151 



entific merit meet such an instant demand, and all science bene- 

 fits by the diffusion of such a work among the general reading 

 public. Although the text of the new edition is essentially that 

 of the first, the occasion has been used to correct the typo- 

 graphical errors that marred the beauty of the first edition, and 

 to remove certain ambiguities of expression which had escaped 

 the editor's notice in the preparation of that edition. A note is 

 added on p. 575 explaining that the species used by de Vries as 

 " Oenothera biennis " is not Ol'. biennis as it is known to Ameri- 

 can botanists, and has not yet been found in nature in America. 

 The insertion of an excellent photogravure of the author adds 

 much to the artistic and sentimental value of the book, and the 

 publishers are to be congratulated on the pains they have taken 

 to make this second edition even more valuable and attractive 

 than the first. There can be no doubt that it will continue to 

 have a large circulation and to diffuse scientific knowledge of 

 advanced character beyond the limits usually reached by scien- 

 tific works. 



George H.-vrrisox Shull. 



Pfeffer's Physiology of Plants* 



This volume, published on March 14, 1906, marks the com- 

 pletion of Professor Ewart's English translation of Pfeffer's 

 PflanzenpJiysiologic. Volume I, dealing with metabolism, ap- 

 peared in 1900, and Volume II, on growth, reproduction and 

 maintenance, in 1903. 



Volume III treats of movement ; the production of heat, light 

 and electricity ; and the sources and transformations of energy in 

 the plant. The sense of the original and difficult German has 

 been admirably preserved in the English rendering, though it is 

 not always easy to tell just where the author leaves off and the 

 translator begins. 



In the matter of style, the text usually gives universal for par- 

 tial negatives, as, e. g., on page 307, where it is stated that, '' All 



* Pfeffer, W. The Physiology of Plants. A Treatise upon the Metabolism and 

 Sources of Energy in Plants. Second fully revised edition, translated and edited 

 by Alfred J- Ewart. Vol. III. Pp. viii -(- 451. y. /-70. Oxford: At the Clarendon 

 Press. 1906. 



