1898] NOTES AXD COMMENTS 81 



cultivating a great many kinds, also came to the conclusion that a 

 majority of the published species were merely varietal forms, and 

 that the number which botanists would hold as good species would 

 be very small. Dr Sturtevant recently gave the whole of his material, 

 including herbarium-specimens, drawings, and notes to the Missouri 

 Garden on condition of the ultimate publication of the results of 

 further study in the form of a monograph. This has now been done 

 by Mr Irish, who has confirmed Dr Gray's suggestion as to the 

 existence of but two species. One, Capsicum annwim, is herbaceous 

 or slightly shrubby, and of annual or biennial duration ; the other, C. 

 frutescens, is a shrubby perennial. The former is responsible for the 

 great majority of the cultivated forms, which are distinguished by 

 characters based mainly on the shape, size, and erect or pendent 

 position of this fruit, and in the form of the calyx. Many of the 

 forms are depicted in the twenty-one plates which accompany the 

 monograph. 



Among the other papers are a revision of the American duck- 

 weeds (Lcmaaccae) by C. H. Thompson, and notes on a willow, >SV///< 

 longipcs, from the South-Eastern States, by Dr Glatfelter, both of 

 which have been previously issued. There are also notes on species 

 of Agave, Cactus and Yucca by various authors, and a list of Crypto- 

 gams collected by Mr A. S. Hitchcock in the Bahamas, Jamaica, and 

 I rrand Cayman. Among the last mentioned plants Mr J. B. Ellis finds 

 fourteen species of fungi belonging to the group Pyrenomycetes, of 

 which nine are new. A fungoid disease which had attacked the leaves 

 of certain palms belonging to the same genus as the date (Phoenix) is 

 described by Professor Saccardo as caused by a new species. 



In addition to the five plates which refer to the Garden, there 

 are fifty to illustrate the various scientific papers. 



Wasted Wealth 



It is often the case, even in these days of technical education, that 

 for want of a little elementary knowledge the wealth which lies at 

 our feet is entirely overlooked. A remarkable instance of this is 

 furnished by the chemical manure factories of Lincoln. These supply 

 a large proportion of the artificial manures used in the kingdom, yet 

 the whole of these commodities are manufactured out of imported 

 material. A well-informed writer in the Lincolnshire Chronicle has 

 lately pointed out that all the expenses of importation might be saved. 

 " In view of the great stores of mineral phosphates that lie in 

 the rocks on which Lincoln city is built, it is," he says, " inexplicable 

 that our factors should go to the trouble and expense of bringing in 

 all this foreign material. For those interested in this subject a visit 

 to Handley's Brickyard, just below Swan's Pit, will prove a valuable 

 object lesson. Interstratified with what are known as the Marlstone 



