book-:notes, news, etc. 127 



10 Nov. 1914; riiyllaiithoidejfi et Brideliea^ E. Jablonszky (lleft 05, 

 22 June, 1915); AcMlvphete, DalechaiiipieLU et Perea3, F. Pax et 

 K. Hoffmann (Heft 08, G June, 1919). 



Myzodendracece : C. Skottsberg (Heft 62, 10 Nov. 1914). 



OleacccG : Oleoidete, Fraxineaj et Syriugeie, A. Lingelslieim 

 (Heft 72, 29 June, 1920). 



Saxifraf/acece: Saxifraga, A. Engler (Heft G7, 26 Sept., 1916 ; 

 Heft 69, 6 June, 1919). 



The Thirteenth lieport of the Devonshire Botany Committee 

 (Trans. Devon. Assoc, liii. 89-97), edited by the Secretary, Miss C. 

 E. Larter, contains additions to the flora of the various districts into 

 which the country is divided and a long list of Bryophytes of the 

 Totnes neighbourhood by Prof. C. V. B. Marquand. The following 

 note on Cos mar i ion Jcdve Kabenh. may be quoted : " This desmid was 

 collected on the face of a perpendicular cliff in the form of masses 

 of jelly. It was present in extraordinai-y quantity, the masses being 

 composed of pure gatherings of the desmid. So much calcareous 

 matter was present that it had to be dissolved with H.Cl. to obtain 

 the desmids free. This is noteworthy, as the late Prof. G. S. West 

 always insisted that calcareous conditions were inimical to the growth 

 of desmids." 



Br the appointment of Mr. Arthur. Disbrow Cotton to succeed 

 Dr. Sta])f as Keeper oi the Kevv Herbarium, the precedent established 

 in Dr. Stapf s case of appointing a Keeper from outside the establish- 

 ment has been followed, somewhat to the surprise of those who are 

 acquainted with the existing Herbarium staff. Mr. Cotton, however, 

 is no stranger to Kew% having been an assistant in the Herbarium 

 and subsequentl}^ connected with the Pathological Laboratory there, 

 previous to his appointment as Mycologist to the Ministry of' Ao-n- 

 culture and Fisheries. The Gardeners'' Chronicle of Feb. 25 prints 

 a well-deserved tribute to the late Director of the Gardens, Sir David 

 Prain. 



In an article on '* National Botanic Gardens," the Times 

 (March 28^), referring to the almost simultaneous retirement of 

 Sir David Prain, Sir Frederick Moore (of Glasnevin), and Sir Isaac 

 Bayley Balfour, devoted special attention to the Poyal Botanic Garden 

 at Edinburgh, of which the last-named has been ''liegius Keeper" since 

 1888. "For many years," says the Times, "the Botanic Garden at 

 Inverleith has been the Mecca alike of the expert of the plant world 

 and the student, for the methods adopted for the cultivation of plants 

 which do not commonly flourish in Great Britain have been singu- 

 larly successful, while the propagation of ])]ants on scientific lines 

 advocated by Sir I. Balfour has been brought to a fine point. The 

 herbarium of the Garden, too, has become the centre for the classifi- 

 cation of a mass of botanical material in the shape of new trees, 

 shrubs, and plants — the spoil of collectors who for many years have 

 been exploring the mountam regions of Yunnan, Szechuen, Kansu, 

 and the south-eastern confines of Tibet, whei'e the vegetation is 

 exceptionally rich. The fact that there are over 20,000 specimens 



