60 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [JULY 
used later in responses. All this is quite apart from the question of the energy 
fixed in photosynthesis. 
This suggests another fault. Bosr seems to ignore, if he is not ignorant of, 
the anatomy of the parts with which he is dealing. Skin is skin, whether it be 
the skin of plant or animal. Stomach of Gecko and pitcher of Nepenthes (an 
open stomach of a primitive type, he calls it) are all one to him; they behave 
alike, in spite of their extraordinary differences of structure. Nerves of animal 
and nerves of plants, which have been identified by their behavior as the vascular 
bundles of plants, are physiologically the same. Digestion being a “‘diphasic 
process,” that is, consisting of secretion first and absorption afterward, roots, 
which secrete substances that dissolve their mineral ‘‘food” and then absorb 
it, must be another kind of open stomach; and besides, they behave electrically 
as stomachs do! Now if these things are so, it argues that the responses with 
which Bose is dealing are either extremely superficial or extremely fundamental, 
inhering in all living matter; and in either case they would be of little significance. 
The situation seems to be most peculiar. Bosr, we judge, is a brilliant 
experimentalist, trained first as a physicist, but inadequately equipped with 
knowledge of what has been done in the field of plant irritability. This has been 
at once an advantage and a snare. It has left him free to present his researches 
untrammeled by the conventional view, but it has exposed him to mistakes which 
a little more knowledge would have avoided. It has given him courage to attack 
the most knotty problems, but it has led him to satisfaction with inadequate 
conclusions, Apparently, too, he has become possessed by a theory as to the 
nature of response, and under the yoke of that theory he makes all his captive 
facts to pass. 
Out of these books we look for some one to rescue many good observations, 
now apparently gone awry; and by his methods and apparatus in the hands of 
real physiologists we hope soon to see made important advances in the knowledge 
of Reizphysiologie—C. R. B. 
Conference on Genetics 
The report* of the Third International Conference on Genetics held under 
the auspices of the Royal Horticultural Society, July 30 to August 3, 1906, is 4 
veritable treasure-trove for students of heredity, hybridization, and plant-breed- 
ing, both in their theoretical and practical aspects. Besides giving a minute 
account of the doings of the Conference, there is a brief but excellent sketch by the 
secretary, Rev. W. Wixxs, of the life and work of GREGOR MENDEL, illustra 
by three good portraits, a fine view of the Abbey at Briinn, and a facsimile letter 
written to NAGEL. Excellent portraits are also given of some of the mor 
_ 4 Report of the Third International Conference, 1906, on Genetics; bybridiza- 
tion (the cross-breeding of genera or species), the cross-breeding of varieties, and 
general plant-breeding. Edited by the Rev. W. Wrixs. 8vo. pp. 496. figs. Igh se 
London, 1907. : 
