S92 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. VII. No. 168. 



is, in consequence, no division of the centro- 

 somes. 



Thie cell wall, arising after division, is ap- 

 parently built upon the walls of those meshes 

 of the reticulum that come to lie in what cor- 

 responds to the equatorial plane. From the 

 author's statement, however, it is not improba- 

 ble that a more or less rudimentary phragmo- 

 plast really exists. 



Das Heine botanische Practicum. Von Edttaiid 



Steasbubgee. Jena, Gustav Fisher. 1897. 



Pp. 246, with 121 illustrations. 



In the third edition of this excellent hand- 

 book, the subject-matter has been largely added 

 to, chiefly on the subjects of microtomy, man- 

 ipulation and BacteriacesB. The remainder 

 of the text is essentially the same as in the 

 second edition. It is quite superfluous to call 

 attention to the originality and authoritative- 

 nessof the text, and to the excellence of the 

 illustrations. The book has been long enough 

 before botanists to be thoroughly and favorably 

 known. It is inexplicable that, with such an 

 adequate text accessible, each year should see 

 the publication of text books which serve to 

 overcrowd an already well-filled oblivion. In 

 all cases it may not be possible, for lack of 

 time, to ofier so thorough an elementary course 

 as that outlined in the Practicum. In such in- 

 stances, it would be practicable to omit a certain 

 amount of detail without detracting from the 

 integrity or thoroughness of the work. At all 

 events, the system is one that, from the kind of 

 training it involves, should be generally in 

 vogue. • Feedbric E. Clements. 



The University of Nebraska. 



Stones for Building and Decoration. By Geoege 

 P. Merrill, Curator of Geology, U. S. Mu- 

 seum. Second Edition, revised and enlarged. 

 New York, J. Wiley & Sons ; London, Chap- 

 man & Hall. 1897. 8vo. Pp. ix -f- 506. 

 The first edition of this excellent work was 

 based upon the handbook of the same author 

 and his catalogue of the building stones in the 

 United States National Museum at Washington. 

 The treatise here presented consists of the 

 original, with revised and rewritten matter, 

 and well-illustrated text, brought down to date 

 and in various ways improved. Many pages 



of new matter appear in the new edition and 

 full-page plates have been interspersed in the 

 text. Part I. consists of a discussion of the 

 distribution, the composition and the character 

 of the building stones of the United States, 

 studied from the points of view of the physicist, 

 of the chemist and of the geologist, as well as 

 of the engineer and the architect. Part II. is 

 devoted to ' Rocks, Quarries and Quarry-Ke- 

 gions,' and presents a detailed account and 

 discussion of the several rocks employed in the 

 arts, their composition, their varieties and their 

 special characteristics. This section of the work 

 is its principal portion, covering about 300 

 pages. Part III. describes the methods em- 

 ployed in quarrying, dressing and shaping 

 stone, stone-cutting machinery, weathering, 

 testing, protection and preservation. Part IV. 

 consists of appendices of tabulated and other 

 data relating to the valuable qualities of the 

 stones, prices and costs, a list of important 

 stone structures with dates of erection, and a 

 bibliography and glossary. Eighteen figures in 

 the text and nineteen full-page plates fully and 

 handsomely illustrate the work. 



The position and experience of the author of 

 this treatise give ample guarantee of its ac- 

 curacy, and an examination of the text will 

 afford confirmation of this conclusion. It is 

 well planned, well executed and exceptionally 

 complete. The publishers have given it ad- 

 mirable form, a plain but neat and satisfactory 

 binding, the press work and paper are good 

 and the illustrations excellent, as a rule. The 

 book has a good index. It will prove helpful 

 to the architects and engineers of the country 

 whenever important stonework is to be erected. 



K. H. T. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 



ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF WASHINGTON. 



January 6, 1898 : Fourteenth annual meet- 

 ing. The address of the retiring President, Mr. 

 C. L. Marlatt, was upon the subject of ' Old 

 World Entomology.' The author recounted 

 personal experiences and impressions gained 

 during a four months' European tour, in the 

 course of which matters entomological — and 

 particularly as an applied science — were espe- 



