VOL. Ill,] Recent Literature. 73 



species can best be determined by a kind of individual '' insight" 

 without any rule whatever, has had a long trial and the heteroge- 

 neous results are hardly encouraging. lK. B. 



Monograph of the Grasses of the United States and British Amer- 

 ica. By Dr. George Vasey, Botanist, Department of Agriculture. 

 Pamphlet, 8vo pp. vi, 89, xiv. — This is No. i, of vol. iii, of the 

 " Contributions from the U. S. National Herbarium," and is " pub- 

 lished by the authority of the Secretary of Agriculture." This part 

 closes with the family Agrostideae. 



The author states that for several years he has had in contempla- 

 tion the work here presented. Every one knows of the great wealth 

 of material — necessary for the preparation of such a work — con- 

 tained in the National Herbarium. Collections of grasses from all 

 parts of North America have been coming to this herbarium for a 

 long time past, and these additions have been especially frequent in 

 recent years. Liberally supplied with books and assistants, and 

 otherwise very generously supported by our National Government, 

 the Botanist of the Department has had unrivalled facilities for the 

 production of the present "Monograph." 



The work before us comes far from meeting our expectations. It 

 is entirely lacking in that clear, precise and systematic presentation 

 of facts which stamp the work of the true scientist; and instead of 

 being a " Monograph," it is very largely a compilation — a bringing 

 together of scattered descriptions, some of which are quoted and 

 duly credited, some quoted "with a little alteration" (mangled, 

 would better express it), and some quoted without any recognition 

 of the source whatever; and these last form no inconsiderable por- 

 tion of the whole. This frequent quotation of descriptions pub- 

 lished by various authors renders the whole thing incongruous, not 

 only in the relative length and character of the descriptions given, 

 but in the terminology. If the original descriptions of the species 

 had been copied instead of those published by later authors, and a 

 proper system of references adopted, the value of the work would 

 have been increased. 



Setaria viridis and S. glaiica, on p. 38 of the " Monograph," do 

 not appear to possess very marked distinguishing characters. 



Stipa Stiilmani, o\\ p. 51, is rendered as follows: "6". Stillmani 

 Bolander. (Bot. Cal. ii. p. 287)." Then follows Dr. Thurber's de- 

 scription of this species, word for word, excepting that the floret is 



