11 
that there were apparently two kinds of poisonous honey met with in 
Pontus, one found near Heracles and the other near Trebizond, the 
former being attributed by Pliny to a plant called ''?egolethon " or 
goat's-bane, the other to a plant which both he and Dioscorides called 
'rhododendron;" but they also used the name "nerium " for it. 
Sibthorp has identified the latter as Nerjum Oleander. Mr. Dod can 
find no direct evidence that Rhododendron Ponticum is poisonous; but 
Azalea Pontica^ which occurs in profusion near Trebizond, about ten 
miles from the coast, he believes to possess poisonous properties sim- 
ilar to those attributed to Kabnia latifolia. It is a noteworthy fact, 
if correct, that no species oi Pliododendron is known to be poisonous, 
wlule members of certain of the other Ericaceous genera, Azalea, 
Kalmia^ Andromeda and Lcdtwiy possess either poisonous or narcotic 
properties. 
The Name Fishberries^ which has long been applied to the fruit 
of Coccuhis Indicus {Menispermufn Cocculus, L.) because of its use 
^ stupefying and capturing fish, is, according to Prof. James 
Hy^tt, given to the drupes of Prunus Caroliniana in Tennessee, 
where they are locally used as a fish "poison. It appears that the 
am^ount of hydrocyanic acid that this fruit contains is sufficient to 
poison the fish which swallow it, without rendering their flesh un- 
safe for food. 
Botanical Literature. 
Genera^ Pyrenomycettim schematice delineata. By P. A, Saccardo. 
■ This latest work of the well known Italian mycologist consists of 
14 lithographic plates, large 8vo, on which are delineated the 280 
genera into which the Pyrenomycetes are divided in the system of 
classification adopted in the two volumes of the Sylloge by the same 
author. The figures, though not claiming artistic perfection, are 
good and answer well the end for which they were intended. They 
give, in fact, *' a bird's eye view *' of this vast family of fungi and may 
be considered as indispensable both to the amateur and the critical 
student of mycology. The low price of the work (6 francs) places it 
^Uhinthe reach of all.— J, B. E. 
botanical Micro^Chemistry : an Introduction to the Study of Vegetable 
-Histology^ prepared for the use of students by V. A. Poulsen, 
translated with the assistance of the author and considerably 
enlarged by William Trelease, Professor in the University of 
Wisconsin. i2mo. Boston: S. E. Cassino & Co., 1884. 
There has been considerable interest taken in this country for a 
*^\v years past in the microscopic examination of plants, and the 
"^t^iber of botanists who are turning their attention to the study of 
^^getable histology is gradually increasing. Although all the neccs- 
s^^y apparatus for prosecuting this fascinating study has been easily 
procurable at moderate prices, there has hitherto been sadly needed 
•^ome sort of a manual which should give the beginner directions how 
^o proceed in the examination of the minute anatomy of tissues, 
^h»le It should at the same time contain everything of importance 
"^^ more advanced students might desire to be informed upon, 1 his 
^^^nt has at length been supplied in the work before us, which, first 
