NOVEMBEE 29, 1901.] 



SCIENCE. 



847 



III. Derivatives of flavone (phenylpheno-}- 

 pyrone). — Chrysin, tectochrysin, apigenin, 

 acacetin, luteolin, quercetin, rhamnetin, iso- 

 rhamnetin, rhamnazin, fisetin and derivatives, 

 morin, myricetin, ksempferid, galangin, loto- 

 flavine. 



The volume concludes with an alphabetical 

 table of the coloring matters and their deriva- 

 tives, giving the name of the compound, its 

 melting point, and the reference to the page of 

 the text where the same may be found described 

 in detail, thus constituting an excellent index. 



The book presents an able review of a field 

 which is frequently unjustly slighted in the 

 larger text-books. It can be heartily com- 

 mended to those interested in this branch of 

 organic chemistry. 



Marston Taylor Bogert. 



Pflanzenphysiologie. Ein Handhuch der Lehre vom 

 Stoffwechsel und Kraftwechsel in der Pfianze. 

 Von Dr. W. Pfeffer. II. Kraftwechsel. 

 Zweite voUig umgearbeitete Auflage. Leip- 

 zig, Wm. Engelmann. 1901. Pp. 353. 

 The first volume of this comprehensive work 

 appeared in 1897 and was reviewed by the 

 writer of this note in Science (7 : 318. 1898). 

 The recent part deals with the general action 

 of growth, and the influence of various factors 

 upon it, the inherent causes of specific form, 

 variation and heredity, rhythm and resistance. 

 The commendation given the first volume of 

 this splendid work seems equally well deserved 

 by the second. The citations of literature are 

 quite inclusive up to 1900, and many of the 

 more important papers appearing since that 

 time are given, although not much time could 

 have been given to a consideration of their con- 

 tents. 



It is to be said that the author has not had so 

 much critical editorial work before him in the 

 preparation of the present part as in the first 

 volume, since the greater number of principles 

 discussed are in the form in which they have 

 been accepted for a decade. Much of the 

 material rests exactly as it was left by Pfeffer's 

 lengthy papers of a few years since upon trans- 

 formations of energy, and in other sections the 

 subject matter has remained almost undisturbed 

 since the first edition of the book. 



Some of the phases of the activity of the 

 plant discussed do not appear to have been 

 carried to the extent that might be reasonably 

 expected from a work of this character. Thus 

 in dealing with the influence of light upon 

 plants, the author has not followed to a logical 

 conclusion the discussions foreshadowed in the 

 preface. 



The influence of water content upon growth 

 and form, correlation, reproduction and regen- 

 eration comes in for a well conceived treatment, 

 and the pages devoted to these topics are valu- 

 able additions to literature. 



The first volume has already been translated 

 by Dr. Ewart in a manner adding much to its 

 scientific and practical value, and it is to be 

 hoped that he will be as speedy and attentive in 

 editing the present volume. An unusually large 

 number of typographical errors will doubtless 

 be reduced to a minimum in the process. 



The fulness of discussions, exactness and 

 pertinence of citations, together with the grasp 

 of the subject and breadth of view of the 

 author, make this book very easily the greatest 

 work yet produced on plant physiology, and in 

 the historical development of the subject it 

 will prove to be as valuable as the notable 



volume of Sachs. 



D. T. MacDougal. 



scielVTific journals and articles. 



The October (closing) number of Volume 2 of 

 the Transactions of the American Mathematical 

 Society contains the following papers : ' Geom- 

 etry of a Simultaneous System of Two Linear 

 Homogeneous Differential Equations of the 

 Second Order,' by E. J. Wilczynski ; 'Theory 

 of Linear Groups in an Arbitrary Field,' by L. 

 E. Dickson ; ' On Certain Aggregates of Deter- 

 minant Minors,' by W. H. Metzler ; ' Ueber die 

 Anwendung der Cauchy'schen Multiplications- 

 regel auf bedingt convergente order divergente 

 Eeihen,' by A. Pringsheim ; ' Ueber den Gour- 

 sat'schen Beweis des Cauchy'schen Integral- 

 satzes,' by A. Pringsheim; 'New Proof of a 

 Theorem of Osgood's in the Calculus of Varia- 

 tions,' by O. Bolza ; 'On Certain Pairs of 

 Transcendental Functions whose Roots Sepa- 

 rate each other,' by M. B6cher ; ' On the Sys- 

 tem of a Binary Cubic and a Quadratic and the 



