1922] _ CURRENT LITERATURE 223 
It is intended to meet the needs of the veterinarian, the farmer, the stockman, 
and to a more limited extent the physician and the general public. The high 
standing of the authors and the fact that they are botanists insure accuracy 
so far as the plants are concerned. 
The book is divided into four sections, the first three dealing with the plants 
mainly responsible for fatalities among animals, grouped on the basis of their 
occurrence in the animal’s feed, whether found in hay (section 1), in pasture 
(section 2), or in concentrated feed stuffs (section 3). The fourth section 
deals with the plants which, although poisonous, seldom cause the death of 
animals. The larger number of poisonous plants, including those mainl 
original an enab e the amateur to identify the plant responsible in an 
ordinary case of poisoning. There is a “symptoms” key, not claiming to be 
precise, but which will facilitate diagnoses by suggesting the plants which 
should be looked for when certain symptoms are observed and plant poisoning 
is suspected. 
The authors emphasize the need for research on poisonous plants, both 
along the lines of chemical analysis and feeding experiments. The book is 
interesting and well written, and many of the observations, which could have 
been made only by experienced botanists, indicate the propriety of issuing 
Ts a book from a botanical department.—C. J. CHAMBERLAIN, 
Constitution of vascular plants 
CHAUVEAUD, in a small volume, has presented his views as to the constitu- 
tion of vascular plants, based upon an investigation of ontogeny. He calls 
attention to the disagreement between current theories and the facts he has 
observed in his investigations. His conclusion is that the body of vascula 
plants is built up by the successive appearance of fundamental units, or “phyl- 
lorhizes.”” As one passes from Pteridophytes to Spermatophytes, the dis- 
appearance of the root element (“‘rhize”) is more and more frequent, and 
becomes the rule in Dicotyledons, where a rhize appears in connection with the 
first two phyllorhizes, but appears in connection with later phyllorhizes only 
in exceptional cases, as an adventitious root. In consequence of being thus 
reduced to a single member, the root has acquired the power of enlarging 
indefinitely and of persisting as long as the stem itself. 
It is shown, also, that in the development of the apparatus of conduction 
there is a eran parallelism between internal and external morphology, since 
the aratus of the plant is built up by the repeated formation of 
elementary iste each one corresponding ok ssp = the Phyllorhizes. ee 
bud is the beginning of a new phy lo be added 
In short, pl lants with rmed f: | tary plantules or phyllichizes, 
and the constitution of these is the unit of morphology.—J. M. C 
4 EAUD, Gustave, La constitution des plantes vasculaires révélée par leur 
ontogénie. gion pp. 155. figs. 54. Paris: Payot. 1921. 10 fr. 
