i895. SOME NEW BOOKS. 137 



never operate singly, and it is often very difficult to assign to each its 

 separate effect. They are conveniently divided into those whose 

 action is direct and those in which it is indirect. The former include 

 the atmospheric factors, viz., the composition of the air, light, warmth, 

 rainfall and moisture of the air, movements of the air ; and the terrestrial 

 factors, viz., the character and composition of soils and their chemical 

 and physical action. The indirect influences include the relief of the 

 land, the configuration of the land and sea, the height above sea- 

 level, the latitude as well as other controlling and modifying causes. 



The author has brought to his task a store of very valuable 

 material accumulated from his own observations, and he has con- 

 sulted an immense amount of recent biological literature, but the 

 incompleteness of our present knowledge naturally leaves room for 

 future investigation, and the present work opens out an important 

 field of inquiry which should give an impulse to others to work in the 

 direction indicated. 



M. C. P. 

 Fungus Flowers from Brazil. 



Brasilische Pilzblumen. By Alfred Moller. 8vo. Pp. viii., 152. 8 plates. 

 Jena: Gustav Fischer, 1895. Price 14 marks. 



Moller's brilliant work on the fungus gardens of the leaf-cutting 

 ants in Brazil, published in 1893, prepared us to regard with more 

 than usual interest any further communication from him. His 

 "Brasilische Pilzblumen," embodied in dixecentnnmher oiiheBotanische 

 Mittheilungen aiis den Tropen, while adding to our scientific knowledge, 

 has largely enhanced his reputation. Our acquaintance with tropical, 

 evanescent forms is apt to be very vague, dependent as it is on the 

 chance gatherings and observations of passing travellers. Moller 

 studied the fungus-flora of Brazil during three years with splendid 

 success. He has confined himself in these papers to one family, that 

 of the Gasteromycetes, which, especially the Phalloidecd, are much more 

 abundant in tropical countries than in our temperate regions. He 

 has added four genera and eight species to those already known, and 

 has given us some very interesting details about the forms already 

 familiar to us. He made large use of the photographic camera during 

 the progress of his work, and its accuracy is, therefore, unquestion- 

 able. Indeed, a " lightning-sketcher " would almost have been 

 necessary to make truthful drawings, so rapid was the growth and 

 decay of some of the fungi. We have read with special interest the 

 records of growth of the beautiful, though evil-smelling, tropical 

 fungus, " the veiled lady," Dictyophora phalloidea. Moller was able to 

 carry home specimens still in the " Qgg,'' condition, and to watch the 

 bursting of the enveloping peridium with the marvellous elongation 

 of the stalk. The average maximum of increase was two mm. per 

 minute ; but one specimen attained to five mm. during one minute. 

 He states that not only could he see it grow, he could also hear it, the 

 rapid extension of tissue causing a slight crackling sound. The 

 "lady" expanded in the evening, the following morning her beautiful 

 garment hung limp and soiled, and the rays of the morning sun 

 completed the work of decay. 



One of the most interesting and important of the fungi dis- 

 covered by Moller, '■'■ Protubera Maracnjd," belongs to the primitive 

 group of the Hymenogastrecs. It has always been a task of great 

 difficulty to understand the relation which the different members of 

 the Gasteromycetes bear to each other. The development of " Pro- 

 tubera," so carefully worked out by Moller, proves it to be a tran- 



