JkiAECH 13, 1908] 



SCIENCE 



423 



Rector of the University of Wiirzburg). One 

 does not leave out of sight in commenting 

 on these omissions the fact that the present 

 book aims to be popular, not encyclopedic. 

 Furthermore : There is scanty reference to 

 recent Mendelian work. And there is alto- 

 gether too brief notice of the evolutional work 

 of paleontologists : the extraordinary studies 

 of Hyatt are inadequately referred to and 

 there is no mention at all of his pupils, 

 Jackson and Grabau. And while Jaekel's 

 epistasis is summarized, there is no reference 

 to the kindred and earlier neotsenia of Boas. 

 In the treatment of the environmental factor 

 there is similar unevenness : for v^hile there is 

 given an excellent and detailed account of 

 Wagner's speculations, there is scanty men- 

 tion of the distinguished services of Pro- 

 fessor J. A. Allen, and his name, by the way, 

 does not occur in the index — ^but this proves 

 nothing, for the index is sadly defective. In 

 general, however, from the point of view of 

 book-making, one does not find serious defects. 

 Printers' slips are not numerous, but one can 

 find them, if he looks hostilely, as he can in 

 any other book. Thus Perameles — even in 

 these days when ill-spelling commends itself 

 to taxonomists — would hardly recognize itself 

 as Permales on page 280. And here and there 

 careless or inaccurate expressions have not 

 been eliminated in the proof. Thus, it is 

 stated that the lung sacs of birds penetrate 

 " through hair fine holes into all the bones," 

 and that in " many fishes the female may 

 never even see the male at spawning time." 

 Bashfoed Dean 



An Introduction to Vegetable Physiology. 

 By J. Eeynolds Green. Second edition. 

 Pp. XX + 459, 182 figs, in text. Philadel- 

 phia, P. Blakiston's Son & Co. $3.00. 

 The first edition has been favorably known 

 for a number of years and the publication of 

 a second edition aroused the expectations that 

 it might be further improved and brought up 

 to date. However, in the volume before us 

 we find little change from the original im- 

 print. It is indeed to be regarded more as an 

 American reprint than as a second edition in 

 the proper sense of the word. It is noticeable 



that there is no new preface and that the 

 one printed is word for word the same as the 

 first edition with the exception that the date 

 has been omitted. In fact, throughout the 

 book the plates are almost identical, if not 

 wholly so. The one important difference is 

 that Chapter VIII. of the first edition, entitled 

 " Respiration," has been shifted and amalga- 

 mated with Chapter XIX. which deals with the 

 release of energy, the two together consti- 

 tuting Chapter XVIII. of the new edition 

 under the title " Energy of the Plant." This 

 is undoubtedly an improvement and renders 

 the presentation of the nutrition phenomena, 

 already well treated, much more logical and 

 comprehensible. Some smaller changes are 

 to be noted in the alteration of introductory 

 paragraphs to certain chapters and the sub- 

 stitution of the more modern word protein for 

 the older term proteid. 



Despite the fact that so little new material 

 has been added, it remains one of the best 

 shorter reading books in physiology that we 

 have in English, particularly in the matter of 

 nutrition physiology, which is treated very 

 much more fully than the growth phenomena. 

 It is perhaps to be regretted that more was 

 not done to amplify the second edition, but if 

 its publication in this country will serve to 

 bring it more to the attention of students 

 here, it will serve a useful purpose. 



Herbert M. Richards 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES 



THE CHICAGO ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



The Chicago Academy of Sciences held its 

 annual meeting on Tuesday evening, Janu- 

 ary 14, 1908, at the academy's building in 

 Lincoln Park. The report of the secretary 

 showed that the work of the academy had been 

 pushed steadily forward during the year and 

 that much had been accomplished in promo- 

 ting educational matters of a scientific nature 

 among the schools and citizens of Chicago. 



Monthly meetings and Friday evening 

 popular lectures have been maintained by the 

 academy, in addition to a number of lectures 

 by other societies, under the auspices of the 

 academy. The most notable of these lectures 



