lOij 



Reviews. toi 



VEGETABLE MONSTROSITIES. 



The Principles of Plant Teratology. By Wilson Crossfield 

 WoRSDELL, F.L.S. Vol. ii. London (Ray Society) : Dulan & Co., 

 1916. Pp. xvi 4- •^Q^- Plates xxv-liii. Price, 25s. net. 



The first volume of this work was revieAved in the Jns7i Naturolist, 

 vol. XX., May, 1916, p. 77, and the second volume, issued to the sub- 

 scribers to the Ray Society for the year 191 6, now lies before us. It 

 may be recalled that vol. i. dealt with teratological phenomena as ex- 

 hibited by the Cryptogams and by the root, stem and leaf of Phanerogams. 

 The present volume deals with the flower, and under that term is included 

 " not only the flower " of the Angiosperms, but also the " cones " of 

 Gymnosperms and Vascular Cryptogams, and the sporophylls of Ferns, 

 which are not contained in what we usually term a " flower." A few 

 abnormalities in fruits are touched on in the volume, but there is no 

 section dealing with seeds. 



The material is dealt with under three main headings, viz. : (i) 

 Differentiation, (2) Simplification, and (3) Adventitious Flowers, these 

 sections being subdivided into Prolification, Forking, and Fasciation, 

 Disruption, Positive Dedoublement, Dialysis, Metamorphosis, and so on. 

 Naturally the method of treatment closely follows that adopted in the 

 first volume, and we find in both volumes not merely descriptive details 

 of teratological appearances, but well developed discussions as to their 

 meaning and suggestions concerning the light they throw on problems 

 of morphology and development. In this connection the pages deahng 

 with the theory of anther-structure may perhaps be singled out for 

 mention. Teratology as the key to morphological problems is the 

 essence of the whole work. - 



In his " Final Conclusions " the author utters a lament that there 

 appears to be a tendency amongst modern botanists to neglect the study 

 of abnormal forms as a guide to the solution of morphological problems, 

 and he speaks also of " the wavering interest of botanists of the present 

 day in the subject of comparative morphology itself (there being a greater 

 concentration on mendelism, physiology, and ecology) ..." He main- 

 tains that this subject including its sub-section teratology " is every 

 whit as important as any other department of the science " of botany, 

 and he states that it was to afford some indication of this that these 

 volumes were written. Judging from the large number of papers cited 

 in the excellent bibliographies found at the conclusion of each of the 

 main sections of the book — by no means all of them of antiquated date — 

 this lament is perhaps not wholly justified. It is true we have lacked 

 a comprehensive yet compact survey of this field of work, and we have 

 to thank the present author for having made a serious and successful 

 attempt to fill the gap. 



The book is not one which an amateur or a young student can read 

 rapidly with profit, and the style may perhaps be found to be of the 

 " dry " rather than of the fascinating order. A tendency towards pro- 



