80 



scientific names, a summary of the characters, the range and 

 season is given. There is also the more conventional index. The 

 book makes good reading, will be valuable for reference, and 

 will undoubtedly influence many who go into the fields and 

 woods to add to their diet some of these plants so commonly 

 neglected. 



The Physiology of Plants* 



R. C. Benedict 



"Three qualities have been striven for in the writing of this 

 book; the avoidance of finality of statement; frequent reminders 

 of the bearing of plant physiology on commonplace experi- 

 ences; and a presentation as readable and fluent as is consistent 

 with scientific accuracy." 



The reviewer is glad to record his judgment that the aims 

 so set forth have been very adequately achieved in this new 

 plant physiology. Probably briefest of all the current texts on 

 the subject, and least exhaustive in its treatment, this book 

 should serve as a satisfactory introduction for an undergradu- 

 ate course in plant physiology. Consistent with Professor 

 Seifriz's special interest in cellular problems, this volume 

 stresses those phases of the subject which are of "general physi- 

 ological" significance. The style is clear and simple, the material 

 interesting and recent. Brief bibliographies for each chapter will 

 enable the reader who wishes to go beyond this text to find more 

 exhaustive discussions. In itself, the Seifriz should furnish ex- 

 cellent supplementary reading for students in general botany 

 and general biology classes. 



In one particular of treatment, this reviewer would take 

 definite issue with the Seifriz (as with not a few other texts), 

 viz., in the definition and usage of the word, food. "The foods 

 of plants are the same as the foods of animals. Inorganic sub- 

 stances are not foods. To be sure, if a plant containing chloro- 

 phyl is supplied with inorganic material only, it will grow nor- 

 mally; but the salts supplied are not food; this is made by the 

 plant." If the word food means anything, it means building 

 material as well as material which supplies energy. Certainly 

 protoplasm cannot be built without water, both colloidally and 



* Seifriz, William. The Physiology of Plants. Wiley 1938. $3.50. 



