292 THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY 



duhia of the author's former paper is raised to the rank of a variety. 

 A large number of varieties, several of them new, of many of the 

 species are also dealt with. Under Rupicapnos 20 species are given, 

 all of which, with one exception, are North African. These are 

 placed in four generic sections which have not been previously estab- 

 lished. Here also are several new species — R. proBtennissa, R. suh- 

 Itevis, R. Oossoiiii, R. decipiena, R. oranensis ; R. africana is based 

 on Lamarck's Famarla africana, a name which has been variously 

 applied — PomeFs R. africana, for reasons adduced, is regarded as a 

 still-born name, and R. Pomeliana is substituted for tlie Algerian 

 plant intended by Pomel. 



A concise clavis of the species is inserted in each genus ; a feature 

 of the descriptions is the rigid adherence throughout to a system of 

 italicised contrasting characters following that adopted in the author's 

 .previous papers on Fumaria (already referred to) and Narcissus 

 (issued as a Supplement to this Journal for 191-5). Plates from 

 drawings by the author are fui-nished of hve African species of 

 Fumaria and of four species of Rupicapnos. 



The Flower and the Bee : Plant-Life and Pollination. By John 

 H. LoTELL. Illustrated from Photographs by the Author. 

 London : Constable. 8vo, cloth, pp. xvii, 286. Price 10s. Qd. net. 



In this handsome and — considering the times — cheap volume, 

 Mr. John Lovell gives us the result of many years' observation of the 

 life -relations of flowers and insects — for his book is not confined to bee- 

 visitors, as its title would suggest. He has, he tells us, "approached 

 the science of flower ecology from three different points of view " — 

 those of the botanist, entomologist, and apiarist — believing that the 

 study of only one phase of the subject must lead to partial and 

 imperfect conclusions. His '* experience has convinced him of the 

 efficacy of natural selection in the evolution of flowers, of the 

 advantages of cross-fertilisation, and of the inheritance of acquired 

 characters," and he dismisses somewhat summaril3' the "new and 

 bizarre suppositions " which have been advanced against the older 

 biological theories. 



After an introductory chapter on " Flowers and Human itj'," 

 Mr. Lovell gives a brief account of the work of Sprengel, the 

 Muellers, and Darwin, whose attention was directed to Sprengel's 

 hook by Robert Brown, " an eccentric English botanist of great 

 learning." There follows a chapter dealing with wind-fertilisation, 

 -and several devoted to the work of bees, who, "as pollinators of 

 flowers far surpass all other insects in importance. In their adapta- 

 tions for collecting pollen and nectar : in diligence and in mental 

 ;attributes. bees stand easily in the first rank " — it was in order to 

 become familiar with the economy of the honey-bee that the author 

 became a practical bee-keeper. The chapter headed "Bumble-Bee 

 ■Flowers" begins with the statement that "The English nation owes 

 its power and wealth largely to bumble-bees," thus introducing the 

 well-known case of the correlation of bees and clover which led to 

 the introduction of bumble-bees to New Zealand. Another chapter 

 tells of •* Bees which visit only one kind of flower" ; one species is on 



