123 
Reviews of Foreign Literature. 
A Contribution to our Knowledge of Seedlings. By Sir John 
Lubbock, Bart. M.P Fo Ros... D: Ci Ly D. (Kegan Paul, 
Trench, Triibner & Co., London, 1892). 
Sir John Lubbock has in this work made a very important con- 
tribution to our knowledge of plants. The work occupies a field 
which has heretofore received comparatively little attention. 
Works upon systematic botany have been compiled repeatedly, 
until now Bentham and Hooker's “Genera Plantarum” may fairly 
be supposed to include nearly all the forms of spermatophytes en- 
titled to stand as genera. In the meantime there remains much 
to be done in the way of research upon the life-histories of these 
plants, especially upon the structure of the embryo and its germi- 
nation. It is into this field that Sir John Lubbock has pushed 
with characteristic vigor, and the result is this work “On Seed- 
lings” in two volumes, and each volume of over 600 pages. 
In the short preface the author briefly states the subject of 
his work, and mentions those who have assisted him in it. The 
first 77 pages are devoted to an introduction consisting of gener- 
alizations upon the several parts of the embryo both before and 
during germination. Following this are about I119 pages, de- 
voted, Ist, to seeds and their germination in the order as a whole, 
and 2d, a detailed description of the seed, their germination, and 
the seedlings of the species studied in the order. Species repre- 
senting nearly every order in Bentham and Hooker’s “Genera 
Plantarum” were studied. The arrangement of orders is the same 
as in that work, of which, indeed, this work on seedlings might 
well be considered a fitting supplement. The following are the 
orders in which the largest number of species were studied: Ra- 
nunculacez, 26 species; Cruciferee, 57 sp.; Malvacex, 26 sp.; Le- 
guminosz, 95 sp.; Rosacee 22 sp.; Onagrariee, 20 sp.; Compo- 
“site, 91 sp.; Labiate, 25 sp. A third part of the work is devoted 
to the bibliography of the subject in two divisions, Ist, general; 
2d, special. Finally, a full index is appended. 
The introduction is the part of the work that will excite most 
attention. Many facts are incorporated in it which have already 
been recorded, especially that part of the descriptions which de- 
tail the development ane! structure of the ovule and the agers a. 
