I9I5. 



Reviews. 



with the elimination of poisonous materials developed in stems subsequent 

 to the killing of portions of them by heat, to chapter viii. on the thermo- 

 electric method of cryoscopy and to the new and elegant method of 

 obtaining apparently unaltered sap) from cells after solidification of the 

 tissues by exposure to liquid air, described in chapter ix. Such a happy 

 combination of the talents of the naturalist with those of the physical 

 chemist in one author is as rare as it is valuable. 



Some exception might be taken to the method in which the references 

 to the literature are presented at the ends of the various chapters. Thus, 

 one finds Strasburgcr's w^ell known volume of researches on the 

 " Leitungsbahnen " mentioned in the bibliographies of no less than four 

 chapters, but with no indication in any instance of the page or chapter 

 in the volume dealing with the points being discussed in the text. Again, 

 one may find an author and his publication mentioned in the bibliography 

 but not definitely alluded to in the text of the chapter. For a book of 

 this size it would probably have been more convenient to have been 

 content with one bibliography and to have made definite and explicit 

 references to it in the course of the text. Occasionally one feels in reading 

 the book that perhaps a gifted experimenter is not always the clearest 

 exponent of his work, but any slight lack of clearness here and there is 

 easily explained by the inevitable condensation of material which must 

 occur when space is limited. A couple of unimportant typographical 

 errors may be noted in passing : — On page 80, last line but one, " Bedcrs- 

 tung " should probably read " Bedeutung," and page 202, line 25, " rises " 

 should apparently be " uses." The appearance of this book is to be 

 welcomed, and it should be in the hands of every student of vegetable 

 physiology, not only on account of the theories and facts which it presents, 

 but also as affording a good insight into the ways and means by which 

 important and far reaching results in modern science are obtained. 



G. H. P. 



REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS. 



Reptiles and Batrachians. By E. G. Boulenger, F.Z.S. Pp. xiv. + 

 278. With numerous illustrations. London : J. M. Dent & Sons. 

 Price 1 6s. net. 



The author of this beautiful and interesting book is curator of the 

 " lower Vertebrates " in the London Zoological Gardens, and anyone 

 who has spent an hour or two in the new Reptile House in Regent's Park 

 knows that Mr. Boulenger has abundant material for such a work, and 

 that he has a genuine delight in the creatures which he describes. The 

 volume contains a summary classification of the Reptiles and Batrachians, 

 a large number of species being mentioned, briefly diagnosed and illustrated 

 by means of admirable photographs mostly taken from living specimens. 

 Visitors to the Dubh'n " Zoo." will be interested to read Mr. Boulenger's 

 account of the New Zealand Tuateras, the only surviving examples of 



