28 NOTICES OF BOOKS AND MEMOIRS. 



gonidia, which differ from the Thalhis-gonidia chiefly in being 

 smaller, and which are cast out of the perithecia along with 

 the riiDe spores. They natm-ally fall in each other's company ; 

 and if this happens on a suitable substratum, the spores 

 germinate and the germ-tubes embrace the Hymenial-gonidia, 

 which soon attain the dimensions of Thallus- gonidia. This is 

 admirably shown on Taf. v. figs. 6, 8, 9, 10. With careful 

 cultivation, a short time sufi&ces for the production of the true 

 Dcnnatocarpon Schccrevi with its characteristic thallus. The baton- 

 shaped Hymenial-gonidia of Polyblastia rugulosa, which agree in 

 their characters with the free algae of the genus Stichococcus, have 

 been observed to act in an exactly similar manner. A small species 

 of Thelidium, until now undescribed, very often accompanies Der- 

 matocarpon SchcBreri, and the gonidia of the former are specifically 

 identical with those of the Dermatocarpon. If the spores alone of 

 the TlielidiuYn be brought together with nothing but the Hymenial- 

 gonidia of the Derinatucarpon, and be cultivated in the most isolated 

 manner, the result is the thallus of the Thelidium complete with 

 its characteristic spore-fructification. The same alga (a species of 

 Plcurococcus) forms, then, the gonidia of these two lichens, i. e., 

 two species of Ascomycetes can consort with the same ah/a. It will 

 not be denied that the above is a very crucial experiment, and, 

 so far as can be seen, there is no reason to doubt its accuracy. 

 Its result is one of the most decided proofs that have been given of 

 the accuracy of Schwendener's views, and goes far to strengthen 

 this already well-grounded doctrine. The carrying up of the 

 Hymenial-gonidia (the offspring of the Thallus-gonidia), their 

 emission along with the spores, and finally their employment as 

 the Thallus-gonidia of the new lichen, form a life-history at once 

 simple and beautiful. G. M. 



Annates du Jardin Botanique de Buitenzorg. Publiees par M. le Dr. 

 E. H. C. C. ScHEFFEE, Du-ecteiu' de ce Jardin. Vol. I. Batavia : 

 H. M. Van Dorp et Cie. 1876. (Pp. 182, tl. 30). 



Though dated October, 1876, this has only lately come to hand. 

 Botanists will welcome it as good evidence that the beautiful 

 gardens at Buitenzorg are being fiu'ther utilized for scientific pur- 

 poses. We have in this handsome volume the second part of Dr. 

 Scheffer's valuable Notes on Palms of the groux") ArecinecB (which 

 seems to have been written as far back as 1875), in which he 

 describes, in their places, new genera under the names Mischo- 

 pJiUcus, GromiplujUum, Iihopalohlaste, PtijcJumdra, and Hctcrospathc, 

 each with a single species. Much of this material appears to have 

 been embodied in Beccari's account of New Guinea and Malayan 

 Palms in his * Malcsia,' noticed in this Journal last year ; and 

 some questions of priority in nomenclature are not unlikely to 

 arise. The paper is illustrated with 30 plates, some of details, but 

 chiefly heliographic portraits of the trees themselves taken in the 

 garden, and very successfully managed. The other contents are : — 

 An enumeration of the plants of New Guinea (superseded by Baron 



