York: MacMillan & Co. Pp. xii and 512; figs. 597, pl. viii; price, $3.50.

This "Crystallography" is a real addition to the literature of the subject that it treats. Its appearance reminds one strongly of Groth's "Physiographische Krystallographie," although the book is by no means a reproduction of the German treatise. The latter discusses the subject from the side of solid symmetry, whereas the former deals with it rather from the analytical point of view. The first 187 pages of the volume treat of the general relations of crystal planes and of zones. The next 200 pages take up the six crystal systems beginning with the cubic, and discuss in order the holosymmetrical and the merosymmetrical forms, combination of forms and twinned forms. Chapter VIII, embracing pages 388-463, is devoted to crystal measurements and calculations, and the final chapter to the projection and drawing of crystals. The plates show the projection of the poles of the most general form and of its derived hemihedral and tetartohedral forms in each system.

It is almost needless to state that the work of the author is based exclusively on the system of indices, known generally as the Miller system. Not only are the faces of crystal forms studied through the aid of the spherical projection, but the individual planes are discussed solely in terms of their normals. No reference is made to other systems of notation, nor to other methods of projection than those elaborated. The book might have been of a little more practical value had the author at least referred to other systems, but its unity might have suffered. As it is, the volume is a very complete exposition of crystallography from the Miller standpoint, and it will, without doubt, prove of inestimable value in popularizing this—the most beautiful method of studying the subject. Of course, the treatment is purely mathematical, but the mathematics used are simple enough to be understood by any one acquainted with the methods of spherical geometry. To the student of minerals too much emphasis will seem to be placed on the theoretical aspect of the development of crystal forms, but to the specialist in crystallography, the emphasis will appear to be placed just where it belongs-on the possibility of deriving all possible symmetrical polyhedrons from certain simple abstract notions concerning pairs of planes, at the basis of which is the principle of the rationality of the indices.

There is no doubt that the treatise before us will appeal less strongly to the student of forms than it will to one of analytical proclivities. Nevertheless it is needed even by the former, if, for no other reason,

because it will impress him more strongly than ever with the exactness with which nature constructs her inorganic structures. With Dr. Williams' little book to develop the imagination of the beginner in crystallography and to interest him in the science, and the present volume to carry him on to a very thorough understanding of the relationships of crystal forms, the English-reading student-world is as well, if not as bountifully, supplied with text books on the subject as are the students of any European country.

The authors discussions are all logically developed, and all his statements are clear and simple. The figures are well drawn and the subjects they illustrate are well selected.-W. S. B.

Elementary Physical Geography, by Ralph S. Tarr. New York: MacMillan & Co., 1895. Pp. xxxi and 488; figs. 267, plates and maps 29; price $1.40.

The most striking features of Prof. Tarr's book are the freshness and wealth of its illustrations and the excellence of its typography. The volume is just what its title indicates, except that perhaps the treatment of its subject matter is a little more inclined toward the side of physiography than toward physical geography. The book is indeed elementary-more so than one would wish, sometimes; at other times it is elementary in the statement of the facts described, while leaving their causes unexplained, where a word or two might have avoided a difficulty which the teacher will surely meet with in discussions with his brightest scholars. In the arrangement of material, some fault can easily be found, but, as the author himself declares, the treatment is, "in many respects, experimental." In spite of these criticisms, the experiment is a success.

The volume is divided into three parts, with four appendices and a very good index. The first part deals with the air. It includes chapters on the earth as a planet, the atmosphere in general, distribution of temperature in the atmosphere, its general circulation, storms, its moisture, weather and climate, and the geographic distribution of plants and animals. Why the first and last chapters included in this part are discussed here is not quite plain. Part second deals with the ocean. It embraces chapters on the ocean in general, waves and currents and tides. Part third treats of the land and its features. A general description of the earth's crust is discussed in the opening chapters. Then follow chapters on denudation, the topographic features of the surface, river valleys, deltas, waterfalls, lakes, etc., glaciers, the coast line, plateaus and mountains, volcanoes, earthquakes, etc.,

man and nature and economic products. The appendices include one on meteorological instruments, methods, etc., one on maps and one containing suggestions to teachers. The last is a list of questions on the text. At the end of each chapter is a list of reference books, with their titles and prices. This is not of much value to the student, but is convenient for the teacher. A list of articles to be found in Nature, Science, the Popular Science Monthly, and similar periodicals might have been of more value in an elementary treatise. However, the plan of referring students to original articles on the subjects discussed is commendable. We can not dismiss the book without another reference to the many really excellent illustrations and charts it contains. The former are, without exception, fresh and new, well chosen to illustrate the author's points and well executed from the bookmaker's standpoint. Many of the charts are original. The volume is, on the whole, the most attractive that we have seen on the subject it treats, and its attractiveness is not at the expense of scientific accuracy. We can safely predict a general adoption of the book as a text in many high schools and academies, and we shall be mistaken if it is not used in some of our colleges, where the instructor desires an aid in his work rather than a substitute for work.-W. S. B.

Gray's Synoptical Flora of North America. In 1835 or 1836, Dr. John Torrey planned a Flora of North America, with which Dr. Gray soon became identified, and, in July, 1838, the first part (Ranunculaceae to Caryophyllaceae) was published; a little later (October, of the same year), the second part appeared, and in June, 1840, the third and fourth parts were issued, completing Vol. I, the Polypetala. As will be remembered, Volume II was not completed, a portion appearing in 1841, and the work being suspended at the end of the Compositæ in 1843 (February). Here the work stopped for many years, and was resumed in 1878 by Dr. Gray (Dr. Torrey having died five years earlier) under the slightly different title of A Synoptical Flora of North America. In this volume the Gamopetala were completed; in 1884, the Composite and preceding families, since whose elaboration more than forty years had passed, were revived. Then shortly afterwards, 1888, came the death of Dr. Gray, followed, in 1892, by the death of Dr. Watson, before the publication of other parts.

In October, 1895, Dr. B. L. Robinson issued the first fascicle of the revision of Vol. I of the Flora, a little more than fifty-seven years since the appearance of the corresponding fascicle. This includes the polypetalous families-Ranunculaceae to Frankeniacere. It includes much

of Dr. Gray's work, to which is added something of Dr. Watson's work, to which we have now added the results of Dr. Robinson's studies.

With such a history, stretching back as it does through more than half a century, it is not to be wondered at that the work is conservative to a marked degree. The sequence of families can differ little from that adopted nearly sixty years ago, and in this fascicle the citation of authorities, the matter of nomenclature, etc., have been made to conform as far as possible to the treatment accorded them seventeen years ago. This extreme conservatism is to be regretted, since science is more productive just as its followers are least tied by the traditions of the past. Yet, with all its conservatism, the Synoptical Flora will be invaluable, and every systematic botanist will hope that health and strength may not fail the present editor before his task is completed. -CHARLES E. BESSEY.

The Natural History of Plants.'-About seven years ago the eminent professor of botany in the University of Vienna, gave to the botanical world a book under the title Pflanzenleben, with which botanists soon became familiar as a most useful work. Some time ago the welcome announcement was made that the work was to be translated and brought out simultaneously in England and America. This has now been accomplished, and the result is before us in four good sized volumes, each called a "half-volume," which are attractive externally and internally. On comparing the translation, as brought out by Messrs Holt & Co., with the original, it must be conceded that the former is the by far better done, both in the clearness of text and the perfection with which the printer has brought out the illustrations. The colored plates are especially well done, being printed from the originals by the Bibliographische Institut of Leipzig.

For those who have not seen the original, it may be well to say that it presents in a readable manner (in a popular manner, we might say, if the word had not been so dreadfully abused) the main facts as to the structure, biology, and physiology of plants. It is not a text book for daily conning by the student, but it is rather a most interesting work to

1 The Natural History of Plants, their forms, growth, reproduction and distribution, from the German of Anton Kerner von Marilaun, Professor of Botany in the University of Vienna, by F. W. Oliver, M. A., D. Sc. Quain Professor of Botany in University College, London, with the assistance of Marian Busk, B. Sc., and Mary F. Ewart, B. Sc. With about 1000 original woodcut illustrations and 16 plates in colors. 777 and 983.

New York: Henry Holt & Company, 2 vols., large Svo. pp.

be read by not only the botanist, but by every intelligent man and woman who would know something of the deeper problems with which modern botany concerns itself. The topics noted in the table of contents will give some idea of the scope of the work as follows: The study of plants in ancient and modern times; The living principle in plants; Absorption of nutriment; Conduction of food; Formation of organic matter from the absorbed inorganic food; Metabolism and transport of materials; Growth and construction of plants; Plant forms as completed structures; The genesis of plant offspring; The history of species.

A single quotation taken from the opening chapter may serve to show the delightful style in which the work is written: "Some years ago, I rambled over the mountain district of north Italy in the lovely month of May. In a small sequestered valley, the slopes of which were densely clad with mighty oaks and tall shrubs, I found the flora developed in all its beauty. There, in full bloom, was the laburnum and manna-bush, besides broom and sweet-brier, and countless smaller shrubs and grasses. From every bush came the song of the nightingale, and the whole glorious perfection of a southern spring morning filled me with delight. Speaking, as we rested, to my guide, an Italian peasant, I expressed the pleasure I experienced in this wealth of laburnum blossoms and chorus of nightingales. Imagine the rude shock to my feelings on his replying briefly that the reason why the laburnum was so luxuriant was that its foliage were poisonous, and goats did not eat it; and that though no doubt there were plenty of nightingales, there were scarcely any hares left. For him, and, I dare say, for thousands of others, this valley clothed with flowers was nothing more than a pasture ground, and nightingales were merely things to be shot. "This little occurrence, however, seems to me characteristic of the way in which the great majority of people look upon the world of plants and animals. To their minds, animals are game, trees are timber and firewood, herbs are vegetables (in the limited sense), or, perhaps, medicine or provender for domestic animals, whilst flowers are pretty for decoration. Turn in what direction I would, in every county I travelled for botanical purposes, the questions asked by the inhabitants were always the same. Everywhere I had to explain whether the plants I sought and gathered were poisonous or not; whether they were efficacious as a cure for this or that illness, and by what signs the medicinal or otherwise useful plants were to be recognized and distinguished from the rest."-CHARLES E. BESSEY.