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liable to decay, Mr. Dudley illustrates the penetration of fungi by — 
a photograph of a plank showing the mycelium of Polyporus 
raduia. The more common destructive fungi are also enumerated, 
and the article concludes with a comparison of the conditions in 
which decay is most and least likely to occur. 
Yucca angustifolia. A chemical study. Helen C. DeS. Abbott. 
(Rep. from Trans. Am. Phil. Soc., Phil., 1886., pp. 254-284.) 
Botanical Notes. 
Specimens of Dentaria and Cardamine wanted.—Fruiting 
specimens of any species of Dentaria and Cardamine are wanted 
for examination by Sereno Watson, Cambridge, Mass. They 
will be returned if desired and postage refunded. 
Lectures on the Physiology of Plants —Sydney Howard Vines, 
(Cam. Univ. Press, England, 1886, octavo, pp. 710, pr. $5.00, 
In style, clearness and method this will prove a companion to 
Foster’s Physiology of Animals, and deserves a place by its 
side. The chapters are in the form of lectures, twenty-three 
in number, sparsely illustrated, but containing clear deduc- 
tions from the researches of the last ten years. Much space is 
given to Metabolism and Irritability, and the changes due to 
chemical and physical forces, with their effects on the assimilation 
and growth of plants, are discussed in these chapters. The last 
two chapters on Reproduction co-ordinate and bring out the anal- 
ogies of this function throughout the Plant Kingdom, and will 
prove most interesting reading to those whose knowledge of 
German and access to periodicals is limited, and whose experi- 
ence with the varied forms and nomenclature of Cryptogamous 
reproduction has been a source of confusion and discouragement. 
Copious references to bibliography follow each chapter. 
Solanum tuberosum.—Nouvelles Recherches Sur le Type Sau- 
vage de la Pomme de Terre. Alph. DeCandolle. (Archiv. Sc. 
Phys. et Nat., xv., p. 425.) Since the publication in 1883 of 
the “Origin of Cultivated Plants,” there have appeared several 
articles on the potato, which have led M. DeCandolle to give 
more critical attention to those “ organs and characters which it is 
not to the interest of man to see changed.” In the potato the 
calyx and the leaves have remained practically the same since 4 
its introduction three centuries ago. : 
