RECENT ADVANCES IN SCIENCE 553 



Bower has considered the effect of size on stelar structure 

 (Proc. Roy. Soc, Edinb.), and lays stress on the relation of 

 surface of the stelar tissue to its bulk. Both in the ontogeny 

 and phylogeny of various ferns, he points out, various devices 

 are seen (e.g. solenostely, dictyostely, etc.) by which the relation 

 of surface to bulk is increased. This feature is well exemplified 

 by the enlargement and disintegration of the stele in fern 

 tubers, and the " polystely " of the roots of palms is regarded 

 as an illustration of the same influence at work. 



Church, in the Journal of Botany, contributes an in- 

 teresting theoretical paper on the lichen symbiosis. 



Taxonomy, — The nature of the buff-coloured film present op 

 certain whales {Balcenoptera spp.) has been investigated by 

 Bennett {Proc. Roy. Soc, B. 91), who finds that it consists of 

 diatoms, generally a species of Cocconeis, to which Nelson, in 

 an appendix, gives the name of C. seticola. 



Spencer Moore has described a number of new species from 

 Australia {Linn. Jour. Bot.) belonging to the following genera : 

 Hibbertia, Candollea, Calandrinia, Conimersonia, Boronia, 

 Phebalium, Eriostenion, Oxylobinm, Burtonia, Daviesia, 

 Gastrolobium, Cassia, Acacia, Calythrix, Baeckea, Melaleuca, 

 Siebera, Olearia, Helipterum, Calocephalus, Stylidiu^n, Symphyo- 

 hasis, Calogyne, Darnpiera, Leucopogon, Hemigenia, Kochia, 

 Anisacantha, Gyrostenion, Grevillea, Monotaxis, Casuarina, Dis- 

 tichostemon, Euroschinus, Micrornertus, Leptosperniom, Kunzea, 

 Calothamnus, Eugenia, Triantherna, Mitrasacrne, Dicrastyles, 

 Grevillea, Dryandra, Euphorbia, Phyllanthus, Tritoxis, Croton, 

 and Codiceum. 



The same author, in the Journal of Botany, describes new 

 species of Euphorbiaceae, Asclepiadaceae, and Aristolochiacese. 



Mr. Ridley records Plantago cynops from Kent, and T. and 

 T. A. Stephenson give an account of the British palmate orchids, 

 viz. O. incarnata L., 0. purpurella Stephenson, 0. ericetorutn 

 Linton, O. prceterniissa Druce, O. latifolia L. and O. fuchsii 

 Druce. The paper is illustrated by a useful plate in colours 

 showing the flower types of these species and some hybrids. 



FAL2:OBOTANY. By Marie Carmichael Stopes, D.Sc, Ph.D. 



The influence of the war is still felt, both in the relative smallness 

 of the output in Palseobotany and in the slow distribution of 

 those papers which have been published. But few memoirs 

 dealing with the details of individual species or families have 

 appeared in the years under review. Of these the following 

 should be noted : 



Conifers have been dealt with by Rudolf Florin (" Uber 

 cuticularstrukturen der Blatter bei einigen rezenten und fossilen 



