SHORT NOTES 117 



typical latifolia. It is equally certain that leptocTiila is not a form 

 of E. Muelleri, as a comparison of the descriptions of the two plants 

 will easily show. There is no European species of Ejpipactis under 

 which leptochild could, with any show of reason, he placed as 

 a variety. It is therefore unavoidable to raise it to the rank of a 

 distinct species as E. leptochila Godf r. The position of E. virulijlora 

 var. dunensis and also the variety vectensis will similarly require 

 reconsideration. — M. J. Godeery. 



REVIEWS. 



La Botanicn. By Aeousto Beguinot. Roma 1920, pp. 116 ;. 

 3-50 lire. 



Every clay it becomes more important for the students and 

 scientific workers of our country to know something of what is being 

 done in other lands. We therefore have no hesitation in recommend- 

 ing to English botanists this little book, which is as well done as the 

 author's name would lead us to expect. 



The first forty-three pages comprise an account of modern 

 botanical work in Italy, whilst the remaining seventy-two are occu- 

 pied by a bibliography (admittedly not exhaustive) of Italian publica- 

 tions in every branch of botany during the last fifty years. The 

 volume has been compiled by* Prof. Beguinot for the series of 

 " I. C. S." guides, or " Bibliographical profiles of the Italy that 

 writes," published by the Istituto per la Propaganda della Cultura 

 Italiana. There are chapters on (1) Italian Botany in the first 

 seventy years of the last century; (2) Schools and the tendencies of 

 study since 1870; (3) The development of Italian Botany during 

 the last fifty years; (4) Scientific oiganization and initiatives of a 

 social character. 



In tracing the revulsion from tl e almost exclusivelv systematic 

 or descriptive Botany of the first period, associated with the names of 

 Tenore, Bertoloni, Parlatore, Gussone, Moris and others, in favour 

 of anatomical, physiological and biological research, Prof. Beguinot 

 pays a well-deserved tribute to the genius of Federico Delpino, 

 though he fails to remind us that for Delpino the valuable collec- 

 tions of the Naples herbaria, containing the types and other treasures 

 of its predecessors, were nothing but " so much stale hay." 



While the late Prof. Saccardo stands at the head of crypto- 

 gamists, the first place among Italians who have worked on exotic- 

 Floras is rightly assigned to Odoardo Beccari, whose recent death 

 England almost equally with Italy deplores. The section on the 

 origin of species and the doctrine of evolution reveals — perhaps- 

 unconsciously — how much less attention these fascinating problems 

 have attracted in Italy than in this country. 



Ot great interest for English readers is the too brief account of 

 living botanists and the work on which they are engaged. We may 

 remark that nearly all botanical workers in Italy are men of small 

 means, to whom the attainment of posts in the State hierarchy 

 of teachers is essential. To compete successfully for such posi- 



