490 RECORD OF SCIENCE FOR 1887 AND 1888. 



MOSSES. 



Of tlie larger systematic works Braith wait's " British Moss Flora" 

 lias reached part x, completing- volume i, and Eabeuhorst's " Cr3^i)to- 

 gamen-FIora v. Deutschland u. s. w." has reached numbers 7 and 8, 

 being still occupied with the Acrocarpa^ Both of these publications 

 still maintain the uniform high character of the earlier parts. Philibert 

 has a short paper (Rev. Bryol., xiv) on the fructification of Grimmia 

 Hartmanni, in which he concludes that it should be placed among the 

 true Grimmia and near to G. contorta Wahl, The same author has 

 also another pai)er (/. c.) " Contrib. -X la flora mycologique de la Grece. 

 Arcaugeli (Atti Soc. Tosc, Nat., v) states that a useful character for 

 some species of moss '■ can be drawn from the fact that in some forms 

 the nervation of the leaves ends in a small projecting point or tooth 

 and in addition to this presents another small tooth pointing downwards 

 below the opical tooth." Species of lihyncosiegium, and Bravhythecium 

 are enumerated. Several hybrid mosses are described by Sanio (Hed- 

 wigia, xxvi), and the "Anatomy and Development of the Sporostegium 

 of Mosses," by Vaizey in Journ. Linn. Soc, Lond., xxiv. In the " Sphag- 

 nacete of North America" (Bull. Soc. roy. de Bot. Belgique, xxy), 

 Oardot proposes some changes in our species. He admits sixteen 

 species and nine varieties as compared with twenty seven species in 

 Lesquereux and James' " Manual." "Die Entwick.d. Sporogone v. An- 

 dreie u. Si)hagnum," by Waldner, is a valuable contribution to our 

 knowledge of the development of the sporogonium of these genera, and 

 the paper is further enriclied by systematic notes by Miiller. Varia- 

 tions in ^S^^/mY/Mf/e^^i-t' are described by Jansen (Kev. Bryol, xiv). 



FERN-ALLIES. 



Baker's " Hand-book of the Fern-Allies " is by far the most valuable 

 contribution that has appeared during the year on the systematic study 

 of the related members of the Ptoridophyta. It is similar in its method 

 of treatment to the author's well-known " Synopsis Filicum." It in- 

 cludes descriptions of 565 species, distributed at follows : Equisetacecv^ 

 20 species ; Lycopodiacea', 98 species; distributed among Fhylloglossnra, 

 1, Lyeopodium, 94 ; Tmesipteris, 1 : Fsilotum, 2 ; Selaginellacew, 383 

 species, of which Selagmella has 334, and Isoetes, 49 ; Bliizocarpew, 64 

 species, distributed among Salvinia, 13 ; Asolla, 5 ; MarsilUa, 40, and 

 Pilularia, 6. 



In the Equicetacew Buchtien has given a short paper (Uhlworm u. 

 Haenlein Biblioth. Bot., viii), in which he points out the diflerence be- 

 tween the male and female prothalli. " Some words ou the life-history 

 of Lycopods" (Ann. Bot., i) by Treub, is a suggestive paper. He has 

 studied the prothalli of four species before unknown, of which number 

 three belong to the Phlegmaria type, and one to the cernuuni type. 

 The annotinum type, the third into which Lycopodium is divided, is still 



