BOTANY. 565 



The name "insectivorous" sliould be applied to plants capable of 

 absorbing the material i>repared lor them by the lower organisms, 

 the role of the plant being that of a secretor of juices adapted to the 

 nutrition of niicroiirganisms. 



The survival of the unlike, !>. H. Bailey [New York: The Mncmillan Company, 

 lS9ti, pp. .'il'i, Jhju. :.'l). — This volume consists of a collection of 30 essays on evolution, 

 su.iigested by the study of domesticated plants. All of them have hitherto appeared 

 as addresses before horticultural and other scieutiiic bodies, or as special articles 

 contributed to various publications. Although prepared and delivered at various 

 times extending o\'cr a period of nearly 4 years, their ultimate collection was con- 

 stantly in mind, so that there should be a sort of continuity to the whole. As the 

 author states, there are necessarily repetitions, but such do not detract from the 

 work as a whole. The motive underlying the collection of essays is that of unlike- 

 uesa. According to the author, heredity is an acquired force, and normally unlike 

 produces unlike. He maintains that unlikeness in plants is ''(1) the expression of 

 ever-changing environmental conditions in which plants grow, and of the incidental 

 stimuli to which they are exposed; (2) the result of the force of mere growth; and 

 (3) the outcome of sexual mixing." Plants survive liecause they are unlike their 

 neighbors, and in this way encounter less resistance in the field of competition. 



The essays are grouped into 3 categories: (1) Those touching the general fact and 

 pbilosophj' of evolution, (2) those expounding the fact and causes of variation, and 

 (3) those tracing the evolution of particular types of plants. The author is strongly 

 opposed to Weismannism, and in the discussion of the theories of evolution, as well 

 as in the essay on bud variations, seems to advance arguments strongly substantiat- 

 ing his position. 



Numerous examples are cited of plants which from their characteristics would ful- 

 fill the conditions of the most exacting systematic botanists as to species were their 

 origin unknown, yet all such species are rejected by the taxonomist on account of 

 their being the result of direct and in some cases designed experimentation. The 

 author believes that the garden fence plays too imjiortant a part in species making, 

 and that many botanists are disposed to look upon species as fixed entities rather 

 than plastic groups designed for more or less temporary convenience. The assist- 

 ance given nature by man in evolving new species is said to differ only in degree and 

 not in kind from the processes that are everywhere going on. The extended obser- 

 vations and experimentation of the author show that tomatoes, beans, and other 

 garden plants can be made to vary in certain desirable lines, producing progeny 

 unlike themselves. 



In his contributions to the philosopbj' of evolution, and the record of the evolu- 

 tion of certain types of plants and the causes underlying their production, the 

 author has furnished much information to all stixdents of evolution as well as of 

 horticulture and botany. 



Systematic arrangement of the beeches, F. Kra.sser (Ann. Jc. k. natur. Hist. Hof- 

 museitms, Wioi, 11 (189']), Xo. 2, pp. 149-163). — According to the author there are 2 

 genera, Fagus represented by 4 species and Xothofagus by 17 species. 



The systematic arrangement of the Protophyta, C. E. Bessey {Amcr. Nat., SI 

 (1S97), Xo. 30, ])p. 63-05). — A provisional arrangement of the families and genera 

 of protophytes is given b}' the author. The .slime molds are excluded from the 

 classiticatiou, the author considering them zoological and not botanical. 



Concerning the parallelism between the Tuberaceae and Gastromycetes, 

 E. Fi.sciiEU (Ber. deul. hot. Ges., 14 (1890), Xo. 9, pp. 300-311). 



Parallel forms of Uromyces scutillatus in different countries, P. Magnus 

 (Ber. deul. hot. Gcs., 14 (1890), Xo. 9, pp. 374-377). 



Concerning Cladothrix dichotoma and C. odorifera, W. Kullmann ( Centhl. Bakt. 

 und Par. AUg., 2 (1890), No. 22, pp. 701-706). 

 12G94— No. 7 3 



