REVIEWS. 
43 
u To examine the alga from the mouth, it is only necessary to scrape the upper 
surface of the tongue, and examine the epithelium and debris, removed in the 
usual way, and moistened with a little water, under the microscope.” 
The series of text-books, of which this work of Dr. Beale’s forms a 
portion, are no slight boon to the student, as they present, in a small 
compass, and at a moderate cost, an amount of laborious research, which 
those who have engaged in similar investigations can alone appreciate. 
We have refrained from extracting more largely from this manual only 
because of its purely professional character, which, however, will not, 
we feel assured, prevent its being read with profit and interest by many 
who are not connected with the profession, to whose wants it is now 
more particularly addressed. 
“ The Microscope, and its Application to Vegetable Anatomy and Phy¬ 
siology,” as Dr. Hermann Schacht styles his work, is no ordinary produc¬ 
tion, but one which will amply repay the time spent in its study by every 
botanical observer, and which we feel sure must exercise a most important 
influence on the microscopic examination of vegetable tissues. The rapid 
sale of the first edition—no bad criterion of its value—has already made 
a second necessary; and even if our attention had not been called to it by 
the translator’s preface, we could not fail to have remarked the very useful 
practical changes effected in the present, by the introduction of new matter, 
and the omission of what was not valuable. These changes are the intro¬ 
duction of four chapters at the commencement of the work; for these the 
editor, Mr. F. Currey, is responsible. We are glad to see that, in 
chapter iii., he has retained the very useful list of re-agents found in the 
first edition. The first of these chapters contains some elementary prin¬ 
ciples of optics necessary to a proper comprehension of the microscope; 
the second, a description of English microscopes, &c.; the third, an 
account of the accessory apparatus and chemical re-agents necessary for 
microscopical investigations in botany; and the fourth is occupied by 
directions for the preservation of specimens. At the suggestion of 
Dr. Schacht, chapters ix., x., and xi., have been added, containing a very 
interesting account of the embryogeny of the conifers ; these are a trans¬ 
lation of a portion of a work published by him last summer.* Besides 
these very important improvements, Dr. Schacht had communicated to the 
editor many manuscript additions, the result of his researches since 1851, 
which have been incorporated with the text, so that it can scarcely be 
regarded as a translation of the original work. Some omissions, how¬ 
ever, will be found in the present edition ; chapters vii. and viii. of the 
Beitrage zur Anatomie und Physiologie der Gewachse.” 
