224 BOTANICAL GAZEITE [MARCH 
this book and most of the previous works on physiological chemistry, and even 
of the few that have been written with special reference to plant chemics. 
A second volume is already in press and may be expected ere long. We 
suppose that a detailed treatment of the proteids will occupy the greater part 
of it. It will be accompanied by full indexes.—C. R. B. 
Plant organization. 
In 1899 we noticed the first part of a work by BERTHOLD on ~_ “— 
zation,? of which the first half of the second part, promised “very soon,” has 
recently appeared.s The author announced his intention of Pander in this 
second part in a comprehensive way the investigations made by himself and others. 
This promise rests in large part unfulfilled. 
nd an “introduction” of twenty-one pages (which seems queerly out 
of place in the middle of a book) setting forth the aims and methods of this “Phys- 
iologie der pflanzlichen Gestaltung.”” BrRTHOLD assumes that the protoplast is 
a mechanism, made of different individual parts, even though they cannot be 
distinguished, each having its particular function. This assumption is developed 
at length. Of course, therefore, he objects to the idea of adaptation in connection 
with anatomy, especially as developed by HaBERLANDT. He rejects the ideas 
‘of gro enzymes and of Anlagen as indicating useful directions for research, 
and minimizes the value of studies on regeneration in the problem of plant 
organization. 
In the special part (pp. 22-257) BERTHOLD discusses in four chapters the 
morphology of the typical (sic) shoot, the pith, the primary cortex, the course of 
development in the pith and cortex, and entitles the fifth “a comprehensive synopsis 
of the development and rhythm of the shoot.’ These chapters make almost 
no reference to the “mechanism” on which he lays so much stress in the in 
duction, and certainly do nothing toward revealing it. Profuse details encum cumber 
the pages; indeed, in 1 sain it oe seems as though the author had published 
his notebook. The “synopsis” covers 136 pages, a formidable number for 8 
“glance” to take in. It is so beclouded with details and so unorganized - 
one cannot readily discover what the author is driving at. Great stress is laid 
throughout upon the cell-contents as determining factors in the final configuration 
of tissues, yet there is no indication of the nature of the relation, and su 
categories as “‘starch,” “sugar,” and “tannin” are treated as though the 
Picturing clearly either the anatomical or physiological features of plant — 
zation. Perhaps the — instalment will sum up his views in @ definite a” 
precise fashion.—C. R 
? Bor. Gaz. 27:146. 1899. 
n. 
3 BERTHOLD, G., Untersuchungen zur beige der pflanzlichen Org rigs 
8vo. pp. iv+257. Leipzig; Wilhelm Engelmann. 19 
