620 



SCIENCE, 



[N. S. Vol. IX. No. 226. 



schiissiger Kriifte und das der activen Ei-holung 

 erschopfter Kriifte." The iesthetic social point 

 of view is enlarged on throughout much iu the 

 same way as in his previous work. 



In general the remarks we have made on 

 Professor Groos's previous work (Psychological 

 Review, Vol. 6, p. 86 If.) apply also to this. 

 The last book is larger, fuller and more cautions, 

 but it lacks in clearness and directness and 

 penetration. Though sometimes suggestive, it 

 is rarely illuminating. Very comprehensive 

 and learned, it is useful as a summary and dis- 

 cussion, but it has not the vitality of real re- 

 search. The book is swamped in quotation, and 

 we have more a history and discussion of opinion 

 than a first-hand investigation. Though by 

 bringing in everything of the least relevancy 

 Professor Groos attains a certain completeness, 

 it is greatly to be doubted whether in breaking 

 ground in a new subject this is the most useful 

 method. The foundations for a real science of 

 play can only be laid by the direct detailed 

 study of the life-history of the individual, the 

 results being made to an extent verifiable by 

 the photograph and phonograph. 



HiEAM M. Stanley. 



BOOKS EECEIVED. 



The Elemenls of Practical Astronomy. W. W. Camp- 

 bell. New York and London, The IMaomillan 

 Company. 1899. Pp. xii + 264. $3.00. 



Nature Study for Grammar Grades. WlLBUE S. 

 JACKMAN. New York and London, The Macmil- 

 lan Company. 1899. Pp. 407. ?1.00. 



Tlie Fairyland of Science. A.EABELLA B. Buckley. 

 New York, D. Appleton & Co. 1899. Pp. x-|- 

 252. $1.50. 



Eleeiricity in Town and Country Houses. Percy E. 

 SCEUTTOX. Westminster, ArohiljaW Constable & 

 Co. 1899. 2d Edition. Pp. xii + 148. 



Report of the Commissioner of the United States Commis- 

 sion of Fish and Fisheries. Pp. clxxv -j- 350. 



Corn Plants. F. L. Saegent. Boston and New York, 

 Houghton, Mifflin & Co. 1899. Pp. 106. 75 cts. 



Anglo-American Pottery. E. A. Baebee. Indian- 

 apolis., Ind., Press ot the Clay Worker. 1899. 

 Pp. xix-|-16L 



Photographic Optics. R. S. Cole. New York, D. Van 

 Nostrand Company. 1899. Pp. 330. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 



The Botanical Gazelle for April contains the 

 following leading articles : ' A Conspectus of 

 the Genus Liliitm,' by F. A. Waugh, which 

 brings together and organizes the widely scat- 

 tered material ; 'Some Appliances for Elemen- 

 tary Study of Plant Physiology,' by W. F. 

 Ganong, in which are described, with figures, a 

 temperature stage, a clinostat, a self-recording 

 auxanometer, an osmometer, a respiration ap- 

 paratus, a germination box, a transpiration de- 

 vice, the graduation of roots, tubes, etc., and a 

 root-pressure gauge; 'Oogenesis in Finns Laricio,' 

 by Charles J. Chamberlain, a paper with plates, 

 in which the following results are announced : 

 The ventral canal cell occasionally develops as 

 an egg ; the chromatin of the egg nucleus takes 

 the form of nucleoli which finally collect from 

 all parts of the nucleus to a definite area near 

 the center and there develop into a typical 

 spirem; the chromatin of the two sexual nuclei is 

 in the spirem stage at fusion ; the fate of the spin- 

 dle indicates that the kinoplasmic fibers arise 

 through a transformation of the cytoplasmic re- 

 ticulum ; a continuation of ' The Ecological Re- 

 lations of the Vegetation of the Sand Dunes of 

 Lake Michigan,' by Henry C. Cowles, the 

 present part, profusely illustrated, discussing 

 the encroachment on preexisting plant societies 

 and the capture of the dune-complex by vege- 

 tation. Under 'Briefer Articles' .Julia W. 

 Snow describes (with plate) the life history of a 

 new Ulvella {U. Americana), and Bradley M. 

 Davis discusses recent work on the life history 

 of the Rhodophyceffi. The number closes with 

 the usual reviews, notes for students and news. 



American. Chemical Journal, April, 1899. ' On 

 the Hydrolysis of Acid Amides :' By I. Remsen 

 and E. E. Reid. The rate of hydrolysis of a 

 large number of acid amides was compared 

 and certain groups or positions of groups were 

 found to exercise a marked influence on the re- 

 action. In general the results agree with those 

 obtained in the study of the rate of formation 

 of ethereal salts. Ortho groups were found 

 to exert a very marked 'protective' influence 

 in many cases. 'Aliphatic Sulphonic Acids:' 

 By E. P. Kohler. The author describes 

 the preparation and reaction of (1) brome- 



