255 



BOOK-NOTES, NEWS, dc. 



One of the recently issued parts of the Records of the Botanical 

 Survey of India (voh vii. No. 1) is devoted to the first portion of 

 what is evidently a very thorough and exhaustive study of the 

 Flora of Aden, by the Eev. Ethelbert Blatter, S.J., F.L.S., Pro- 

 fessor of Botany at St. Xavier's College, Calcutta. Beginning 

 with a history of the botanical exploration of Aden, with an account 

 of what has been done by previous workers (with brief biographies), 

 the physical aspects of the region — area and position, geology, 

 topography, and conditions of plant-life are considered : an 

 account of the vegetation follows, which includes its general 

 aspects, with notes on its origin in the Indo-African desert and 

 the North African steppe, and of the means of dissemination by 

 wind and water and by the agency of animals and man. The 

 systematic portion, with synopsis of orders and description of 

 species, will appear later. This part contains one large and 

 excellent map and five illustrations of the town and people. 



The other recent parts of the Records contain reports on the 

 Mosses of the Abor Expedition (1911-12) and on Mosses collected 

 by Mr. C. E. C. Fisher and others in South India and Ceylon, by 

 Mr. H. N. Dixon ; this (vol. vi. No. 3) contains two excellent 

 plates and descriptions of numerous novelties. In No. 4 of the 

 same volume Messrs. G. H. Cave and Mr. W. Smith write on the 

 East Himalayan species of Alangium, and the latter describes 

 new species from the Calcutta Herbarium. 



We regret to find that we neglected to notice two papers 

 reprinted from the Transactions of the Devonshire Association for 

 the Advancevient of Science, Literature and Art — surely some 

 shorter name might have been devised? — for 1913. In one of 

 them Miss C. E. Larter gives a careful account of the distribution 

 of Viola in Devonshire, in which she has had the help of Mrs. 

 Gregory for the Noniimiwn and of Dr. Drabble for the Melanium 

 section : to the latter V. mcduanensis Bor. is added, which has 

 not previously been recorded for Britain. In the other paper 

 Mr. Hiern edits the Fifth Eeport of the Botany Committee, 

 which contains numerous additional species and localities for 

 each of the eight districts into which the county has been 

 divided. 



The first of the series of six volumes entitled The Oxford 

 Survey of the British Envpire (Clarendon Press) is devoted to the 

 British Islands and Mediterranean possessions ; to this Dr. Moss 

 contributes a general account of the distribution of British plants 

 and correlates Forbes's and Watson's work with that of recent 

 Continental authors, as well as with that of Mr, Clement Eeid. 



The most recent addition to the " Bibliotheque Scientifique 

 Internationale " is a treatise on La Vie et la Lumiere, by Dr. 

 Raphael Dubois (Paris, Librairie F. Alcan ; price 6 francs). The 

 first chapter is devoted to " les vegetaux lumineuses " as repre- 



