188 SUMMARY OF CURRENT RESEARCHES RELATING TO 



and numerous additions for Orange River Colony, Transvaal, and 

 Rhodesia. Two species are new to science. In all lie records 212 

 species for South Africa. In Natal are found 147 species. Proper to 

 Natal are 15 species, to Transvaal 7, to Rhodesia 11, to Zambesia 15, to 

 Orange River Colony 1, and to the western districts of Cape Colony 17. 



North American Ferns. — A. S. Pease and A. H. Moore* point out 

 that American specimens of Botrychiam lanceolatum diflPer from the 

 European in having a less coarse habit and sterile segments more distant 

 and narrow, and they make a new variety of the American plant. 



C. H. Bissallf announces that the rare Asplenium pinnatijidum Nutt., 

 first recorded for New England in 1902, has been found in Connecticut 

 again, further to the north-east. It was associated with A. j)l((ty neuron 

 and Camptosorus rhizophyllus. 



Ferns of South Brazil.:}: — E. Rosenstock publishes a second contri- 

 bution to our knowledge of South Brazilian ferns. In the two years 

 which have elapsed since his last paper appeared, a rich supply of material 

 has enabled him to add considerably to the number of species for that 

 region, as well as to describe novelties and to revise his conclusions on 

 certain species treated of in his former paper. The nomenclature fol- 

 lowed is that of C. Christensen's " Index Filicum." Where the author 

 deems it advisable, he has added the name under which the species 

 appears in Baker's Synopsis. In the present instalment he enumerates 

 350 species, all critically annotated to a greater or less extent. Among 

 them are 26 species new to science, and a large number of new varieties 

 and forms. 



Anatomy of Sigillaria elegans.§ — R. Kidston gives an account of 

 the internal structure of SiijiUaria elegans of Brongniart's " Histoire des 

 Vegetaux fossiles," prefaced by a brief summary of the hterature deal- 

 ing with the internal structure of SiyiUaria, and some general remarks 

 on the classification of the genus. In his description of S. elegans the 

 author gives details as to the general appearance of the specimen, the 

 primary or centripetal xylem, secondary or centrifugal xylem, leaf -traces, 

 cortex, cone-scars, adding a series of photographic illustrations. He 

 appends a table showing the age of the rocks which have yielded 

 Sigillaria, the internal structure of the specimens, and a few of their 

 more prominent characters. 



Classification of French Ferns by Anatomy. ||—F. Pelourde has 

 essayed to draw up a classification of the ferns of France, based on the 

 anatomical structure of the root, petiole, and stem, adding observations 

 on certain exotic species where comparison seemed necessary. After 

 giving a resume of previous work, he shows by his own studies of the 

 various species that the root and petiole present differences in their 

 structure which are of great systematic value. In the root, the 

 presence or absence of a sclerotic ring round the endodermis, or of a 



* Rhodora, viii. (1906) p. 229. f Tom. cit., pp. 230. 



I Hedwigia, xlvi. (1906) pp. 57-167. 



§ Trans. Rov. Soc. Edinburgh, xli. (1906) pp. 533-50 (3 pis.). 



II Ann. Sci. Nat., s^r. 9, iv. (1906) pp. 281-372. 



