REVIEWS 167 



the work been considerably expanded. For its present dimensions the price seems 

 slightly excessive. 



W. C. McC. Lewis. 



Catalogue of the Mesozoic Plants in the Department of Geology. The 

 Cretaceous Flora. Part I. Bibliography, Algse, and Fungi. [Pp. xxiii + 

 285, with 2 plates and 25 figures in the text.] 1913. Price 12s.— Part II. 

 Lower Greensand (Aptian) Plants of Britain. [Pp. xxxvi + 360, with 

 32 plates and 112 figures in the text.] 191 5. Price 21s. By Marie C. 

 Stopes, D.Sc, Ph.D., F.L.S. (London : printed by order of the Trustees 

 of the British Museum.) 



The Cretaceous Flora is of special interest, for, as the author says, it differs 

 fundamentally from all the older floras in the presence (and in many places the 

 preponderance) of Dicotyledonous and Monocotyledonous plants, together with 

 the older and " simpler " families. " The Angiosperms must undoubtedly trace 

 their ancestors further back than the lowest Cretaceous, but for practical purposes 

 of geology they may almost be described as appearing in the Cretaceous period." 



The present Catalogue is an exceedingly welcome contribution to our knowledge 

 of the plants of this critical stage of botanical evolution. 



The first volume begins with a short sketch of the occurrence of Cretaceous 

 floras in different parts of the world, illustrated by a useful comparative strati- 

 graphical table. This is followed by a list of literature and a full enumeration of 

 all recorded species of Cretaceous plants, which occupies much the greater part 

 of the volume. The descriptive portion is short, for not many Algae and Fungi 

 are known from these rocks. Among the former the Calcareous Siphoneaceaa 

 and Corallinaceae are of chief interest, as their structure lends itself to good 

 preservation. The Fungi are in a much less favourable position, but among them 

 two good examples of parasitic (or possibly saprophytic) forms, referred to the 

 Pyrenomycetes, are included — Pleosporites Shiramus, and Petrosphceria japonica — 

 the one infesting a Cryptomeriopsis and the other a Saururopsis, from the Upper 

 Cretaceous " coal-balls " of Hokkaido, Japan. The structure of these microscopic 

 Fungi is well preserved. 



The geological scope of the second and larger volume is more limited ; it is 

 concerned with the Lower Greensand (Aptian) plants of Britain. This volume 

 embodies a great amount of original research, and is of the utmost value as a 

 detailed and critical study of a Lower Cretaceous Flora. 



The author finds that, contrary to what had been supposed, " the flora of the 

 English Lower Greensand is rich, not only in species, but in interest " : the petri- 

 factions, showing admirably preserved structure, are the great feature, and the 

 point of chief scientific interest is the presence of highly organised Angiospermous 

 stems among the remains of the earlier- Gymnospermous vegetation. The forms 

 recorded number 45, comprising 1 Thallophyte, 2 Ferns, 9 Cycadophytes, 27 

 Conifers, and 5 Angiosperms. 



As regards climate, the absence of Araucarians, and the occurrence of well- 

 marked annual rings in the Coniferous woods, suggest a cooling off from the 

 warmth of the Wealden period. 



The excellent account of the strange structure of the Fern Tempskya is based 

 on Kidston and Gwynne-Vaughan's description of a Russian species. 



Among the Cycadophytes, the account of the classical Bennettites Gibsonianus 

 includes some interesting details and original figures of the anatomy. A new 

 species, B. Allchini, from Kent, is described, and the anatomy of Carruthers' 



