2go 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



balance of life nature does not always resort to 

 epidemic or sporadic efforts. There are always 

 with us certain forms of what we term "disease," 

 otherwise various parasitic life that exists at the 

 cost of the hosts upon which it settles. In the 

 vegetable world the most effective in keeping down 

 a superabundance of any particular species are 

 the diseases caused by attacks of cryptogamic 

 parasites, especially of a fungoid nature. 



These forms constitute the subject of one of the 

 most valuable contributions to botanical literature 

 which have been issued from the press for many 

 years past. The author of this work is Dr. Karl 

 Freiherr von Tubeuf, of the University of Munich, 

 and his labours bear every evidence of the deliberate 

 painstaking study which characterises scientific 

 students of his nation. p) The book grows on one 

 as it is read and re-read, for its pages are 

 rarely without one 

 or more interest- 

 ing fact with re- 

 gard to some more 

 or less familiar dis- 

 tortion or blemish 

 in plant-life. The 

 edition before us 

 is, thanks to Dr. 

 WilUam G. Smith, 

 of the Edinburgh 

 University and the 

 Royal Botanic Gar- 

 dens of that city, 

 r en der ed into 

 English. Dr. Smith 

 is no mere translator 

 of this work, because 

 he has long been 

 known as an investi- 

 gator in the field of 

 research covered by 

 organic disorders of 



vegetable life. Neither is the translator a stranger 

 to the author, for, while working under his 

 guidance, Dr. Smith saw the book take shape 

 in his hands, and even added some items to its 

 pages. In a subject so comparatively little worked 

 as plant pathology, we may expect even the most 

 perfect monograph soon to require amendment. 

 This has been notably the case with Dr. von 

 Tubeuf s, for the interest it created by its publica- 

 tion produced a number of new investigators, and 

 consequently a large amount of new facts. Most 

 of these, with the approval of the author, have 

 been incorporated in Dr. Smith's production, 



(1) "Diseases of Plants induced by Cryptogamic Parasites: 

 Introduction to the Study of Pathogenic Fungi, Slime-Fungi, 

 Bacteria and Algas." By Dr. Karl Freiherr von Tubeuf. 

 English edition by William G. Smith, B.Sc, Ph.D. 614 pp. 

 large 8vo ; 330 illustrations. (London, New York a"nd 

 Bombay: Longmans, Green and Co. 1897.) Price i8s. 



WiTCHES'-BROOM ON HORNBE.\M. 



(From " Diseases of Plants.") 



which therefore becomes a new edition as well as a 

 translation. We find that whole sections have 

 been re-written, and the matter brought even 

 with recent knowledge of their subjects. It is 

 difficult to speak too highly of Dr. Smith's work, 

 which shows a wide knowledge of fungoid diseases 

 of plants and of the literature of the subject 

 published in several languages in the eastern and 

 western hemispheres. 



The plan of Dr. von Tubeufs "Diseases of 

 Plants " is to take in review the biological, physio- 

 logical and anatomical relationships accompanying 

 phenomena of fungoid parasitism. There are also 

 many remarks upon the preventive and combative 

 agencies available against the more important 

 diseases of economic plants. In writing the work 

 the author has chiefly borne in mind that his duty 

 first lay in educating and training his readers for 



systematic work in 

 his especial field. 

 For more exact 

 descriptions he gives 

 copious references 

 to the works of 

 specialists; Sac- 

 cardo's splendid 

 ' ' S y 1 1 o g e F u n- 

 gorum," being one 

 of the greatest. We 

 do not wish to infer 

 that without these 

 works of reference 

 the various species 

 of fungi referred to 

 by Dr. von Tubeuf 

 would be difficult to 

 identify, for such 

 would be far from 

 the truth. On look- 

 ing through the pages 

 there are few which 

 will puzzle even the beginner, so plainly does our 

 author deal with each. The works quoted upon 

 fungi themselves, either from the view of scientific 

 description or life-history, are all recent of publi- 

 cation and number over a dozen. Those on diseases 

 of plants are also important and recent, numbering 

 a couple of dozen titles. 



The contents of this book are divided into two 

 parts. The first contains nine chapters. They 

 deal with the parasitic fungi, while the second 

 part consists of four articles on classification and 

 description of species. Parasitic fungi are described 

 generally as the true fungi, together with the 

 Myxomycetes.or slime-fungi, and the Schizomycetes, 

 or bacteria, forming the group of cryptogams 

 characterised by lack of chlorophyll or green 

 colouring matter. These are broadly divided into 

 saprophytes, being those which obtain nutriment 



