September 25, 1885.] 



SCIENCE. 



277 



tory, would have given us one of the noblest 

 creations of genius, — one full of inspiration 

 to eveiy master and drudge of science. But 

 the poet is too late : the career he should 

 invent has been lived in reality by Darwin. 

 Can any one contemplate it, and not feel that 

 it is beautiful? 



The biograph}^ of Darwin is a theme worthy 

 of genius : it should be written with eloquence, 

 as well as with insight and discrimination. 

 But Darwin's life possesses so much inherent 

 interest, that any conscientious narrative of 

 it must be meritorious. Dr. Krause furnishes 

 us with a biography the preliminar}^ character 

 of which is frankl}^ confessed. It is not in 

 any sense the great work we hope for, never- 

 theless it deserves genuine praise. The author 

 gives a vivid and lovinoj sketch of Darwin's 

 career, and adds enough of the personal history 

 to conve}' a clear impression of his character, 

 which was so pure and open, that its noble 

 traits impressed not only his friends, but also 

 all who knew him. Indeed, there are many 

 who feel that the man was finer than an^^ of 

 his works. Dr. Krause, as was natural for the 

 editor of the German evolutionar}' magazine, 

 Kosmos^ has made his book more than a per- 

 sonal histor}' b}' including an account of the 

 rise and triumph of the Darwinian theory. 

 All this is so well done, that the book affords 

 a ver}^ clear idea of the inception of the theor}^ 

 and of the leading episodes of the prolonged 

 warfare which was initiated b}" the publication 

 of the ' Origin of species.' It is certainly a 

 very interesting histor}', plainly but well told. 

 Moreover the volume, albeit not large, contains 

 a sufficient outline of all Darwin's chief in- 

 vestigations. The principal excellence of the 

 work; however, lies in the correlations it es- 

 tablishes between Darwin's labors and both 

 the circumstances of his life and his personal 

 traits. In short, we commend the book as the 

 best available source of a general knowledge 

 of Darwin. The volume gains in interest by 

 a couple of fairly good portraits — a view of 

 Darwin's home at Down, a facsimile of an 

 autograph letter — and the publication of a not 

 inconsiderable number of letters from Darwin 

 to various German naturalists. It is well 

 printed in clear Roman type, not in Gothic 

 abominations. It msiy be noted, that it is to 

 be followed by a companion volume of trans- 

 lations into German of such of Darwin's 

 smaller writings as have not previousl}' ap- 

 peared in that language. We hope that this 

 biography will be soon published in English 

 translation. 



We have endeavored to express the twofold 



nature of the interest Darwin excites. Dr. 

 Krause portrays his greatness, but his fame 

 must be explained more full}^ hereafter by 

 some profound philosopher who knows thor- 

 oughl}^ and understandingly the intellectual 

 history of the nineteenth century. 



EDIBLE AND POISONOUS EUNGI. 



Although the larger fungi, popular 1}^ called 

 toadstools and mushrooms, are not so danger- 

 ous as is generally believed, it is certainly a 

 difficult matter for the public to distinguish 

 between the forms which are edible, and those 

 which are injurious, or even fatal. The two 

 charts, with twelve colored plates by Prang, 

 are intended to aid those who are not bo- 

 tanical experts, in recognizing some of our 

 more common edible and poisonous species. 

 With each plate is a brief description of the 

 species figured, and directions for cooking ; and, 

 under the heading of ' general directions,' Mr. 

 Julius A. Palmer gives a short account of the 

 distinctions between poisonous and edible 

 fungi. The plates are, in general, well exe- 

 cuted and characteristic ; and some of the 

 best edible species, as Coprinus comatus, 

 would be recognized, without hesitation, hj the 

 most inexperienced. The plate showing puflT- 

 balls is not well done from a botanical point 

 of view ; and, with regard to the plates in which 

 several different species are shown in one 

 group, it may be said that the effect is confus- 

 ing ; especiall}^ in the plate of Russulae, where, 

 after the directions for cooking, the warning 

 is added, " the noxious members of this 

 famil}^ resemble the esculent so closely, that, 

 to the amateur, tasting each one as gathered 

 is the only guide ; the hurtful ones being alwa^'s 

 hot and acrid." In such a case, one would 

 suppose that plates would be of little use to 

 the general public. In continuations of this 

 work, it is to be hoped that the crowding of 

 several species on one plate will be abandoned. 

 If Americans do not make use of fungi to 

 the same extent as some other nations, it is, 

 perhaps, quite as much owing to their igno- 

 rance of the wa}' to cook them, as fear of 

 mistaking the edible and noxious forms. 

 Numbers of our common species are delicious 

 when well cooked : but on the other hand, as 

 usually' prepared for the table, the}^ are quite 

 the reverse ; and, until the number of good 

 cooks is much greater than it is now, we can 

 hardly expect fungi to become a very popular 



Mushrooms of America, edible and poisonous. By Juxius 

 A. Palmer, jun. Boston, Prang, 1885, 



