30 THE .TQITENAL OF HOT A XV 



yields one of the most useful of East African timbers, was dedicated 

 to him as practically its discoverer in 1910, and at the beginning of 

 1920 he was knighted for his services to the forestry of the Empire. 



By the death of Odoakdo BeccaM on the 25th October, at 

 Florence (where he was born on Nov. 17, 1843) the Linnean Society 

 has been deprived of its oldest Foreign Member, who was for many 

 years Director of the Botanic Garden in his native city. His name 

 is associated with a large number of publications, the earliest of which 

 — Malesia, extending from 1877 to 1S9U— is devoted to the plants 

 which he discovered during his travels in the Malay Archipelago and 

 New Guinea in 1865-76. His chief work, however, was among the 

 Palms, on which family he published numerous memoirs, the principal 

 being a monograph of the Lepidocaryece. 



The Transactions of the Lincolnshire Naturalists' Union for 

 1919 contains a paper by the Rev. E. A. Woodruffe-Peaccck on 

 "Seed Dispersal" — a subject to which he has paid much attention. 

 Special reference is made to the dispersal by birds, whose methods of 

 transport are divided into three groups: "I. Internal Seed Carriage, 

 in the crop, in the gizzard, in the alimentary canal: II. External' 

 Seed Carriage, in mud, in clay-balls, amid ruffled feathers, by 

 mucosity: III. External Portion of Plant-Carriage, on the backs, 

 round the necks, on the feet." The observations have been made 

 during a long series of years on trees, bushes, and large plants, and 

 contain much information of value and interest. ' 



The Transactions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh (vol. 

 xxviii. pt. 1) contains an interesting paper by the Hon. W. R. Riddell 

 on the pharmacopeia of The Vegetable Family Physician, a 12mo 

 volume of 176 pages published at Boston, Mass.", in 1836 : the author, 

 Samuel B. Gunnons, was the editor of the Botanical Journal, a 

 monthly magazine published at Boston ; " he seems to have known 

 considerable (sic) about the botany of his district, and most of his 

 descriptions of plants are clear and easily recognisable." Col. H. H. 

 Johnston contributes numerous notes, containing much of critical 

 interest, on the Flora of Orkney, and Dr. Malcolm Wilson describes 

 a new Phomopsis — P. Pseudotsugae— parasitic in the Douglas Fir. 

 The editor has not yet realised that the tops of pages should be 

 employed for conveying useful information, but is content to occupy 

 them by a reiteration of the fact that they belong to the " Trans- 

 actions of the Botanical Society of Edinburgh." 



The fifty-second volume of the Transactions of the Devonshire 

 Association contains a paper by Mr. G. T. Harris on the Fresh-water 

 Algae of the county, with a survey of what has been done in their 

 investigation since the first list appeared in the Flora Devoniensis in 

 1S29. Special notes on some of the more interesting species are 

 given, followed by a list of new records'for the county. The Twelfth 

 Report of the Botany Committee in the same volume, edited by 

 Miss C. E. Barter; contains numerous additions to the flora of the 

 districts. 



The appeal on behalf of the Watson Botanical Exchange Club, 

 which was issued in October, has, we are glad to say, proved successful, 

 and the Club, which since its formation in 1885 has done much 



