SCIENCE- GOSSIP. 



303 



of a Naturalist, J.-H. Fabre, ' that inimitable 

 observer.' Charles Darwin. Translated from the 

 French by the Author of ' Mademoiselle Mori,' 

 with a preface by David Sharp, M.A., F.R.S., 

 and edited by F. Merrifield, with illustrations by 

 M. Prendergast Parker." With all this talent to 

 introduce Fabre to English readers, much may be 

 expected, and happily the charm remains of the 

 brightly told story of the original author. It is 

 simply delightful to read the lines of rippling 

 words that entice us to continue, though fatigue 

 beckons us to rest, when most good folk around 

 are a-bed. This work is not a lofty treatise, with 

 the millstone of classification hanging thereto, but 

 a story, and one well told, of the habits and 

 history of beings quite as intelligent as some that 



play into one another's hands have loeen written ; 

 but in these two we find such a correlation. Dr. 

 Coulter is to be heartily congratulated on the iact 

 that he has succeeded in putting plant life before 

 us in a manner which is easily understood. No 

 doubt they will give a stimulus to those readers - 

 who either as yet are mere sceptics, or who have 

 become so entangled in their own network of 

 specialism as to give but little thought to grand 

 underlying principles. " Plant Relations," we 

 take it, should be read first, for in it we find stated 

 the relations which the plant holds with the 

 external physical forces, and the general physio- 

 logy of the organism considered as a whole. The 

 volume deals with plant life upon general broad 

 principles, recognised equally in the animal and 



li ^•--ji^aai'aaft. i>rg- 



CbRCERIS TUBERCU'i'ATA DRAGGING WEEVIL TO ITS BuRROW. 



{From Fahre's '^Insect Life.") 



are human. Yet they are called by their proper 

 names, and not by cumbersome localisms that 

 mean nothing to readers in other languages. We 

 show, by permission of the publishers, one of the 

 illustrations, and our best wish for this book is 

 that it may become as popular among English 

 readers as it is in France. 



Plwnt Relations and Plant Structures. By 

 John M. Coulter, A.M., Ph.D. xxii + 614 pp., 

 8 in. X bh in., with 503 illustrations. (London : 

 Hirschfield Brothers. 1902.) 2 vols. 6s. net 

 respectively. 



These are two of the " Twentieth Centurj' Text- 

 books," and are written by the head of the Depart- 

 ment of Botany in the University of Chicago. It 

 is some time now since any works on botany which 



vegetable kingdoms, and is. certain to be of interest 

 to those who desire to gain insight into the work- 

 ing principles of any organism. " Plant Structures " 

 is written in the same lucid style ; it is, of course, 

 of a somewhat elementary nature, but this will not 

 prevent its being read and appreciated by the 

 more advanced students of botany. An important 

 point laid stress upon throughout the whole work 

 is the comparative morphology of the various 

 groups — i.e. in the comparison with one another of 

 the several reproductive processes, and of the 

 organs and tissues which are the seat of these. 

 The two books form together an excellent summary 

 of the structures and life processes that are to be 

 met with in the vegetable kingdom. The illustra- 

 tions are well reproduced, many of them being- 

 taken from standard botanical works. — II. A. H. 



