66 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXVII. No. 941 



reviewer, strained in many places, it neverthe- 

 less has an important function in the arrange- 

 ment of material, and inherent interest of its 

 own as tlie matured expression of opinion of 

 one of the makers of modern biology; but one 

 can not say that it has promise as a working 

 program; it represents the biological concep- 

 tions of the nineteenth rather than of the 

 twentieth century. 



The book is full of interest, and may be 

 profitably consulted by working biologists of 

 all grades and laymen alike. 



r. E. L. 



Chemical Phenometia in Life. By Frederick 

 CzAPEK, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Plant 

 Physiology in the University of Prague. 

 New York and London, Harper and Broth- 

 ers. 1911. Pp. ix-f 151. 

 We have before us bearing the above title 

 an extremely interesting and valuable little 

 book included in Harper's " Library of Liv- 

 ing Thought." This book should prove to be 

 of great interest to all those interested in the 

 chemistry of life. And I take it that there 

 are no students to-day interested in biology 

 who are not insensibly drawn into the con- 

 sideration of those varied chemical phenomena 

 so highly characteristic of living things. To 

 the botanist who is familiar with Czapek's 

 " Biochemie der Pflanzen " in the German 

 this little book (really a condensation of that 

 great work) comes with particular interest. 

 It was indeed a most diiKcult task, as the au- 

 thor admits, when it was attempted to put in 

 condensed and rather popular form the sub- 

 ject matter with which lie has busied himself 

 for so many years. But it seems that this has 

 been accomplished in a most admirable man- 

 ner. However, it must not be supposed that 

 this little volume is easy to read and under- 

 stand; it is far from being adapted to the be- 

 ginner in biology. The author states in the 

 preface that " a fair knowledge of physics and 

 chemistry, both organic and physical, is re- 

 quired, besides the great number of biological 

 facts which must be remembered when we try 

 to obtain a satisfactory survey of the general 

 physiology of the plant." Consequently this 



book will be of most value to those who have 

 had a university training which included the 

 above requirements. 



With Czapek's well-known contributions to 

 this field of botany all that is necessary to do 

 to portray the value and scope of this book is 

 to indicate the chapter heads as follows: Biol- 

 ogy and Chemistry ; Protoplasm and Its Chem- 

 ical Properties; Protoplasm and Colloid- 

 chemistry; the Outer Protoplasmatic Mem- 

 brane and Its Chemical Functions; Chemical 

 Phenomena in Cytoplasm and Nucleus of 

 Living Cells; Chemical Reactions in Living 

 Cells ; Velocity of Reactions in Living Cells ; 

 Catalysis and the Enzymes; Chemical Actions 

 on Protoplasm and its Counter-actions; Chem- 

 ical Adaptation and Inheritance. 



Certainly every student of botany should 

 have a copy of this book, and should read it 

 again and again, not only for the considerable 

 amount of subject matter here precipitated 

 from a mass of bewildering details, but also 

 because of the broadening of the point of view 

 that is certain to result from its careful study. 



Raymond J. Pool 

 The University op Nebraska 



STANDASDIZATION OF THE AGCOVNTS 

 OF LEARNED SOCIETIES 



The LTnited States is now supporting some- 

 where between 100 and 200 societies of which 

 the object is the extension of learning, the 

 promotion of science and common action in 

 some field of intellectual endeavor. In a 

 country so rich and so generous as the 

 United States, it is not diiEcult to obtain sup- 

 port for such enterprises, and new ones are 

 added every year. Still many of them find it 

 hard to make both ends meet; a few are able 

 to accumulate a permanent fund. 



The accounts of these societies are almost 

 all reported, and in most cases printed, every 

 year; and it might be supposed that institu- 

 tions founded for the inculcation of truth, ex- 

 actness and efiiciency would give to their sup- 

 porters a detailed, analytic statement of re- 

 ceipts and expenditures. This is, however, far 

 from being the case. The accounts of the so- 

 cieties are in general brief and far from self- 



