238 BOOK-NOTES, NEWS, ETC. 



and the primary archesporial cells may be transformed directly into 

 sporo:Tenons ones without any further division. (7) In I). Breutelii 

 the spores remain undivided, but in D. crispns{?) they germinate 

 within the capsale and are discharged as multicellular bodies. 

 (8) Leitgeb's statement as to the absence of stomata from the 

 capsule was confirmed. 



At a meeting of the Linnean Society on May 5th, Miss Ethel 

 Barton, by permission of the President and Council, read a paper 

 " On the Structure and Development of Soranthera," a genus of 

 brown Algas [PlicEophycea) containing a single species, S. alvoidea. 

 The structure of the young plant consists of filaments radiating 

 from the base, the cells at the surface bearing free assimilative 

 filaments, like those in Chordaria. With the growth of the plant 

 the internal structure is stretched and torn apart, leaving the 

 centre empty. The assimilative filaments are shed, and the cells 

 which bear them connect up to form a peripheral layer. Out- 

 growths which resemble plurilocular sporangia are associated wdth 

 the assimilative filaments ; and unilocular sporangia, together with 

 paraphyses, surround crytostoniata in the later stages of the plant. 

 The systematic position of Soranthera remains at present uncertain, 

 since different stages of its life-history correspond both with CJior- 

 dariacea and Enccdiacem. A main point of interest in Sorantltem 

 is its true parasitism on liJiodum.ela Lariv. Rhizoids grow out from 

 the base of the plant and penetrate the host. 



We have received a "Catalogue of Plants growing in the Sed- 

 bergh District, including the Lune basin, from Middleton to Tebay," 

 by Mr. John Handley (Leeds, Jackson : pp. 48). It seems carefully 

 done, so far as it goes, but would have been the better for a more 

 thorough reading of the proofs. There is no attempt to enumerate 

 the forms of critical genera, with the exception of Hieracium.. 

 Several local names are given, and there is considerable evidence 

 of personal observation. 



The last part of the Icones Flmitarum (April) is remarkable in 

 that it is considerably taller and broader than any of its pre- 

 decessors. The introduction of this change in size in the middle 

 of a volume is on the face of it so exceedingly inconvenient that we 

 can only suppose the editor (Dr. Dyer) has some very good reason 

 for the alteration which does not ap]3ear on the surface. The text 

 of the number, including the description of a new genus of Eu- 

 2)horhiace(B [PhijUantliodejidron = Phyllaiithus mirabilis Muell. Arg.), 

 is almost entirely by Mr. Hemsley, Messrs. Stapf, Burkill, and 

 Bolus each contributing a species. 



We are glad to see that, notwithstanding an amusing wail on the 

 matter from the Gardeners' Chronicle, it has been decided to open 

 Kew Gardens to the public at 10 a.m. Twenty years ago this 

 Journal advocated the reasonableness of this concession, and we 

 congratulate those who have continuously urged the matter upon 

 the attention of the authorities upon the success of their agitation. 

 It is to be hoped that the general Guide to the Gardens, which 

 has been out of print for ten years or more, will not be much longer 

 delayed. 



