eres oak ere tke ye 
. 
jects of which it treats. : 
‘through B. Westermann & Co., New York. 
a 
418 The Botanical Gazette. 
generally accepted primary division of the vegetable kingdom at the 
present day is into the two divisions formed by Linnaeus” [i.e., Crypto 
gams and Phanerogams]. an 
With the bulk of the descriptive part of the book less fault can be 
found; but surely a writer of a university extension manual ought to 
take the greatest care not to propagate false conceptions of homolo- — 
gies so fundamental as those dealt with above. The book presenting 
modern views of plant life and adapted to popular reading remains — 
yet to be written in English. : 
The essential oils. i 
The chemistry of plant products, as well as their mode of origin, is a 
always a matter of interest to physiologists. When these products are 
of economic importance, either medicinally or industrially, interest tit 
taches also to their commercial source. Schimmel & Co. of Leipaig 
and Prag have long made a specialty of one group of such substances, 
viz., essential oils. A few years ago’ they established branch labora- 
tories in this country at Garfield, N. J.,in the name of their agents, 
Fritsche Bros., and placed it under the direction of Dr. Frederick B. : 
: ists in this coun 
try. Dr. Power has recently compiled a descriptive catalogue of 
essential oils and organic chemical preparations,t which embraces 9 
a systematic and comprehensive form, and in alphabetical gore 
ment, not only all the official and ordinary essential oils met with “ 
commerce, but also a large number of rarer products which have been 
prepared at various times for strictly scientific or experimental ae . 
poses. In connection with each article the botanical source, physice 
characters, and chemical composition are given, with other 
tests for purity when such are known. a ers 
The work is divided into three parts, comprising (2) the ‘+ 1890 
essential oils, or those recognized by the U. S. Phare ae 
together with some closely related oils, (4) the non-official essen" 
oils, and (c) organic chemical preparations. 
The work is concise in its character, contains a © 
ber of references to publications embodying the m 
original investigations, and the endeavor has been made satan: 
ee he well-su 
accurate record, up to the date of publication, of all , ie 
tiated facts relating to the characters and composition of ee 
chemical preparations considered in the work. ace | to all 
It is designed for reference chiefly, and will be See ms thes 
onsiderable num 
who are either commercially or scientifically interes 
1Small 8vo. pp. 96. New York: Fritsche Bros. $1.00. To ps - 
