SCIENCE- G OSSIP 



The Story of the Heavens. By Sir Robert Ball, 

 LL.D., D.Sc. New and Revised Edition, xii + 

 568 pp., 9J in. x 6 in., with 24 coloured plates and 

 101 other illustrations. (London, Paris, New 

 York, and Melbourne: Cassell & Co., Ltd. 1901.) 

 10s. 6d. 



The new edition of this magnificent and popular 

 book has been revised, and astronomical informa- 

 tion included up to May 1st, 1900. There are also 

 some new illustrations, including a brilliant plate 

 showing in colours the aspects of the planet 

 Jupiter on four occasions in 1897. We need not 

 say anything to recommend a work so well known 

 as Sir Robert Ball's " Story of the Heavens," and 

 will only add that this edition has greatly improved 

 the work, which should be in the hands of every 

 intelligent young person and in every family 

 library. 



A Manual of Botany. By J. Reynolds Green, 

 Sc.D., F.R.S., F.L.S. Volume II. Second Edition, 

 xiv + 515 pp., 7§ in. x 5 in., with 1,244 illustrations. 

 (London : J. & A. Churchill. 1902.) 10s. 



This is a re-issue of Professor Green's " Manual 

 of Botany," greatly altered, and, with regard to 

 the flowering plants, made more readable and 

 better adapted to the use of students to whom the 

 British flora is available. There are some other 

 improvements which make the volume one of the 

 best popular manuals on Structural Botany. 



The Chemistry of Pigments. By Ernest J. 

 Parry, B.Sc, F.I.C.,F.C.S., and John H. Coste, 

 F.I.C., F.C.S. viii + 280 pp., 8f in. x 5| in., with 



5 illustrations. (London : Scott, Greenwood & 

 Co. 1902.) 10s. 6d. net. 



The work before us deals with the chemical 

 relationships, composition, and properties of most 

 of the better-known pigments. The plan has been 

 to treat them in groups allied chemically rather 

 than chromatically. The book should be useful to 

 artists as well as chemists, as it describes analytical 

 processes, which the authors have found suitable 

 for tracing impurities, adulteration, and other 

 causes of inferiority. 



Knowledge for 1901. xii + 288 pp., 12 in. x 9J in. 

 Illustrated. (London :" Knowledge " Office. 1902.) 

 8s. 6d. 



The bound volume for last year of our contem- 

 porary " Knowledge " is to hand. As usual, the 

 chief feature is Astronomy, in which department 

 there are some good articles well illustrated. 

 Among other subjects that have received most 

 attention is Microscopy, which has been extended. 

 Ornithology is also interesting, as are some articles, 

 chiefly relating to bird-life, written by the editor 

 from the banks of the Soudanese Nile. 



Among numerous books for notice in these 

 columns we have received : — " Practical Enlarging," 

 by J. A. Hodges, fourth edition. Is. (London : 

 Iliffes) ; " Photographic Cameras and Accessories," 

 by Paul H. Hasluck. Is. (Cassell & Co.) ;" Dul- 

 verton and District," by F. J. Snell, M.A. 6d. 

 (St. Bride's Press) ; " Colour Photography," by 

 A. E. Smith. Is. (Hazell, Watson & Co.) ; " British 

 Wild Birds," by David T. Price. Is. 6d. (Gurney 



6 Jackson) ; " Missouri Botanical Garden," Twelfth 

 Annual Report ; " Maryland Geological Survey " 

 (Baltimore : Johns Hopkins Press) ; " Wild Animals 

 of the Fish River Bush, South Africa," by W. T. 

 Black (London : Young J. Pentland) ; " En- 

 graving Metals," by Paul H. Hasluck. Is. (Cassell.) 



FIELD BOTANY. 

 CONDUCTED BY JAMES SAUNDERS, A.L.S. 



Torsion of Stems in Chestnut Trees. — Those 

 who live in districts where Spanish chestnuts are 

 cultivated might find it interesting to notice- 

 whether this peculiarity is common to most or all 

 of them. There is a grove of these trees in a park 

 near Luton where every individual of the group 

 exhibits torsion of the stem in a marked degree. 

 In some cases the curves are carried up to a height 

 of fifteen or twenty feet, which is considerably 

 above the insertion of the lowest branches. The 

 curvature is usually from left to right, rarely the 

 reverse of this. Out of nineteen trees recently 

 observed eighteen were the former and only one 

 the latter. The only solution of the phenomenon 

 that presents itself to my mind is that it is due to 

 the unequal growth of the tissues. The cortex 

 apparently grows more rapidly than the internal 

 portion, so the former is compelled to assume a 

 more or less spiral direction according to the 

 amount of difference in the growth of the interior 

 and exterior of the tree trunks. A few individuals 

 of the horse chestnuts, which are of a widely 

 different natural order, exhibit the same pecu- 

 liarity, but in a much less conspicuous manner. — 

 J. 8. 



Plants of Sussex. — See page 263 ante for 

 article on " Plants of Sussex." 



STRUCTURAL and PHYSIOLOGICAL BOTANY. 

 conducted by harold a. haig. 



Preparing Tissues for Photomicrography. 

 — A good deal of care is required in staining 

 tissues so as to differentiate between the various 

 systems that occur in such a structure as a stem or 



Photomicrographs of various Structures. 

 Fig. 1. Transverse section across an umbelliferous stem. 



root and in the choice of stains, so as to render 

 the light coming through these parts sufficiently- 

 actinic for the photographic plate. Such stains 

 as eosin are, of course, eminently suited for the 



