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POPULAR SCIENCE REVIEW. 
this, the student will require a large amount of tools [and apparatus, and a 
considerable degree of patience and perseverance. A list is given of the 
instruments required, with the cost of each, so that the reader who can afford 
it and has time to allot to the labour, may set about studying experimental 
physics at once. But we fear the needy man will have the difficulty of cost 
in his way, and this of course may deter him from the undertaking. But 
we do not see why, either at college or in an advanced school, a subscription 
might not be got up by various students, and so the expense would be trifling 
while the advantage would be as great to all. The book before us is of 
considerable size, being large 8vo. and extending to pp. 850. It deals with 
the subjects of mechanics, hydrostatics, pneumatics, light, electricity, gal- 
vanism, &c., and heat. And these several branches are dealt with very fully, 
and with ample illustrations, and appended remarks as to the nature of the 
work which must be done by the student in preparing for experiment. The 
editor, too, Mr. Benjamin Loewy, F.R.S.A.,has done his work with care, and 
has given an admirable translation of what must have been a very difficult 
task to render in English. The preface by Professor Foster shows the im- 
portance of the plan which Herr Weinhold adopts. 
MUSHROOMS : THEIR ANATOMY AND USES.* 
W E certainly did not think that so much could be said on the subject of 
this volume as the book contains ; but we have been enlightened, and 
that, too, in the most forcible manner. It must be admitted that the work 
which Mr. Cooke has completed is a most valuable one ; and, in addition, is 
most interesting reading. He has written a full account of fungi, their 
nature, structure, classification, uses, notable phenomena ; their spores, ger- 
mination and growth, sexual reproduction, polymorphism, influence and 
effects, habitats, cultivation, geographical distribution, and lastly their collec- 
tion and preservation. It will be seen from this list of contents that it is 
essentially a work on the natural history of the fungi, one which deals with 
their manners and habits, and not one which has to do in the slightest way 
with species. It is therefore a book which everyone who loves biology 
must procure, and it is one too which any person who has an ordinary English 
education may read with the greatest advantage to himself. That it must 
have a large sale is unquestionable ; for it is the only book of the kind we 
know of, and it is written by the very highest authority in the country save 
one, and that one (Mr. Berkeley) has gone over the proofs, and added notes 
here and there. It covers about 300 pages, and is illustrated by more than 
100 woodcuts, which are taken from the writings of men like Van Tieghem, 
Greville, Boudier, De Bary, Tulasne, Currey, &c. Of all the various chapters, 
every one of which is full of interest, there are two or three to which we 
may specially refer, as they appear to us to be pre-eminently good. And 
* u Fungi : their Nature, Influence, and Uses.” By M. C. Cooke, M.A., 
LL.D, Edited by the Rev. M. J. Berkeley, M.A., E.L.S. Henry S. King 
& Co., 1875. 
