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Methoden der Hydrobiologie—Süsswasserbiologie
210 (singular)). Finally, the price of the booklet is exorbitantly high for what is offered. C. DEN HARTOG (Nijmegen, The Netherlands)
FRESHWATER BIOLOGY Methoden der Hydrobiologie--S~sswasserbiologie, by Jfirgen SchwSrbel. Neubearbeitete Auflage, Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart, New York, 1980, 2nd. edn., 261 pp., 88 figs. The new German edition of the pocket-size booklet on Methods of Hydrobiology -- Freshwater Biology uses the author's experiments from the first edition, which first appeared in German in 1966, in English in 1970 and in Spanish in 1975. In the Introduction to the second edition, the author considers the book as a complement to his former similarly sized German booklet "Einfi]hrung in die Limnologie" (Introduction to Limnology). In comparison to the first edition, the size has been reduced (always a positive feature) by rejecting theoretical explanations not directly concerned with the methods. The author stresses the creative nature of the application of biological methods which have to be modified for each application, as opposed to chemical methods, where strict rules have to be followed. Therefore, the principles of biological methods are given rather than a " c o o k e r y b o o k " appropriate for chemical methods. The book is divided into 7 major chapters and 5 supplementary ones. Chapter 1 deals with physical and chemical methods, the next four chapters concern biological methods for major water types and their regions: pelagic and benthic regions of standing waters, running waters and groundwater, and two chapters on the specific methods for productivity investigations and for biological estimates of pollution. I found the last chapter particularly critical, suggesting that the more elaborate and time-consuming recent European methods based on detailed species lists and statistical evaluations do not differ in their results from the original saprobiological methods of Kolkwitz and Marsson. The five supplementary chapters concern methods of preservation of aquatic organisms, methods of cultivation, a small chapter written by J. Soeder on cultures of algae, a listing of SI-units and a list of German producers of limnological apparatus. The biological methods and figures, for the most part give a~ impression of primitiveness, except for the methods of investigating productivity. This impression is also supported by looking through the list of references, where approximately one quarter dates from before 1955, and only about 4% are l~ter than 1975. The recent methodological developments are omitted,
211 not being considered appropriate for such an introductory text. However, in the reviewer's opinion, this is not a good philosophy for attracting students to the subject. Perhaps if the theory were to be confined to the "Introduction to Limnology" (cf. Figs. 77, 81, 82, 85 and related text) some space would remain for the more recent methodological developments. Aquatic macrophytes are only treated very briefly, under benthic organisms and running water. Heading 3.3.3 called in the contents "Unterseeische Wienen" (under water Vienna) puzzled me, until I realized that it was a typing error for "Wiesen" -- underwater meadows! Animals are considered, more than plants, and more attention is paid to periphytic organisms (a summary is given under heading 3.4). The booklet can be considered a good introductory text on limnological methods, representing a first step in studying detailed methodological handbooks. M. STRASKRABA (&~k~
~ • Budejowce, Czechoslovakia)
AQUATIC MICROBIOLOGY
Aquatic Microbiology, by G. Rheinheimer. John Wiley, Chichester, New York, Brisbane, Toronto, second edition, 1980, 235 pp., £10, ISBN 0-47127643-x. This b o o k is intended as an introduction to the aquatic microbiology. Originally published in the German language in 1971, the first English edition appeared in 1974 (for review b y T. Fenchel, see Aquatic Botany 1, 1975, pp. 321--322). The fact that only 6 years after publication of this edition, an improved and extended second edition could be brought out shows certainly that this work found its way. One of the improvements is the inclusion of a chapter on Cyanophyta. As stated in the introduction, the b o o k does not deal much with microbiological methods. This is regrettable; because of its introductory character some basic information on methods should have been given, e.g. in the chapter on Bacteria, Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria are distinguished, but the terms are not explained. The style of the b o o k is factual and the arrangement of the subjects is extremely orderly, the treatment of the material is more or less encyclopaedic. If one wants to know which micro-organisms are involved in the breakdown o f a certain substance, this can be found easily, b u t generally the steps of the process are not discussed separately. In the case of parasites, it is conscienciously
FRESHWATER BIOLOGY Methoden der Hydrobiologie--S~sswasserbiologie, by Jfirgen SchwSrbel. Neubearbeitete Auflage, Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart, New York, 1980, 2nd. edn., 261 pp., 88 figs. The new German edition of the pocket-size booklet on Methods of Hydrobiology -- Freshwater Biology uses the author's experiments from the first edition, which first appeared in German in 1966, in English in 1970 and in Spanish in 1975. In the Introduction to the second edition, the author considers the book as a complement to his former similarly sized German booklet "Einfi]hrung in die Limnologie" (Introduction to Limnology). In comparison to the first edition, the size has been reduced (always a positive feature) by rejecting theoretical explanations not directly concerned with the methods. The author stresses the creative nature of the application of biological methods which have to be modified for each application, as opposed to chemical methods, where strict rules have to be followed. Therefore, the principles of biological methods are given rather than a " c o o k e r y b o o k " appropriate for chemical methods. The book is divided into 7 major chapters and 5 supplementary ones. Chapter 1 deals with physical and chemical methods, the next four chapters concern biological methods for major water types and their regions: pelagic and benthic regions of standing waters, running waters and groundwater, and two chapters on the specific methods for productivity investigations and for biological estimates of pollution. I found the last chapter particularly critical, suggesting that the more elaborate and time-consuming recent European methods based on detailed species lists and statistical evaluations do not differ in their results from the original saprobiological methods of Kolkwitz and Marsson. The five supplementary chapters concern methods of preservation of aquatic organisms, methods of cultivation, a small chapter written by J. Soeder on cultures of algae, a listing of SI-units and a list of German producers of limnological apparatus. The biological methods and figures, for the most part give a~ impression of primitiveness, except for the methods of investigating productivity. This impression is also supported by looking through the list of references, where approximately one quarter dates from before 1955, and only about 4% are l~ter than 1975. The recent methodological developments are omitted,
211 not being considered appropriate for such an introductory text. However, in the reviewer's opinion, this is not a good philosophy for attracting students to the subject. Perhaps if the theory were to be confined to the "Introduction to Limnology" (cf. Figs. 77, 81, 82, 85 and related text) some space would remain for the more recent methodological developments. Aquatic macrophytes are only treated very briefly, under benthic organisms and running water. Heading 3.3.3 called in the contents "Unterseeische Wienen" (under water Vienna) puzzled me, until I realized that it was a typing error for "Wiesen" -- underwater meadows! Animals are considered, more than plants, and more attention is paid to periphytic organisms (a summary is given under heading 3.4). The booklet can be considered a good introductory text on limnological methods, representing a first step in studying detailed methodological handbooks. M. STRASKRABA (&~k~
~ • Budejowce, Czechoslovakia)
AQUATIC MICROBIOLOGY
Aquatic Microbiology, by G. Rheinheimer. John Wiley, Chichester, New York, Brisbane, Toronto, second edition, 1980, 235 pp., £10, ISBN 0-47127643-x. This b o o k is intended as an introduction to the aquatic microbiology. Originally published in the German language in 1971, the first English edition appeared in 1974 (for review b y T. Fenchel, see Aquatic Botany 1, 1975, pp. 321--322). The fact that only 6 years after publication of this edition, an improved and extended second edition could be brought out shows certainly that this work found its way. One of the improvements is the inclusion of a chapter on Cyanophyta. As stated in the introduction, the b o o k does not deal much with microbiological methods. This is regrettable; because of its introductory character some basic information on methods should have been given, e.g. in the chapter on Bacteria, Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria are distinguished, but the terms are not explained. The style of the b o o k is factual and the arrangement of the subjects is extremely orderly, the treatment of the material is more or less encyclopaedic. If one wants to know which micro-organisms are involved in the breakdown o f a certain substance, this can be found easily, b u t generally the steps of the process are not discussed separately. In the case of parasites, it is conscienciously