31 



time the volume of annual leaf-fall is likely to be least in the 

 poorest soils, ceteris paribus* so that the dead-leaf hypothesis is 

 not disproved . (And epiphytes are naturally j ust as exempt from 

 smothering by leaves as they are from fire and overfeeding.) 



The fiora is pretty rich: 972 species of vascular plants being 

 listed. This includes quite a number which have not been seen 

 there by botanists now living, but the mosses and lichens men- 

 tioned in the ecological part are not enumerated in the taxonomic 

 part. Most of the species in the catalogue are not referred to any 

 habitat, which seems-an unfortunate omission in a work which is 

 so largely ecological. On the other hand, a few of the vascular 

 plants mentioned in the descriptions of vegetation (just how 

 many it is difificult to determine without an index) are not men- 

 tioned in the catalogue; but such omissions may be wholly the 

 fault of the printers. 



Nearly all the species in the catalogues are given "common" 

 names, fictitious ones being used where no bona-fide ones have 

 been discovered. Most but not quite all of the specific names 

 are decapitalized. Over 15 per cent, of the technical names, and 

 a few other words, are misspelled, many of them more than once 

 or with more than one letter wrong. 



From the summary at the end of the catalogue it appears that 

 22.7 per cent, of the angiosperms are monocotyledons: a figure 

 agreeing pretty well with those for other unglaciated parts of the 

 Paleozoic region of eastern North America. f 



One of the objects of a review is to point out the good and bad 

 features for the benefit of those who may undertake similar work 

 afterwards (and there ought to be many more papers of this sort 

 for other parts of the world). Among the good features of the 

 work under consideration are the satisfactory descriptions of 

 physical features, especially climate, the excellent illustrations, 

 the careful classification of habitats, the amount of space devoted 

 to environmental factors, the arrangement of species in order of 

 abundance in the habitat lists, and the accurate identifications of 

 species (a matter with which the Ohio botanists seem to be more 



* See Bull. Torrey Club 40: 399- I9i3- 

 t See Torreya 5= 207-210. 1905. 



