weissnichtwo Professor of Things in Gen- 
eral; for students who have difficulty in seeing a number of sides to the same 
question the book will surely be an inspiration. Among the topics discussed 
are: the relation between material and form throughout nature; metamor- 
phosis and substitution; the relation of species, variety, and race; phylogeny; 
paleobotany, etc. 
The work has an almost medieval smack; after a few introductory pages 
it is written entirely in dialogue, which may make it tedious for him who is 
only after the kernel of the nut. There is no doubt, however, that the reader's 
interest is held by these curiously learned dialogues of Fritz, Hans, and the 
other students, albeit the ludicrous will occasionally arise to obscure the sci- 
entific.— B. E. L1vInGsTon. 
MINOR NOTICES. 
TREES, SHRUBS, and VINES’ is a book designed especially for New 
Yorkers, and to them it may be useful. Though it professes to describe these 
plants in all the northeastern United States, this part is distinctly inferior and 
secondary. The greater part of the book is devoted to lists of “these three 
growths” and to “rambles’’ in Central Park, whose glories are fully exploited. 
To a brief description of native trees, shrubs, and vines 172 pages are devoted, 
and nearly half as much more to the foreign species grown in Central Park. 
The descriptions are too brief, lacking in contrasts, and often maddeningly 
comparative. Species of the same genus are often widely separated. The 
keys are worthless; e. g., one of the chief distinctions is “ widely distributed 
If the book sailed under true colors it would be more commendable; but 
judged according to its title it is far inferior to others of like purpose.—C. R. B 
NOTES FOR STUDENTS. 
DubDE,® studying both fungi and higher plants, finds that the replace- 
ment of oxygen by purified hydrogen can be withstood by spores and seeds for 
a long time (in seeds fifteen to fifty days), but that their germination is much 
delayed. The vegetative tissues are injured irreparably after an hour or at 
most a few hours, the younger being most easily killed; yet meristematic 
tissues endure the hydrogen for three to five days. In all conditions a higher 
Sint accelerates the action.—C. R. B. 
. LonGo? holds that the pollen tube is the only channel by which 
the “tee! of Cucurbita can receive nutriment, because of the marked cutini- 
5 PARKHURST, H. E., Trees, shrubs, and vines of the northeastern United States. 
T2mo. pp. viii + 451: Illustrated. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. 1903. $1.50. 
® Duper, MAx, Ueber den Einfluss des Sauerstoffsentzuges auf pflanzliche Organ- 
ismen. Flora g2 : 205-252. 1903. 
‘ GO, B., La nutrizione dell’ embrione delle Cucurbita operata per mezzo del 
tubetto p sania Annali di Botanica I:71-74. 1903. 
