107 



Under the suggestioti that many of our Eriogoiuims make 

 good garden pkmts, thirteen species are mentioned and E. andros- 

 accinn, ovalifoliuin and conipositum are figured. 

 Eucharis Amazonica. (Gard. Chron. vii. 192, fig. 31). 



^f 



ipon. M 



son. (Trans. Kans. Acad. Sci. xi. 19-22). 



An earnest appeal for the study and cultivation of the native 

 flora of the State, with interesting instances of the manner in 

 which it has been crowded out in many places by introduced 

 plants. There is a charming, unconscious tinge of sarcasm now 

 and then, as in the foUowing sentence : ** A lady once bought of 

 Vick, a dozen seeds of a beautiful foliage plant called ^ Snow on 

 the Mountains/ and succeeded in getting half a dozen, perhaps, 

 to bloom just before frost, only to find that the bluffs back of her 

 house, for miles, were just covered witli the same flowers, and had 

 been for three months/' 



Fossil Wood and Lignite of the Potomac Formation, F. H. 



Knowlton. (Bull. No. 56, U. S. Geol. Survey. Pamph. 8vo. 



pp. 52, plates 1-7. Washington, D. C, 1889). 



The importance of structural investigation in pala:obotany is 

 emphasized in this work, both in text and illustration and we 

 heartily agree with the author in this respect. A very brief com- 



h 



parison of a few well known works is all that Is necessary to con- 

 vince any one that the study of superficial characters alone has 

 .lead to the most bewildering confusion and waste of energy in 

 describing and renaming the same species many times over. The 

 author begins with a sketch of the progress made in palaeobotany 

 from the earliest times, when Albcrtus Magnus and Agricola first 

 puzzled themselves over the mysteries of petrifaction, to the 

 present era of such magnificent works as those of Brongniart, 

 Goeppert, Unger, Schiniper and our own Government and State 

 Reports. 



The geological horizon of the Potomac formation is still ap- 

 parently a subject for discussion and the author fails to state ex- 

 actly where he places it, although the term Jurasso- Cretaceous 

 would seem to about comprise it. -The organic remains are 

 mostly in the blue clay and consist of botli lignite and silicified 

 wood. The preparation of these woods for examination under 



