ZOOLOGY AND BOTANY, MICROSCOPY, ETC. 779 



the species are new to science. For Lastrsea exigua J. Smith, which, 

 through uncertainty and misunderstanding of authors, finds itself with- 

 out a name, Copeland supplies the designation Dryopteris confusa. 



Papuan Ferns.* — E. B. Copeland gives an account of the ferns col- 

 lected in eastern Xew Guinea by C. King. The series is of a completely 

 Malavan character, and affords a strong argument against the natural- 

 ness of Wallace's line between Malaya and New Guinea. It contains 

 171 species and varieties, 87 of which occur both east and west of 

 Xew Guinea ; while 16 were already known as endemic in New Guinea, 

 and -12 are described as new by Copeland. 



E. Rosenstock* publishes descriptions of nine new species found in a 

 collection of about one hundred ferns collected by C. King in British 

 New Guinea, and sent to the Buitenzorg Botanic Garden. 



African Ferns.:}: — G. Hieronymus publishes descriptions of a number 

 of African species of Polypodiaceas, most of which are new to science — 

 namelv, thirty-seven species and numerous varieties. The specimens 

 cited were collected in German East Africa, Kamerun, Congo, Nigeria, 

 Angola, Bechuanaland, St. Thome, Fernando Po, Abyssinia, etc. 



A. Gepp § publishes a list of sixty-nine pteridophytes collected by 

 C. F. M. Swynnerton in Gazaland, a district lying partly in Eastern 

 Pthodesia, partly in Portuguese territory to the east. 



Bryophyta. 

 (By A. Gepp.) 



Inflorescence of Muscineae.|| — I. Douin defines some of the laws of 

 the inflorescence of the Muscineae. Apart from the synoicous inflores- 

 cence which is very rare among the hepatics, the first two laws are as 

 follows: — (1) Every paroicous species can become autoicous and even 

 dioicous by abortion of one or other sexual organ. (2) Every autoicous 

 species can become dioicous in the same way. But the converse of these 

 laws is not true. And hence (3) when two species differ only by their 

 inflorescence, they ought to form only one and the same species. It 

 may possibly be the case that a synoicous species may become paroicous, 

 autoicous, dioicous ; but there is at present no evidence of this. There 

 are but four kinds of inflorescence — synoicous, paroicous, autoicous, 

 dioicous ; and such other expressions as heteroicous and polyoicous have 

 no value and do but serve to confuse the meaning. It is probable that 

 these laws apply to the mosses also as well as to the whole group of the 

 hepatics. 



Social Groups and Adaptive Characters in the Bryophyta. f — 

 J. A. Wheldon publishes notes on some social mosses and on adaptive 



* Philippine Journ. Sci., vi. (1911) pp. G5-92. 

 t Fedde's Repertorium, ix. (1911) pp. 422 7. 

 X Engler's Bot. Jahrb., xlvi. (1911) pp. 345-404. 

 § Journ. Linn. Soc, xl. (1911) pp. 237-44. 

 || Rev. Brvolog., xxxviii. (1911) pp. 107-8. 



1 Lancashire Nat., iii. (1911) pp. 377-81, 405-8 ; also iv. (1911) pp. 1-8, 41-3, 

 75-S2, 129-32, 155-63 (2 pis.). 



