348 SECHS PLANZENPHYSIOLOGISCHE ABHANDLUNGElJ. 



be quoted in preference to Wallich's (1820-1824) — perhaps the 

 missing introduction would have explained. 



One wonders why Satissurea eriolepis, a MS. name of Bunge 

 cited in DC. Prod, vi, 535, under .S'. diacolor f3. elatior, should take 

 precedence of S. amurcnsis Turcz., published (as a species) on p. 534. 

 Scdhiosa scricca Jord. certainly does not "= graminifolia," if speci- 

 mens distributed aud named by him are of any value. If Stevia 

 " multiaristata Spreng. Syst. iii. 449 = saturiaefolia " of Schultz- 

 Bipontinus, it is manifest that the former must stand, as being the 

 older name. British botanists will wonder what has become of 

 Sparganiiun rumosum Huds. : even those who prefer to quote Curtis 

 as the authority for the restricted plant will allow that Hudson's 

 earlier use of the name should have been cited. 



But criticisms of this kind do not detract from the value of Mr. 

 Jackson's great work, for which he merits and will receive the 

 thanks of all botanists. 



James Britten. 



Seeks PjJonzenphi/siolor/ische Abha^idlimr/en von Thomas Andrew 

 Knight (1803-1812). Uebersetztund herausgegeben vou H. 

 Ambronn. 8vo, pp. 63. Engelmann, Leipzig. 1895. Price 

 1 Mark. 



This little volume is No. 62 in the series of Ostwald's Klassiker 

 der Exakten Wissenschaften , to which belong the editions of Sprengel 

 and Kolreuter previously noticed in the Journal of Botany. The 

 six memoirs are representative of Knight's work on Plant-physiology, 

 and in this handy and cheap form will no doubt be a welcome 

 addition to the library of the German botanical student. The 

 selected papers are as follows : — (I) On the direction of the radicle 

 and germen during the vegetation of seeds ; (2) On the causes 

 which influence the direction of the growth of roots ; (3) On the 

 motions of the tendrils of plants ; (4) Account of some experiments 

 on the descent of the sap in trees; (5) On the inverted action of 

 the alburnous vessels of trees ; and (6) On the reproduction of buds. 

 These all appeared in the Philosophical Transactions of the Koyal 

 Society between 1803 aud 1812. The translator has also added a 

 brief biographical notice, and a few remarks on the above-mentioned 

 papers, in which he points out that our knowledge of the ultimate 

 causes of some of tlie phenomena investigated by Knight has not 

 much increased since his day. We are no nearer to a true ex- 

 planation of the reaction between growing organs and gravity, 

 thougii we sometimes hide our ignorance under long Latin names. 

 At the end of the book is a list of Knight's numerous papers, 

 appearing not only in the Philosophical Transactions, but also in the 

 Horticultural Society's publications, and a few elsewhere. A com- 

 parison of the translation and the original memoirs shows that the 

 latter have been accurately rendered. 



A. B. B. 



