II. Uredospores in small roundish, scattered or 

 subconfluent sori, pale yellow, roundish elliptical or 

 ovate, delicately echinulate, 17 to 32 mk. long, by 12 

 to 20 mk. wide. 



III. Teleutospores in small round, often confluent, 

 black sori, borne on long stalks which are thickened 

 below, 3 to 8- mostly 5 to 6-celled, warty, with a 

 more or less elongate conical paler papilla or point, 

 attaining a length of no mk. On Ritbus frnticosus, 

 L., ccesius, L., and saxatilis, L. 



Phragmidium violaceum, Schultz. (Puccina viola- 

 cea, Schultz. Phragmidium asperum, Wallr. Uredo 

 vepris, Rob.) 



I. /Ecidiospores in roundish or elongated, scattered 

 or irregular masses. Spores in short chains, round 

 or elliptical, echinulate, orange-yellow 19 to 30 by 

 1 7 to 24 mk. 



II. Uredospores in rather large, roundish, cushion- 

 shaped, discrete, rarely confluent sori. Spores yellow, 

 round, seldom elliptical or ovate, with a thick, 

 coarsely echinulate epispore 17 to 32 by 17 to 24 mk. 



III. Teleutospores with 3 to 5, mostly 4 cells, warty, 

 having a paler subglobose or conical papilla, borne on 

 very long dilated stalks, 105 mk. long by 35 mk. thick. 

 On Rubits fruticosus, L. 



Charles B. Plowright. 



NOTES ON NEW BOOKS. 



CHAPTERS ON EVOLUTION, by Dr. 

 Andrew Wilson (London : Chatto & Windus). 

 Dr. Wilson's pen has turned out much good and 

 useful work, but never better than this volume con- 

 tains. It may be regarded as a very full and com- 

 plete "Manual" of the new philosophy of biology. 

 The author marshals his facts in the plainest and 

 most telling manner, his explanations of them none 

 can misunderstand, and occasionally his descriptive 

 style rises to something like eloquence. He is not 

 quite free from what Herbert Spencer calls the 

 " Anti-theological Bias," but there is only just enough 

 of it to flavour the book, although we notice several 

 reviewers who are affected by the opposite, or 

 " Theological bias," have taken unnecessary alarm. 

 This volume is crowded with biological facts, which 

 alone would have rendered it a valuable work, apart 

 from its discussion of the philosophy the facts are 

 intended to illustrate. We cordially recommend its 

 perusal to all naturalists, or people fond of natural 

 history literature, for here they will find many old 

 truths mounted in new settings. 



Winners in Life's Race, or the Great Backboned 

 Family, by Arabella B. Buckley (London : Edward 

 Stanford). Like all of Miss Buckley's books on 

 natural history, the present work is charmingly and 

 attractively written. It is a work for general readers 

 rather than students, and an admirable book to put into 

 the hands of young people. The author has gleaned 



in every department of natural science, geology, 

 embryology, anatomy, physiology, morphology, &c, 

 and her facts include the latest discoveries. These 

 she has made use of to trace the influence of the law 

 of natural selection in its operation upon vertebrate 

 animals, from their first appearance on the earth to 

 the present time. She concludes as follows: — "It 

 is most interesting to trace the gradual evolution of 

 numberless different forms, and see how each has 

 become fitted for the life it has to live. It gives us 

 courage to struggle on under difficulties, when we see 

 how patiently the lower animals meet the dangers 

 and anxieties of their lives, and conquer or die in the 

 struggle for existence. But, far beyond all these, is the 

 great moral lesson taught at every step in the history 

 of the development of the animal world, that, 

 amidst toil and suffering, struggle and death, the 

 supreme law of life is the law of Self Devotion and 

 Love." 



Siberia in Asia, by Henry Seebohm (London : 

 John Murray). Those who read Mr. Seebohm's book- 

 on " Siberia in Europe," published about two years 

 ago, will make all haste to procure this volume before 

 us. Like its predecessor, it is beautifully got up, 

 the woodcuts are gems of the art, the letter-press is 

 clear and pleasant to the eyes. The author carries 

 the reader with him to the very end, interesting him 

 in all his own successes or mishaps, his hopes and 

 fears ; for, in addition to an animated style of writing, 

 Mr. Seebohm is in earnest, and has no time to waste, 

 and we unconsciously feel it. Moreover, he is not a- 

 mere sportsman. His description of the birds he- 

 observes or takes, and his comparisons with represen- 

 tative species, as well as his generalised remarks on 

 their distribution, migration, &c, are most philoso- 

 phical, and may be regarded as valuable contributions 

 to the advanced thoughts of the day on all these 

 subjects. 



Zoological Notes, by Arthur Nicols, F.G.S. (London : 

 L. Upcott Gill). Some time ago we had the pleasure 

 of favourably noticing a little work on geology by 

 Mr. Nicol, and we are reminded of the fact by the 

 handsome volume before us, devoted to general 

 natural history. It is a pleasant repertory of anec- 

 dotes and facts bearing on the lives and habits of 

 animals, but chiefly on snakes, birds, and marsupials. 

 The author is well read in the latest literature, bear- 

 ing on all these subjects, and his readers will find 

 themselves treated to the best and most philosophical 

 views held on all that he discourses. The full page 

 illustrations are excellent, especially that showing 

 the platypus in its native haunts. 



Science in Short Chapters, by W. Mattieu Williams 

 (London : Chatto & Windus). There are few writers 

 on the subjects which Mr. Mattieu Williams selects, 

 whose fertility and originality are equal to his own. 

 We read all he has to say with pleasure, and very 

 rarely without profit. The book before us is a 

 reprint of many good things that would have been 



