508 SCIExNCE PROGRESS 



the Cycads stand as a mere remnant of their former glory, endowed with a 

 romance analogous to that which attaches to the concrete remnants of departed 

 civilisations. 



Prof. Chamberlain here presents us, not with a textbook, but with a popular 

 account of these fascinating plants, in which he treats of their haunts, their life- 

 history, and the theoretical problems they present. The author can write with 

 more than usual authority on the subject, as having visited Central America, 

 South Africa, and Australia, where he has studied all the living genera in their 

 natural homes. A number of the photographs taken on these travels are here 

 reproduced, representing the entire range of Cycadean habit. 



In segregating the subject-matter into three parts, and relegating to the end 

 all questions relating to evolution and phylogeny, we venture to think the author 

 has lost something of the beauty of his theme and an unrivalled opportunity for 

 illustrating in one group several fundamental biological principles. The first 

 section is concerned with the occurrence of the nine genera in relation to their 

 geographical distribution. Apart from the wide area involved, the location of 

 the actual habitats presented some difficulty, and the author relates how the 

 Mexican Ceratosamia was located through a specimen in the Park at Vera Cruz, 

 near which police were stationed to question the natives until its source of origin 

 was discovered. After a fortnight this inquisition was successful, and the observant 

 native subsequently acted as Prof. Chamberlain's guide. 



The second part of the book constitutes a summary of the more important 

 features of the vegetative and reproductive structures, described with a minimum 

 of terminology and considerable lucidity. 



We shall look forward to the extended and more technical consideration of 

 this group upon which the author is now engaged ; but in the meantime, as a 

 popular account of a too little known family of plants, the present volume has 

 much to recommend it. 



E. J. S. 



A Dictionary of the Flowering Plants and Ferns. By J. C. Willis, M A , 

 Sc.D.,F.R.S. [Pp. lxvii + 712, with 41 figures.] 4thEdition. (Cambridge 

 University Press, 1919. Price 20s. net.) 



Since the first appearance of this work in 1897 it has passed through four editions, 

 and now occupies nearly eight hundred pages of text. Originally published in two 

 parts, the contents of these have been incorporated, in the present edition, into one 

 dictionary, to which is appended a short supplement and keys to the Phanero- 

 gamic Families, based on Engler's Classification, and on that of Bentham and 

 Hooker. 



The genera omitted in previous editions are now included, so that all those 

 recognised by Linnaeus, Bentham and Hooker, Engler and Prantl, as well as those 

 cited in the Index Kewensis and its supplements, find their place in the text. 

 In each case the author is indicated, the family to which the genus belongs, the 

 number of species it embraces, and the general character of the distribution. 

 Some of the more important synonymy is given, as well as familiar vernacular 

 names. 



By a happy use of copious cross-references, and numerous abbreviations and 

 signs, a great amount of information is imparted with a minimum expenditure of 

 space. The chief morphological and anatomical characteristics of important 



