452 
activity will undoubtedly show that one of its 
most noticeable and unusual features has been 
the enormous amount of energy devoted to the 
study of the structure of protoplasm. Research 
in this phase of biological science may be said 
to have had its origin chiefly in an effort to de- 
termine the mechanism of the nucleus as a 
vehicle of heredity, and it has been directed for 
the greater part to the morphology of the 
chromatin in mitotic division, and to the be- 
havior of the ‘attractive and directive bodies,’ 
with some effort to take into consideration the 
structure of protoplasm and the general organ- 
ization of the cell. The results of these investi- 
gations have filled a great amount of space in all 
classes of botanical Journals, beside the special 
periodicals devoted to the subject, and have 
covered an untold area of the costliest plates. 
The early specialization of a large number of 
the younger workers in this line has led to the 
publication of many articles on the subject 
utterly devoid of literary form, filled with local 
and personal terms, uselessly recounting tech- 
nique, and giving the most merciless repetition 
of details of observation with no attempt to sum- 
marize the results, or give the general signifi- 
cance of the phenomena described: making the 
preparation of such a work as the book under 
discussion doubly necessary. 
Then again the time seems at hand when the 
eytologist may be fairly asked to interpret to 
his botanical brethren the vast amount of detail 
accumulated in the last decade by his method 
of research. So far as the general discussions 
of recent date may be taken as a reply to this 
pertinent inquiry, the summary of well- 
grounded facts and established theory shows 
a very small residuum of actual progress. Thus 
one of the most prominent cytologists in 
America has taken occasion to say, in a recent 
review of knowledge of the cell, ‘‘ And yet if 
we take account of the actual knowledge gained, 
Wwe can not repress a certain sense of disap- 
pointment, partly that microscopical research 
should have fallen so far short of giving the 
insight for which we had hoped, but still more 
because of the failure of the best observers to 
reach any unanimity in the interpretation of 
what is actually visible under the microscope. 
* * * T would like at the outset to express the 
SCIENCE. 
[N. S. Von. X. No. 248. 
opinion that, if we except certain highly special- 
ized structures, the hope of finding in visible 
protoplasmic structure any approach to an un- 
derstanding of its physiological activity is 
growing more, instead of less remote, and is 
giving way to a conviction that the way of 
progress lies rather in an appeal to the ultra- 
microscopical protoplasmic organization, and to 
the chemical processes through which this is 
expressed.’? (E. B. Wilson, in SCIENCE, p. 34, 
July 14, 1899.) 
The chief value of the book at hand consists 
in its collation of the methods used, and facil- 
itates the ready selection of those which give 
promise of results in new methods of attack. 
In Part I. the reaction of the more important 
chemical constituents of the cell to fixing agents 
is discussed, and the principles evolved must be 
considered as valuable when used as a means of 
chemical analysis of the cell. Part II. takes up 
in detail the methods and theory of staining. 
Chromatin is defined as the substance which 
contains nucleic acid and which as the acid 
content increases, stains less deeply with watery 
solutions of acid colors, and methyl green is 
designated as the only basic stain for nuclear 
substance. The chapters on this subject should 
do much to give a more intelligent develop- 
ment of the technique of staining, though it 
is to be feared that such terms as ‘ acidiphobie,’ 
‘basiphobie,’ ‘eosinophilie’ and ‘ fuchsinoph- 
ilie’ will be transplanted bodily into the En- 
glish text by that class of workers who seem 
unequal to the translation of new terms, or the 
suppression of those unnecessary to the real ad- 
vance of the subject. Astral rays and polar 
spindles come in for their share of attention in 
Part III., the chief methods of forming artificial 
radiating processes are given. The discussion of 
the histology and development of thesestructures 
is notable for its omissions, which are further re- 
flected in the bibliographical list. The consider- 
ation given centresomes illustrates quite clearly 
the fragmentary and contradictory state of our 
information concerning the morphology and 
physiology of these bodies. 
The concluding part of the work is taken up 
with a consideration of the various theories as 
to the structure of protoplasm, an adduction of 
the views of most of the principal workers, and 
