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SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXSII. No. 815 



were neglected despite the attractive oppor- 

 tunity for investigation which they obviously 

 afford. In the zoological institutes, on the 

 other hand, where one might have expected 

 the desired progress to be initiated, attention 

 was centered for the most part upon mor- 

 phological aspects of study — at any rate, for 

 many years after purely systematic studies 

 gave way to modern experimental methods. 



The editor of the new " Handbuch " believes 

 that the time has come to take account of the 

 facts of comparative physiology now estab- 

 lished and to review the situation in a more 

 comprehensive manner than has heretofore 

 been attempted. This is the period of " Hand- 

 biicher " in the biological sciences. We may 

 question whether it is not time for a reaction 

 to set in — ^for a return from the prevailing 

 expansionist methods of publication to those 

 of the less eyclopsedic texts where competent 

 critique eliminates a great mass of antiquated 

 data and gives us less voluminous, but more 

 inspiring, manuals. In the case of compara- 

 tive physiology, however, it would be unfair 

 to say that the general literature has as yet 

 been overdone. The usefulness of such a book 

 as V. Fiirth's " Vergleichende Chemische Phys- 

 iologie " arouses the belief that the publication 

 of a comprehensive summary of the important 

 contributions, with an attempt at such gen- 

 eralizations as are now warranted, may be 

 decidedly valuable. The names of the collab- 

 orators whom Professor Winterstein has se- 

 lected inspire confidence in the undertaking. 

 They include E. Babak (Prague), S. Baglioni 

 (Eome), W. Biedermann (Jena), E. du Bois- 

 Eeymond (Berlin), F. Bottazzi (Naples), E. 

 Burian (Naples), A. J. Carlson (Chicago), 

 L. Fredericq (Liege), E. F. Fuchs (Erlangen), 

 S. Garten (Giessen), E. Godlewski (Cracow), 

 A. Kreidl (Vienna), J. Loeb (New York), E. 

 Mangold (Greifswald), W. Nagel (Eostock), 

 H. Przibram (Vienna), O. zur Strassen 

 (Frankfurt), E. Tigerstedt (Helsingfors) and 

 E. Weinland (Munich). 



The plan proposed calls for a division of the 

 subject according to physiological functions 

 rather than by groups and species, thus cre- 

 ating a true comparative physiology. In con- 



nection with each topic the relations of the 

 various animal subdivisions are to be dealt 

 with by comparison in so far as existing 

 knowledge justifies. The entire field is to be 

 covered in four volumes issued in about thirty 

 parts. The groupings of the chapters com- 

 prise The Body Fluids; Eespiration; Metab- 

 olism of Matter ; Eeproduction ; Metabolism of 

 Energy; Physiology of Form; Physiology of 

 Eeception of, Conduction of, and Eesponse to 

 Stimuli. 



These columns will not permit a detailed 

 review of the four parts which have already 

 appeared, further than to indicate their scope. 

 Professor Biedermann has written the subdi- 

 vision on the ingestion and assimilation of 

 food. The descriptions applicable to animal 

 forms are preceded by a rather comprehensive 

 account (272 pp.) of nutrition in plants, pri- 

 marily of the lowest types. In this the author 

 has evidently drawn largely from such works 

 as Czapek's " Biochemie der Pflanzen " and 

 Laf ar's " Handbuch der technischen Mykol- 

 ogie." The first 76 pages deal with the sources 

 of nutriment for plants ; the remainder of this 

 introductory portion is essentially a review of 

 the role of enzymes in the metabolism of 

 plants. One might differ with the author as 

 to the desirability of devoting so many pages 

 to a subject which seems at first glance rather 

 foreign to the main purpose. Professor Bied- 

 ermann evidently feels that its importance has 

 not been adequately appreciated. " Man darf 

 wohl sagen," he writes, " dass kaum auf einen 

 anderen Gebiete der Physiologie die cellular- 

 physiologische Forschung so glanzende Eesul- 

 tate aufzuweisen hat, wie gerade auf dem der 

 Pfianzenverdauung. In geradezu schemat- 

 ischer Elarheit tritt uns hier schon bei den 

 Bakterien und den niederen Pilzformen die 

 fundamental Tatsache entgegen, dass es En- 

 zyme gibt, welche ausserhalb der Zellkorper 

 (extracellular) wirken (Ektoenzyme), wie 

 auch solche deren Wirksamkeit nur intraplas- 

 matisch {intracellular) zur Geltung kommt 

 (Endoenzyme) " (p. 254). After a review of 

 the literature on the comparative chemistry of 

 nutrition, Biedermann concludes : " Es darf 

 als sicher gelten, dass die intra- und extra- 



