163 
Monograph of the Grasses of the United States and British 
America. Geo. Vasey. (Contr. U.S. Nat. Herb. ii. Part I. 
pp. 1-89-++i-xiv. Washington, 1892). 
This is the first part of a complete work on our grasses—a 
work that has long been earnestly desired by al! botanists. The 
long years of study which Dr. Vasey has bestowed on these 
plants, and the enormous accumulation of specimens which he 
has brought together at the Washington Herbarium, render him 
the fitting person to produce it. That he will have the cordial 
thanks of all interested for his labor we can confidently bespeak, 
and that his book will be of great service in clearing away ob- 
scure points connected with grasses is altogether certain. The 
problems involved are of no easy order, and render the Grami- 
hee one of the most difficult of groups to understand. A criti- 
cal knowledge of them is necessary before any of them can be 
well understood, and but few botanists have essayed to know 
them except in the most general way. The characters to be 
taken as primary in the delimitation of genera and species have 
been differently regarded by students, and the knowledge of the 
eographical distribution of these plants has not been sufficient 
to render this of much avail asa guide. The apparently great 
variation which nearly all the species exhibit has led to the pro- 
posal of very numerous varieties. It is probable that a close 
study of them in the field by a trained graminologist will be nec- 
essary before many of the questions arising can be satisfactorily 
solved. 
But above and beyond all other problems is the question of 
what the older authors had on which to base their species. It is 
absolutely necessary that the types of these authors should be 
examined, in the manner that Professor Bailey went to the bot- 
tom of the Carex question.. The classification and nomenclature 
of that genus rests now on firm foundation, so far, at least, as 
Cur North American species are concerned. Professor Bailey 
scoured Europe and America for these types, and found all but a 
very few of them. Dr. Gray did the same for Asters and Solida- 
ses, and a large number of other genera. I have tried to carry 
Out the same process in my studies of various groups. It ought 
to be done for the Graminez. 
