36 



is scarcely to be found any more. Both of these foreigners, which 

 maybe called "the coming plants/* belong to the Compositae, an 

 order characteristic of the most modern flora. " Now it appears that 

 in the fight for existence the junior sons of creation have a decided ad- 

 vantage ; and this accounts for the otherwise inexplicable circumstance 

 that the variety of organisms decreases so perceptibly when we enter 

 the realms of Gymnosperms, vascular Cryptogams, and all those forms 

 of organic life that existed already in the early periods of the earth."' 



The last numbers received of the Botanische Zeitung (Nov. 5 and 

 6) contain an illustrated paper by F. Hegelmaier *' On the Embry- 

 ogeny and Development of the Endosperm of Lupinus/* 



In the Comptes Rendus of Jan. 12 (p. 58) will be found an inter- 

 esting and useful paper on the '* Evolution of the Inflorescence in the 

 Graniineae/' by M. H. Trecul, 



The Journal of Botany for February has the following table of 

 contents : John Miers (with portrait), by W, Carruthers, F. R. S. ; 

 Alabastra diversa, by S. Le. M. Moore ; Notes on the Flora of North- 

 amptonshire, by G. C. Druce, F. L. S. ; Two Additions to the British 



Moss-list, by H. Boswell ; Two 

 by J 



J 



S. ; and Notes on the Botany of the British Polar Expedition of 

 1875-6, by H. C. Hart, B. A. 



The Contemporary Review for February contains an interesting 

 and instructive article by Prof. St. George Mivart on the " Geography 

 of Living Creatures." It seems rather odd to an American botanist 

 to see Ampelopsis quinquefolia classed among trees, as it is in this 

 article ; and it is rather curious, too, to see the persistency with 

 which some of our English cousins cling to that genus " Welling- 

 tonia," when they have occasion to refer to our big California trees 

 — the Seguoia'e, 



Hardwicke's Science Gossips which is always interesting to the nat- 

 uralist,' treats of the following botanical subjects in the February 

 number: '* Some Probabilities Respecting Organic Species," by W. S. 

 Palmer; ''Notes on Phyllotaxis " (illustrated), by H. W. Syers ; and 

 " Primroses and Violets," by R. M. 



The American Monthly Microscopical Journal for February con- 

 tains an article by Dr. F. Wolle in which he points out the fact that 

 the fresh-water algae are quite often the subjects of pecular transfor- 

 mations in the course of their life-history. To aid the beginner in his 

 studies the author, in this short paper, explains some of the fallacious 

 appearances that are likely to be met with among these cryptogams. 



^ 30. Juncus setaceus, Rost.— I have received specimens of 

 Juncus setaceus,^ Rost., from Norfolk, Va., collected by Mr. H. P. 

 Worcester. This is, I believe, the most northern authentic station 

 reported for this rush, the Pennsylvania locality of Rostkovius 

 being questioned in. Gray's manual. N. L. B 



31. Errata. — In the February number, there occurred the fol- 

 lowing typographical errors, which should be corrected as follows ■ ist 

 page, line 17, insert "as if," after " seemed "; line 38, read ''evolution "• 

 p. 17 Ime IS, insert " here " after '' we "; p. 22, line 47, for '' Ttibigen '''* 

 read '' Tiibmgen " ; p. 23, line 29, '' substraction ", set up thus by the 

 printer m a moment of abstraction, should be "subtraction " 



