448 SOME NE W BOOKS [December 



abroad, is another noteworthy feature of the Garden. The herbarium grows 

 apace, and plans have been prepared for the construction of a museum. The 

 library alone ought to attract students from a wide area ; it has 32,000 books, 

 and over 200,000 index cards ; but it is specially rich in pre-Linnean works, 

 over 500 of which were gifted in 1892 by the late Dr. Ed. Lewis Sturtevant. 



An able biographical sketch of Dr. Sturtevant by Prof. C. S. Plumb is 

 given in the Record. Sturtevant did much for the cause of agriculture in 

 America, and his name will long be associated with the famous herd of Ayr- 

 shire cattle which he established, and with the cultivation of maize. 



A short illustrated paper on " A Sclerotoid Disease of Beech Roots," by 

 Hermann von Schenk, appears as research work from the Garden. The 

 condition was found on one clump of trees, and their roots were devoid of the 

 fungus-covering or mycorhiza common to beeches and most other forest trees. 

 Farther investigation may throw light on this unusual condition. 



The most important part of the Report consists of a paper by F. Lamson- 

 Scribner on " Notes on the Grasses in the Bernhardi Herbarium, collected by 

 Thaddeus Haenke, and described by J. S. Presl." This article consists of 25 

 pages of letterpress and 54 full-page plates, which will be admired by all 

 students of the Gramineae ; the drawings are by Mrs. M. D. B. Willis, nee 

 Baker, and they recall to British botanists the faithful work of Parnell, but 

 in the matter of reproduction, on paper of superior finish, the former surpass 

 the latter. The collection includes a large number of American species from 

 the Pacific coasts of Mexico, California, and Peru ; many from the Philippines, 

 and a few from Nootka Sound. Most of the genera, and certainly the facies 

 of these grasses, resemble those of South Africa. One word of caution may be 

 permitted ; the terminology of Presl has been adhered to, but the majority of 

 the genera have been revised since 1830, and if the Herbarium of the Missouri 

 Botanical Garden is to be of use to modern students, its classification must 

 also be modern. R. T. 



The North American Slime-Moulds, being a list of all Species of Myxo- 

 mycetes hitherto described from North America, including Central 

 America. By T. H. Macbride, A.M., Ph.D., Professor of Botany in 

 the State University of Iowa. Pp. 231 with 18 plates. New York 

 and London: The Macmillan Co., 1899. Price 10s. net. 



This book is likely to form the classic on the subject for North America. 

 Apart from the scientific interest of the work one is compelled to admire the 

 binding, the paper, the type, and the beautiful photo-reproductions of the 

 plates. 



The only general works published within recent years on the subject are 

 Massee's " Myxogastres," in 1893; Lister's " Mycetozoa," in 1895: a worthy 

 third is Professor Macbride's " Slime-Moulds," if we may follow the author in 

 giving them this name, for it is unfortunate that botanists cannot agree as to 

 the proper name that should be applied to those organisms which seem to 

 occupy the border line between the two organic kingdoms. 



The volume begins with a general deselection of the vegetation and 

 reproduction of the slime-moulds. It is pointed out that they are not uni- 

 cellular organisms, as was formerly taught, but multinuclear and karyokinetic. 

 From the resemblance of the protoplasmic mass to that of a giant amoeba arises 

 the claim of the zoologist to consider the slime-mould his special property. 



But the author prefers to leave the question of their higher relations alone, 

 recognising that no one test can be applied as a universal touchstone to separate 

 plants from animals. As a matter of fact the study of the slime-moulds rests 

 chiefly with the botanists, and it is expedient to leave it in their hands. 



Over 400 species of slime-moulds have been described, and half of these 



