304 THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY 



their cultivation, and the fourth instructing how to collect and 

 preserve them ; these show the author's practical acquaintance 

 with his subject, and a great deal of useful information is packed 

 into each of them. At the end of the book is a useful glossary, a 

 good general map of the Alps, and an excellent — we are glad to 

 say only one — -index. In the scientific nomenclature Mr. Thomp- 

 son does not pedantically follow the Vienna Rules when the 

 adoption of these would involve the abandonment of well-known 

 names in favour of new combinations ; and we are entirely in 

 accord with him in thinking that the majority of those for whom 

 the book will be useful would not be " disposed to indulge in 

 profitless wrangling over abstruse questions " arising out of this 

 subject. We are specially glad to see that he does not sacrifice 

 to the ridiculous fetish wliich demands what is absurdly called 

 an " English name " for every species ; as he truly says, "it is as 

 easy to remember the universally used Latin name as it is to 

 adopt ill-defined and unsatisfactory English ones." The volume 

 is well-printed, well-bound, and reasonably cheap, and should 

 obtain a wide circulation. 



BOOK-NOTES, NEWS, dx. 



Prof. R. C. Punnett's tiny volume on Mendelism, published 

 six years ago and noticed in this Journal for 1905 (p. 277), con- 

 taining so admirable an account of the Mendelian theory, has now 

 developed into a much larger and more comprehensive third 

 edition; it has, we observe, appeared also in American and German 

 editions, and is being translated into Swedish. Little more need 

 be said to prove the obvious value and usefulness of the book. We 

 may, however, add that the present edition is adorned by a number 

 of very beautiful and useful illustrations, and is not only brought 

 up to date by the addition of information as to the many observa- 

 tions which have been made since the original work first appeared, 

 but contains chapters on "Variation and Evolution," on the econo- 

 mical aspects of Mendelism, and on Man from the Mendelian point 

 of view, all of which are of the greatest interest and the utmost 

 importance. As a brief introduction to the knowledge of a sub- 

 ject which is now of such prime importance and whicli bids fair to 

 retain that position for many a long day, we know nothing to 

 surpass, or even to compare with. Professor Punnett's admirable 

 book. It is published by Messrs. Macmillan at 5s. 



"Botanists and the Insurance Bill" is the heading given by 

 the Morning Post to a question in Parliament asking " whether a 

 person who had undergone a course of study at the Botanic 

 Medical College, Southport, and had obtained a diploma there- 

 from entitling him to practise the botanic system of medicine, 

 would be considered a duly qualified medical practitioner under 

 the provisions of the National Insurance Bill." It is satisfactory 

 to know that " the answer was in the negative." 



