CURRENT LITERATURE. 
Plant anatomy. 
Most teachers of botany have felt the need of a brief and compre- 
hensive account of the tissues of plants. Such a book—‘a brief out- 
line of the elementary principles of anatomy”—it has been the aim of 
of Dr. Emily L. Gregory of Barnard College to prepare.t_ The book is 
of very convenient size and appeals to one on this ground as probably 
just what he is in need of. A glance at the table of contents strength- 
‘is the favorable impression. The subject is logically and compre- 
hensively mapped out. It is divided into two parts, the anatomy of 
the cell and anatomy of tissues, the latter including not only tissues 
and systems but also an outline of the anatomy of the vegetative body 
ofthe thallophytes and “cormophytes.” When the body of the book 
Steached, the favorable impression is somewhat modified. Amid 
much that is good, well-put, and correct, there is much that is crude, 
meorrect, or out of date. 
he explanation of the molecular structure of “organic substance” 
~by which we suppose organized bodies are meant—is defective, but 
the first striking weakness is encountered in the discussion of the cell 
iucleus. Here, in the absence of any recognition of the nucleus as 
determining the cell and therefore the ascription of a plurality of 
tuclei to one cell, in the statement that “the chemical nature of the 
” 
hah ag this Crude expression recurs again and again, Son aP He 
book - prieve that the author had relinquished all hope that he 
Other , be considered “an authority.” oe 
knowleq Points also need to be revised in the light of wn iia 
the cae such as the structure and chemistry of the starc E a 
and ag oF leucoplasts, the epidermal system, the sieve tissue, 
YPes of stem structure. 
‘ Pie ply L.—Elements of plant anatomy. 8vo. pp. viiit+148. figs. 
* Ginn & Co. 1895. 
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