Am    lour.  Pharn  , 
Nov.,  1880 
Reviews^  etc. 
587 
den,  presents  here  the  first  part  of  a  work  which,  if  continued  and  finished  with  the 
same  care  that  has  been  bestowed  upon  this  book,  will  be  a  very  important  and 
most  valuable  one,  inasmuch  as  it  aims  to  give  not  merely  the  facts  as  ascertained 
by  indefatigable  investigators,  but  furnishes,  likewise,  the  proofs  together  with  the 
methods  followed  for  investigation.  The  microscope  and  polariscope  are  most 
valuable  agents  for  discerning  the  structure  and  observing  the  histological  and 
chemical  changes  in  plant-life;  but  certain  effects  and  processes  are  demonstrable 
also  by  physical  experiments,  and  these,  as  a  rule,  are  very  clearly  described  and 
where  necessary  illustrated. 
The  work  is  divided  into  ten  chapters,  treating  of  protoplasm,  cell  formation, 
phenomena  of  growth  of  the  membrane,  growth  of  membranes  and  elongation  of 
organs,  results  of  growth  of  membranes,  causes  of  changes  in  direction  and  position,, 
coarse  anatomy,  theory  of  the  nutrition  of  plants,  influence  of  heat  and  retrograde 
decompositions,  including  disease,  fermentation,  decay  and  putrefaction.  The  sub- 
jects are  very  fully  illustrated  by  nearly  500  good  wood  cuts,  a  number  of  which 
have  been  printed  in  several  colors.  The  botanist  desiring  to  familiarize  himself 
with  the  scientific  investigations  on  plant  life  under  the  most  varying  conditions  will 
find  this  a  very  excellent  work  instructive  as  well  as  suggestive  of  further  experi- 
mentation. 
Das  Protoplosma  als  Trdger  der  pjian%lichen  und  thierischen  Lebens-uerrichtungen. 
Von  Dr.  Joh.  von  Hanstein.  Heidelberg:  Carl  Winter's  Universitatsbuchhand - 
lung,  1880.    Pp.  188. 
Protoplasm  as  the  sustainer  of  the  vegetable  and  animal  vital  functions. 
The  author,  recently  deceased,  was  Professor  of  Botany  at  the  University  of 
Bonn  and  well  known  for  his  numerous  scientific  investigations  in  the  various 
branches  of  botany.  The  work  before  us  has  for  its  object  the  sifting  of  facts  and 
observations  in  regard  to  the  sources  of  the  vital  force  peculiar  to  the  living  beings 
and  discusses,  first,  the  development  and  activity  of  the  minute  elementary  parts  of 
all  organisms,  the  cells,  which  must  be  regarded  as  the  seat  of  vital  activity.  The 
second  part  is  devoted  to  the  origin  of  protoplasm  and  its  functions  in  the  living 
cell,  and  it  is  shown  that  the  cell  and  protoplasm  together  are  necessary  to  produce 
any  and  all  manifestations  of  life  in  the  most  simple  individuals  of  protococcus  and 
allied  beings  as  well  as  in  the  most  perfect  ones  known.  The  diction  of  the  essay 
is  clear  and  entertaining,  so  that  the  subjects  discussed  are  readily  comprehended 
also  by  others  than  professional  botanists. 
Forschungen  auf  dem  Gebiete  der  Agriculturphysik.    Herausgegeben    von   Dr.  E. 
Wollny.    Heidelberg:  Carl  Winter's  Universitatsbuchhandlung.    Vol.  I,  II. 
Researches  in  the  domain  of  agricultural  physics. 
It  is  well  known  tliat  the  proper  development  of  plants  depends  mainly  upon  the 
physical  conditions  of  the  soil  and  atmosphere,  and  these  viewed  in  their  relation  and 
influence  upon  cultivated  plants,  as  well  as  the  physical  conditions  of  the  plants 
themselves,  have  been  embraced  under  the  term,  "agricultural  physics."  The  peri- 
odical, the  two  first  volumes  of  which,  published  in  1878  and  1879,       "ovv  before 
