366 THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY 
readable. The sketch of the early history of the Gardens is par- 
ticularly well done; the frequent citation of dates—too often 
neglected in books of this kind—renders it easy to follow the 
was but slig 
scientific value to the very great assistance rendered in its com- 
_ pilation by Solander and Dryander. We think, also, that Mr. Bean 
Chemie der Héheren Pilze. Eine Monographie yon Dr. Junius 
ZELLNER. Leipzig: Wilhelm Engelmann. 1907. Pp. iv. 
& 257. Price 9 marks. 
them, and which differ widely from those of 
chlorophyll-containing plants, approximating more ly to 
animal substances. These somewhat striking biochemical pheno- 
mena have always attracted students, but the older records are 
subject, including numeral and 2 ances, colours, poisons, 
&c, Finally, the author sums up shortly the points in which 
fungi differ from other plants; they possess no true cellulose, the 
cell-membrane being of a chitinous nature ; chlorophyll and starch 
are both wanting, but carbohydrate in the form of glycogen is 
widely distributed ; fats are present as fatty acids; basic bodies 
such as muscarin, ergotinin, &c., are abundant, but no true alkaloid 
has been detected ; colour subst and various ferments peculiar 
to fungi are also very frequent. 
- Dr. Zellner compares the chemistry of fungi with that of the 
