SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE. 



329 



nunciation is given in the Standard, 

 Century and Webster "s Dictionaries and 

 is followed by nine tenths of the Amer- 

 ican botanists. "Mycorhizome = mycor- 

 rhiza-like structures in Corallorhiza and 

 Epipogum roots," and "Mycorrhiza = 

 symbiotic fungi on the roots of plants, 

 prothallia, etc.," are not only incon- 

 gruous with orthography and botanical 

 fact, but also with the usage of all re- 

 cent writers on this subject. 



While many other errors of this 

 character could be adduced, the general 

 value of the book is scarcely lessened, 

 and it will be of the greatest service to 

 the working botanist, not only in rais- 

 ing the general literary tone of his 

 writings, but also in placing at his 

 command a choice of all of the estab- 

 lished terms dealing with any phase of 

 the subject; an aid which will be 

 greatly conducive to increased accuracy 

 of statement. 



A decade since, the majority of the 

 botanists engaged in the study of the 

 distribution of plants on this continent, 

 as well as the strict systematists, were 

 quite unanimously of the opinion that 

 the territory within the boundaries of 

 the United States had been quite thor- 

 oughly explored, and that the task of 

 the collector are well-nigh done. De- 

 spite this discouraging conclusion a few 

 enthusiastic workers have not inter- 

 mitted their labors in a more critical 

 consideration of the floras of the newer 

 and less thickly settled regions, with 

 the result that scores and hundreds of 

 new species have been brought to light 

 each year, and the awakening interest 

 in the subject promises a re-explora- 

 tion of the great West. 



A striking example of the results 

 awaiting the student in this line is af- 

 forded by Dr. Rydberg's 'Flora of Mon- 

 tana and the Yellowstone Park' (New 

 York Botanical Garden), which has re- 

 eently appeared. Although the first col- 

 lections of plants in this region were 

 made by the Lewis and Clarke expedi- 

 tion nearly a century ago, Dr. Ryberg 

 finds 163 new species and varieties in 

 the 1,976 which he lists in this volume. 



Of this number 487 are found on both 

 the eastern and western slopes of the 

 continental divide, 268 on the eastern 

 side only, 520 on the western side only, 

 42 of which are arctic and inhabit the 

 high mountain summits, and 659 which 

 have originated in the exact region un- 

 der discussion. Seven hundred and sev- 

 enty-six of the species listed were not 

 included in Coulter's 'Rocky Mountain 

 Botany,' published a few years ago. 



The symposium on the 'Plant Geog- 

 raphy of North American,' to be given 

 at the coming meeting of the Ameri- 

 can Association for the Advancement of 

 Science, will do much to systematize in- 

 vestigations of this character and 

 broaden the method of treatment ac- 

 corded the subject in the future. 



BIOLOGY. 



The 'Biological Lectures from the 

 Marine Laboratory of Woods Holl, 

 1899,' make up a volume of about three 

 hundred pages which represent fairly 

 the present tendencies of biological in- 

 vestigation in this country. The most 

 striking things about the lectures are 

 the wide range of topics which they 

 treat, and the first-hand quality of the 

 subject matter in each case. This is 

 most clearly seen by a careful reading 

 of the text, but a mere enumeration 

 of a few of the sixteen titles and lec- 

 tures makes it fairly obvious. Thus, 

 D. P. Penhallow writes on 'The Nature 

 of the Evidence Exhibited by Fossil 

 Plants, and its bearing upon our 

 Knowledge of the History of Plant 

 Life;' D. T. MacDougal writes on the 

 'Significance of Mycorrhizas/ Edward 

 Thorndike on 'Instinct,' Herbert S. Jen- 

 nings on 'The Behavior of Unicellular 

 Organisms,' Alpheus Hyatt on 'Some 

 Governing Factors usually neglected in 

 Biological Investigations,' T. H. Morgan 

 on 'Regeneration,' C. B. Davenport on 

 'The Aims of the Quantitative Study of 

 Variation,' Jacques Loeb on 'The Na- 

 ture of the Process of Fertilization.' 



To the professed scientist these lec- 

 tures will furnish expert opinion on cer- 

 tain important topics; the general 



