NOTICES OF BOOKS AND MEMOIRS. 23 



meaning of the monumental figures of plants ; nevertheless, many 

 of his interpretations clo not ax3j)ear by any means certain. A 

 few important plants on the monuments still await explanation. 



(5.) Lastly, we find in the writings of classical antiquity 

 frequent mention of the plants of ancient Egypt ; of particular 

 importance are the statements of Herodotus, who, with his well- 

 known gift of observation and rare freshness of perception, re^Dorts 

 on many plants in the lands over which he travelled. Compare, 

 for instance, his characteristically short description of Xdumbiwn. 



The examination of the vegetation of ancient Egypt possesses 

 also an important bearing on botanical science. Especially pro- 

 minent, was the question whether any important alterations w^ere 

 evident on a comparison of these nearly five thousand years old 

 vegetable remains with the i^resent forms of the same species. But 

 Kunth as well as Unger justly agree that no actual difference 

 exists between the ancient and modern specimens of the same 

 species. At the most may be observed a few unimportant varia- 

 tions from the present forms of the fruits of Punica Granatum, 

 about to be mentioned. 



(To be continued.) 



Vergleichende Untersuchun/jen ilher die Entwickelimgsgeschichte der 

 Vtricularien. Von Dr. Fe. Kamienski. ('Bot. Zeitung,' Nov. 

 1877). 

 In this paper will be found a detailed history of the development 

 of the embryo and eai'ly growth of the acotyledonous (aquatic) 

 portion of this genus, whose peculiarities of seed-structure were, if 

 we are not mistaken, first studied by Professor Dickson and 

 afterwards formed the subject of a memoir from the pen of 

 Dr. Warming. The author takes U. vidgaris as the type of the 

 aquatic section ; in this he finds that the embryo- sac projects 

 beyond the micropyle, and is directed towards a corresponding 

 depression in the placenta. The embryo-vesicle divides by a 

 transverse partition into two cells, one of which becomes the 

 suspensor and the other the embryonic mother- cell : the latter now 

 appears rounded, and divides transversely into an upper and an 

 under cell ; the former, which is also the smaller, being pushed to 

 one side by the lateral growth of the larger, which is soon sub- 

 divided by means of an inclined wall. The midmost of these three 

 cells takes the greater part in the formation of the embryo : 

 immediately after its appearance it pushes to one side the top cell, 

 so that the first-formed originally horizontal septum is now vertical. 

 After four cells have been formed from the originally upx^er cell, 

 and six from the middle one, differentiation of dermatogen begins, 

 and the lowest of the three original cells, till now unchanged, 

 becomes divided into three by two transverse septa. But for the 

 formation of dermatogen the embryo at first remains undifferen- 

 tiated; afterwards the epidermal cells at its top and their 

 neighboiu's together make up a small-celled tissue. After the 

 embryo has assumed the • form of a flattened globe, at the 



