292 THE JOniXAL OF BOTAXT 



a careful revii^ion, and recasting. No two authors agree as to the 

 limitation of tlie species, or what are and what are not hybrids." 

 The name net/lecta was first used by Ehrhart in his Calamariw 

 No. 118, Dec. 3 (1786)— one of seven sets of dried specimens which 

 he issued in 1780-93 : he again (under Arinido) uses it in his 

 Beit rage, vi. 137 (1791).— Arthur Bennett. 



Li PARIS LoESELTi (p. 240). The following reference to the 

 findini^ of this plant by Pitchford occurs in a letter from T. J. Wood- 

 Avard to Smith, dated " liungay, Oct. 11, 1787 " : — " You will be glad 

 to hear that Crowe found three specimens of Ophrys Loeselii on 

 St. Faith's Hogs this summer : they were far distant from the spot 

 on which Pitciiford found his, and Crowe left them untouched ; they 

 wei'e growing on the veiy wettest part of the bog, and actually in the 

 water. Mr. Sole of Bath has found several on Hinton Moor near 

 Cambridge, where Ray mentions their growing. Hoots have been 

 sent to Curtis and to Dickson, and are grown in Curtis's and the 

 Museum Gai-den " (Memoir of Sir J. E. Smith, i. 275).— Alice M. 

 Geld.vrt. 



REVIEWS. 



Fossil Plants, Vol. III. PtrridospermecB, Cijcadofilices, Cordaitales 

 and Gycadophi/ta. By A. C. Seward, M.A., F.R.S., pp. xviii-f- 

 (vjG with 253 illustrations. Cambridge University Press, 1917, 

 186\ net. 



Although the author apologizes for the delay of nearly'- seven 

 years since the publication of the last volume of this well known work, 

 the resulting compensations more than atone for the period of waiting. 

 For during tiie interval, research on the groups with which Prof. Seward 

 here deals has been especially prolific, as can be gleaned from a 

 perusal of the excellent bibliography ; this comprises considerably 

 over a thousand references, of which nearly a quarter are contributions 

 that have appeared since 1910. In this connection it may be said 

 that we have encountered few works of such a comprehensive character 

 which are so well abreast of the pertinent research at the time of 

 ])ublication. In subjects replete with controversial matter the treat- 

 ment is singularly impartial, even where one would have welcomed an 

 exi^ression of the author's own views. 



The first chapter is occupied by a resume of the more important 

 characters of the living Cycadales, a fitting and essential introduction 

 to the fascinating synthetic group of the Pteridosjiermejie to which 

 the three succeeding chaptei*s are devoted. The Pteridosperms are 

 subdivided into the Lyginopterideie, the Medullosea?, and the Stelo- 

 xyleie, and it will be noted that the author, in accordance with the 

 rules of nomenclature, has ad()})ted Potonie's generic name of Lyc/ino- 

 2)teris in place of the more familiar Lyyinodendron of Binney. 



In the Cycadofilices seven families are recognized, viz. the Mega- 

 loxylea', Rhetinangieie, Stenomyelese, Cycadoxylea', Calaniopityea3, 

 Cladoxylea;, and the Protopityeae. All of these are based on stem 

 structur*; and exhibit Pteridospenn affinities, but the reproductive 

 organs are at present unknown. 



The Pityea' occupy some fifteen pages which should prove invalu- 



