July 11, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



61 



rage and indignity, but was helpless to prevent 

 the ransacking and plunder of the observa- 

 tory by armed miscreants, and his dovcnfall, 

 directly due to political conditions and at- 

 tended by the insults and petty persecutions 

 of his former subordinates, marks the close of 

 the present volume, although Mr. Wolf's sig- 

 nificant paragraph, 'He retired to his estate 

 at Thury, vehere we shall encounter him in the 

 sequel of this history,' suggests a volume still 

 to follow. 



Scattered throughout the present work are 

 to be found interesting glimpses of scientific 

 life and work in bygone generations : e. g., 

 the first Cassini seeking to introduce into 

 France, from his native Italy, the arts of glass 

 making and telescope building as prerequisites 

 to the growth of astronomy; and a casual ac- 

 count of the very long telescopes then in vogue, 

 with a welcome explanation of the manner in 

 which observations were conducted with an ob- 

 jective and ocular placed a hundred, or more, 

 feet apart with no intervening tube. Turn- 

 ing to matters 0^ a more personal character, we 

 catch glimpses of Academicians quarreling 

 over rights of domicile in chambers hung with 

 tapestry but devoid of beds and tables. With 

 more of mirth than surprise do we find one of 

 the Cassinis protesting in vain, that the observ- 

 atory windows should be glazed before he is 

 required to store within it unwelcome instru- 

 ments thrust upon him by administrative de- 

 cree ; and with very different emotions we read 

 the pathetic account of Picard, close to the 

 discovery of the aberration of light a century 

 before Bradley's time, but dying just before 

 completion of the instruments that had been 

 ordered expressly for investigation of the sus- 

 picious phenomena. 



In mechanical execution the volume wor- 

 thily maintains the traditions of the house of 

 Gauthier-Villars, but its usefulness is im- 

 paired by lack of an index. 



George C. Comstock. 

 Madison, Wis. 



The Grasses of Iowa. By L. H. Pammel, 

 Ph.D., J. B. Weems, Ph.D., of Iowa 



State College of Agriculture and the 

 Mechanic Arts, and F. Lamson-Scribner, 



Agrostologist, U. S. Department of Agricul- 

 ture, Des Moines, Iowa. F. R. Conway, 

 State Printer, 1901. Bulletin No. I, of the 

 Iowa Geological Survey. Pp. 525; with 11 

 plates and 514 engravings. 

 This is a great credit to the author and to 

 the State Geologist who had the good sense to 

 secure its preparation. The work treats of 

 anatomy of the grasses, the roots, stems, leaves, 

 flowers, grain, hybrids; purity and vitality of 

 grass seed, cereals, fungus diseases of grasses, 

 bacterial diseases, pastures and meadows of 

 Iowa, weeds of meadows and pastures, chem- 

 istry of foods and feeding, lawns and lawn 

 making in Iowa. The plates and figures are 

 excellent and the whole work seems to be up- 

 to-date, excepting some of the names of plants. 

 Nearly all of the grasses of the state are 

 illustrated, some legumes and weeds. 



The authors must have devoted much time 

 in making investigations, reading the best 

 modern works on the subjects treated, includ- 

 ing reports of scientific societies, bulletins of 

 the U. S. Department of Agriculture, and of 

 the numerous State Experiment Stations. 

 There are many instances given showing that 

 numerous wild grasses are superior for culti- 

 vation to those introduced from Europe. 

 The following are the most important grasses 

 for the State of Iowa : Poa pratensis, Phleum 

 pratense, Bromus inermis, B. hreviaristatus, 

 Dactylis glomerata, Agropyron spicatum, 

 Andropogon provincialis, A. nutans, Agrostis 

 alba, Galamagrostis Canadensis, Panicuin 

 virgatum. For general cultivation Poa pra- 

 tensis, Phleum pratense, and Bromus inermis 

 are the most valuable; for shaded ground 

 Dactylis glomerata and Agrostis alba; for 

 low grounds Agrostis alba, Poa serotina, P. 

 pratensis, Galamagrostis Canadensis; for 

 dry hills Bouteloua oligostachya, B. racemosa; 

 for alluvial bottoms Andropogon provincialis, 

 and Spartina cynosuroides ; for the loess of 

 western Iowa Agropyron spicatum, Andropo- 

 gon scoparius. 



Large numbers of chemical analyses were 

 made in grasses in their natural condition and 

 when free from water, indicating the per 

 cent, of fat, protein, albuminoids, crude fiber, 

 ash and nitrogen-free extract. 



