May 23, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



819 



the details of an extensive and carefully 

 written book which contains much that is 

 admirable. It is a valuable book and every 

 administrator of an electrical laboratory 

 should own his copy and carefully ponder its 

 words; but as a handbook for general use in 

 the electrical engineering laboratory and 

 amongst undergraduate college students in 

 electrical engineering, it does not meet the 

 American requirements. 



The book is of fine 'get up' and is notably 

 free from errors. The selection of references 

 for short bibliographies which are scattered 

 through the book, and the arrangement of 

 tables at the end of each chapter, enlist favor 

 for the author's judgment. But it seems 

 doubtful wisdom, in a table showing the elec- 

 tromotive force of the Clark cell, to print the 

 ■data to five significant figures (four decimals) 

 •when the values are confessedly not known 

 with accuracy to four figures. Other tables 

 are of similar character. For instance, on 

 page 420, the electrochemical equivalents and 

 data derived therefrom are given throughout 

 to five significant places, though the original 

 data depend upon ratios of atomic weights, 

 many of which are not accurately known to 

 three significant figures. 



In reading the book one is impressed by its 

 strong points, which are worthy of its author 

 and in entire harmony with his reputation. 

 'But one leaves it seriously disappointed that 

 the author, notwithstanding the promise of his 

 preface, so signally fails to meet (at least as 

 far as American practice is concerned) the 

 special needs of the electrical engineering 

 laboratories. We venture to hope that the 

 second volume, which the author foreshadows 

 in his preface, will more nearly meet those 



DuGALD C. Jackson. 



Die Vegetationsverhdltnisse der Illyrischen 

 Lander. Von Dr. Gunther Beck von 

 Mannagetta. Band IV. Die Vegetaiion 

 der Erde. A. Engler and O. Drude. 

 Leipzig, Wilhelm Engelmann. 1901. 8vo. 

 Pp. XV, 533 ; 8 plates, 18 cuts and 2 colored 

 maps. 

 The present work constitutes the fourth 



volume of the magnificent series of phyto- 

 geographical monographs founded by Engler 

 and Drude. Like its predecessors, it is 

 written by a lifelong student of the vegeta- 

 tion concerned. It differs from them chiefly 

 in the nicer balance that is struck between 

 floristics and ecology, showing how fully the 

 author has kept abreast of the latest move- 

 ments in phytogeography. The present vol- 

 ume is also uiaique in the series on account 

 of the systematic treatment of formations, 

 and especially on account of the considera- 

 tion given the fungi and algae. It not only 

 maintains the high standard of the preceding 

 volumes, but adds to it in these and other 

 points. 



The introduction treats of the history of 

 the botanical investigation of Illyria, from 

 the first recorded visit, that of Brasavolo 

 (1500-55), to the present time. For a country 

 with so few resident botanists, the number of 

 botanical explorers is something remarkable. 

 The thoroughness with which the flora and 

 vegetation have been studied may be indicated 

 in some degree by the fact that the biblio- 

 graphical list, which contains very few general 

 works, comprises nearly seven hundred titles 

 contributed by more than two hundred 

 workers, among whom Beck von Mannagetta, 

 Borbas, Adamovic, Ascherson, Baldacoi, 

 Farkas-Vukotinovic, Fiala, Formanek, Freyn, 

 Hire, Kerner, Pancic, and Wettstein are 

 prominent. 



The entire work comprises four parts: 

 I., 'A Sketch of the Physical Geography of 

 the lUyi'ian Countries'; II., 'The Vegetation'; 

 III., 'The Regional Floras and their Com- 

 position'; IV., 'The Relationship of the Flora 

 to that of Adjacent Lands, and the Develop- 

 mental History of the Flora since Tertiary 

 Times.' The Illyrian lands comprise south- 

 ern Croatia, the Quarnero Islands, Dalmatia, 

 Bosnia, Hercegovina, MontenegTO, northern 

 Albania, Sandzak Novipazar and Servia, 

 constituting a fairly natural region except on 

 the south. The greater part lies in the drain- 

 age basin of the Danube; the western litoral, 

 a relatively narrow strip, drains into the 

 Adriatic. A peculiar hydrographic feature is 

 found in the lost streams (Karstfliisse), which 



