.SriORT NOTES 103 



and February (Feb. 6, 12, 13, 27, the last the latest record) ; but in this 

 abnormal season it did not tlower till April -t. The Wych Elm is a little 

 later, dates recorded from Jan. 25 to March 10, mostly in February ; 

 this year April 3. The flowers of the English Elm thus for a wonder 

 escaped severe frost and hence no doubt the fruit production, which 1 

 onlj' recollect on three previous occasions. — Eleonoea Aemitage. 



REVIEW. 



Plants, Seeds and Carrenlti In the JVest Indies and Azores. Bv H. 

 B. GuppY, M.B., F.K.S.E. 8vo. V\x xi, 531. With 8 maps ^' 

 frontispiece. London : Williams & Norgate, 1917. Price 25s. 

 net. 



Mb. Guppy has devoted many years to the study of seed dispersal 

 across the great oceans and its bearing on problems of plant distribu- 

 tion. He has approached the subject with a thoroughness and obser- 

 vation of detail such as renders his jjublished work a storehouse of 

 facts of inestimable value for the student of geographical distribution. 

 Nearly forty years ago he studied during three years the Geology and 

 Natural History of the Solomon Islands, later he investigated the 

 Cocos-Keeling Islands and formulated views on plant dispersal based 

 on his study of their Hora, while his book on Plant JJispersal 

 (1906) embodied the results of three ^^ears' work in the Pacific Islands. 

 The present volume embodies the results of investigations carried out 

 in the West Indies and Azores between 1906 and 1914-. 



It is gratifying to note that the Linnean Society has recognized 

 the great value of Mr. Gupjiy's woi-k b}^ awarding him the Gold 

 Medal at the recent Anniversary Meeting. 



The closely printed pages of the volume before us are full of 

 interesting matter; facts of the author's observation and deductions 

 therefrom are correlated and compai-ed with the results of the observa- 

 tion and the deductions of other workers. Each chapter is of the nature 

 of a scientific memoir and its concluding summary supplies a useful 

 precis of the contents. 



The first chapter deals with the West Indian beach-drift, its 

 sources of supply and its distribution, which were investigated during 

 four winters. The Turks Islands Avere selected for special study ; the 

 beach-drift of these islands is considered as representing oceanic drift 

 in transit, and the fact emerges that one-third of the fruits and seeds 

 that figure in the foreign drift of the beaches of the Turks Islands 

 has been found stranded on the coasts of Europe.' An account 

 of the West Indian drift on European shores follow^s, including 

 reference to the literature from Clusius onwards, and the various 

 records are described under the headings of localities. But the floating 

 seed can tell us nothing of its route, and although we should usually 

 be right in assuming that a tropical seed cast up on a European 

 beach came from the West Indies it may have started from the 

 Amazon or even from the mouth of the Niger. The evidence of 

 bottle-drift is more ti'ustworthy, and to this subject the following 

 chapter is devoted. The I'csult of a balance of account ]'especting the 



