372 



THE JOURNAL OP BOTANY 



nacecR, where we read that, " owing to the absence of sugar in the 

 tissues, members of the TremclliHecs are not attacked by the larvae 

 of insects in the field, consequently, when collected for preserva- 

 tion, they should simply be allowed to shrink until they are per- 

 fectly dry and rigid." Such an illuminating remark makes us 

 almost forgive the confusion of nomenclature — Tremellacecs (p. 29), 

 TremelUnacecs (p. 442), and then TremelUnece, as above (p. 443). 

 These changes of termination are puzzling to the student. 



We could wish that Mr. Massee had entirely left out the 

 Lichens, but as the page-heading is still " British Fungi," some 

 notice of the group was evidently felt to be necessary. The bright 

 and vivid sketch which he gives of these peculiar plants is too 

 short to be of much real value, and is marred by several palpable 

 errors. He states that " some lichens are injurious parasites on 

 living leaves and branches," while all the evidence goes to prove 

 that none of our British lichens are parasitic, and only one 

 tropical species is a parasite on leaves. The Keindeer Moss 

 {Cladonia rangiferina) — called Cetraria rangiferina on a pre- 

 ceding page — is rather a rare lichen in the southern counties of 

 England ; it is easily confused with Cladonia sylvatica, a plant 

 wdiich reindeer refuse to eat. Coniocarpon gregarmm is figured 

 at its brightest ; Mr. Massee says it is not British, but any 

 of our text-books would have furnished him with many home 

 records. 



The coloured illustrations should prove of great assistance to 

 the beginner : a good plate is worth many pages of description ; 

 but there is a regrettable tendency to post-impressionism in the 

 two plates of lichen drawings. The book is undated on title-page 

 and preface, an omission that should be rectified in the next 

 edition. In spite of the very obvious defects it should prove a 

 serviceable handbook, and it will give a great impulse to the 

 study of fungi in this country. 



A. L. S. 



Plant Galls. 



Die Pflanzengallen {Gecidien) Mittel und Nordeuropas ilire Erreger 

 und Biologie und Bestivwmngstabellen. Von De. H. Ross, 

 Konservator am Kgl. Botanischen Museum in Miinchen. 

 8vo, wrapper, pp. viii. 350, 10 plates and 233 figures in text. 

 Jena : Fischer. Price 9 marks. 



The publication of this work emphasizes the steady growth 

 of interest in cecidology on the Continent and its comparative 

 neglect in this country. Dr. Straton's well-known translation of 

 Adler's classic account of the alternating generations of the oak 

 Gynipidce, and three books of lesser importance by the late Edward 

 Connold (Oak galls. Vegetable galls, and Plant galls) comprise the 

 published English literature ; a classified text-book of British 

 cecidology is a desideratum. 



In the first part of his book Dr. Eoss gives a series of essays 

 on the various causers of galls and their biology, also methods of 



