BOOK-NOTES, NEWS, ETC. 93 
rate of growth are described. A 7 vi — on the 
peetiaer of growth, in which growth by apposition and intus- 
susception we discussed in the cases of the jail. are a the starch- 
grain respectively. The relation between nuclear and cell-division, 
the differ halestion of tissues as affected by inherent mechanical 
conditions, and the order of cell-division form the subjects of the 
third chapter; while the fourth deals with the elasticity and cohesion 
of the plant-body as a whole, of the cell-wall and of the — and 
is followed by a brief chapter on tissue-strains and stresses. 
The influence of external conditions on growth is the subject of 
Chapter vi. Essential formal conditions, comprising (a) sources 
of energy and food, and (d) stimulating factors, such as temperature, 
oxygen, &c., can be distinguished from accessory non-essential factors 
which act mainly as stimuli. The influence of temperature, of 
light, of magnetism and electricity, of gravity “ centrifugal force, 
of chemical ¢ agencies, of the percentage of water and of turgidity, 
and of mechanical agencies on growth are pee in detail. ‘‘The 
biotic reactions; review of the internal factors determining specific 
shape; and hypotheses of ultimate structures and heredity. It is 
followed by a short chapter on variation and heredity. Periodicity 
of growth, daily and yearly, and the influence of external conditions 
upon, and the origin of, these phenomena are discussed in the ninth 
cer. while the tenth, and last, is entitled ‘The Power of Re- 
sistance to Extremes.” In the atter, the causes of death, resistance 
to heat and cold, power of resistance to light, effects of withdrawal 
of water and chemica 1 changes, including the action of poisons, 
form the subjects of discussion. An exhaustive index completes 
the volume. 
si 
plant-physiology. The general botanist will find in the eee 
matter an exposition of a phase of his science, treated in a more 
readable way than was the asst oak of the earlier volume. 
A. B. R. 
BOOK-NOTES, NEWS, éc. 
the meeting of the Linnean Society on 21st January, Dr, 
Krie Drabble exhibited a lantern-slide showing diagrams of bi- 
carpellary fruits of the French Bean. These | saga = Phaseolus 
: nd 
posterior aspect of the normal espe a& second smaller carpel 
with reversed orientation and without seeds. In other ied the 
second carpel attains to at least one-half the size of a ormal 
ior one, and is fused with the latter proximall 
manner as to give rise to a unilocular fruit with yhtietal: etintiiien 
