92 
these cycadaceous plants, as well as some of the conifers, are identi- 
cal with species described by Heer from the Jurassic of Siberia,, 
while others occur in the Lower Cretaceous of Greenland.^ The 
almost world-wide Podozamites lanceolatus is very characteristic, and 
there are leaves of Salisburia Sibirica, a Siberian Mesozoic species, 
and branches of Sequoia Smitiiana, a species characteristic of the 
Lower Cretaceous of Greenland. No dicotyledonous leaves have 
been found in these beds, whose plants cox^xxtcX. in a remarkable way 
the extinct floras of Asia and America and those of the Jurassic and 
Cretaceous periods. 
Merulius lacrimam — the Dry Rot. — A short time before his 
death, Prof, H. R. Goppert, of Breslau, in connection with the 
chemist, Professor Poleck, made a study of the hausschwamm a 
fungus commonly known with us as dry rot, which had caused great 
injury to buildings in Northern Germany. The results of their com- 
bined studies now appear in a pamphlet by Professor Poleck (Der 
Hausschwamm, Breslau, 1885). The dry rot, Merulius lacrimans, 
seems to be unknown in a wild state in Germany, but is confined to 
woodwork of different kinds, and attacks by preference coniferous 
^timber. Strange to say, the fungus does not usually infest old 
structures, but generally makes its appearance in comparatively new 
buildings; and a startling series of figures shows the amount of dam- 
age done in the region of Breslau, Chemical analyses by Poleck 
show that the Merulius is particularly rich in nitrogenous compounds 
and fat, which is rather remarkable when one considers the chemi- 
cal constituents of the timber on which it grows. Injury to health, 
or even death, is said to result from exposure to air containing large 
quantities of the spores of the fungus; and several authenticated cases 
are reported. In a supplementary note, Poleck considers the relation- 
ship of Merulius to Actinomyces, a fungus which causes a characteris- 
tic disease in man and cattle; and he apparently comes to the con- 
clusion that what is called Actinotnyces is probably only the Merulius 
altered by the peculiar matrix on which it is growing. His state- 
ments on this point can hardly be called conclusive, or, in fact other 
than vague. f 
Botanical Literature, 
A Revision of^ the North American Species of the Genus Scleria. By 
N. L. Britton, Ph.D. 8vo, pamph. pp. 8. (From the Annals oi 
the New York Academy of Sciences, iii., 7.) 
Criticisms on /. Kruttschnitf s Papers and Preparations relating io 
Pollen-tubts. By N. L. Britton. 8vo, pamph., pp. ro. (From 
the Journal oi the New York Microscopical Society.) 
The Grape-Rot. By VVm. Trelease. 8vo, pamph., pp., 9- <^^^^"^ 
Transactions of Wisconsin State Horticultural Society.) 
Hypericum Joponicum, Thunb., in Deutschland gefunden. Von R- 
V. Uechtritz und P. Ascherson. 8vo, pamph., pp. 10. K^"^^ 
Berichte der Deutschen Botanischen Gesellschaft.) 
