i8 93 . NOTES AND COMMENTS. 165 



originally beds of limestone." Under similar conditions, that is to 

 say, near the surface, " bands or nodules of chert may represent all 

 that remains of what were once beds of cherty limestone." 



Whether the comparatively thin limestones in some of the older 

 formations were originally much thicker, is a subject to which 

 attention may profitably be directed. 



Bibliography of Botany. 



Mr. J. C. Bay, of the Missouri Botanical Garden, submits a 

 scheme in the July issue of the Botanical Gazette for the production of 

 a yearly bibliography of American botany. It will be on the lines of 

 Just's well-known Jahresbericht which, Mr. Bay complains, pays little 

 attention to American literature, and should give, (a) a list of papers 

 and works in every department of botany, absolutely complete ; (b) a 

 review of each of these papers and works, short and perfectly objective. 

 A third point is that, as the importance of such a work would be inter- 

 national, it should be published and sold separately and not assimi- 

 lated by any report or periodical, as in the latter case it would be 

 inaccessible to many botanists. The Smithsonian publications are 

 referred to as so very expensive as hardly to be ever seen in private 

 libraries in other countries. The publishing should therefore, as far 

 as business management goes, be in the hands of a publisher. 



The work should be undertaken by a committee among the 

 members of which the editor should distribute the reprints of the 

 papers received from botanical authors. A classification under 

 fifteen heads is suggested, and Mr. Bay is willing to look after 

 subjects falling under three of these. The whole work "could 

 appear in July," i.e., only six months after date ; truly an admirable 

 feature. We wish the scheme success. If a publisher can be found 

 to do the thing well and satisfy himself on the score of finance, 

 perhaps some English brother will be courageous enough to follow 

 the example in our own country. At present, we have only Just, and 

 of this the concluding part, i.e., the part containing the index of the 

 volume for 1890 bears the date 1893. The Annals of Botany started 

 in 1887 with a record of current literature, but this ceased with the 

 fourth volume, under the plea that space was too valuable ! The 

 Linnean Society might do it, but it would have to wake up. 



The Kew Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information is beginning to 

 justify its title in a novel and remarkable way. In the July number 

 we have a list of the principal guests at a garden party given by the 

 First Commissioner of Works on the lawn and reserve part of the 

 Royal Gardens, adjoining Kew Palace. We learn that "more than a 

 thousand people thronged the grounds," and that the " host and 

 hostess, accompanied by about 200 guests, arrived at Kew by special 



