280 migula's charace^. 



Rahenhorsfs Kryptogamen- Flora von DeutscJiland, Oesterreich wid der 

 ScJmeiz. Second ed. Vol. v. The Characeae, by Dr. W. 

 MiGULA. Large 8vo. Illustrated by woodcuts. In twelve 

 numbers. Leipzig, 1890-7. Price 28 marks 80 pf. 



Synopsis Charaeeariim Europccarum. By the same Author. Large 

 8vo, 176 pages. Woodcuts. Leipzig, 1898. Price 8 marks. 



The first of these books is the most voluminous work on the 

 CharacecB which has yet appeared, consisting of 778 pages, with 

 149 illustrations. The earlier portion is devoted to an account of 

 the morphology, position, and distribution of the CharacecB, with a 

 rather indiscriminate and not very accurate bibliography. The 

 remainder consists of an extremely elaborate description of the 

 Characem of Europe, with figures of nearly all the species and many 

 of the varieties. To give some idea of the extent and minuteness 

 of the work, it may be mentioned that Chara fcctida alone occupies 

 fifty-five pages and has seventy named forms or varieties, C. aspera 

 and C. frag His following with forty and thirty- seven varieties 

 respectively, while C. crinita, C. ceratophyUa, C. intermedia, and 

 C. contraria each rejoice in more than twenty ! In a monograph it 

 is certainly desirable to indicate the extent and directions of the 

 variation in each species, and to characterize the well-marked 

 varieties ; but we do not think any useful end is served, especially 

 in dealing with a group of aquatic plants, the vegetative parts of 

 which are subject to great variation, by describing minutely every 

 form of which the author has seen a specimen. In the present 

 work a large number of the varieties are recorded from single 

 localities, and it is fair to suppose in these cases that the de- 

 scriptions are often drawn up from single specimens. The effect of 

 this redundancy of varieties is to make the book needlessly cum- 

 brous, and one cannot help feeling that an immense amount of 

 energy and labour has been expended with but little practical result. 

 The arrangement followed by Dr. Migula is that in Braun's 

 Fragments, except that the anomalous LycJmothamnus stelliger Braun, 

 which has had so many vicissitudes as regards name and position, 

 is made to constitute a new genus — Tolypellopsis Migula {Chara sect. 

 Tolypellopsis Leonh.); and C. rudis, C. horrida, C. crassicaulis, and 

 C. delicatida, which Braun regarded as subspecies, are here treated 

 as full species. In nomenclature also Dr. Migula has closely 

 followed Braun, repeating his eccentricities. For instance, he 

 retains the name C. coronata with the unsatisfactory citation 

 *'C. coronata Ziz. ined. (nach Braun circa annum 1814)" so as 

 to antedate the unimpeachable name C. Braunii Gmelin (1826). 

 Again, C. contraria is cited as of "A. Braun in Schweizer Char. 

 (1847)," actually followed a little lower down by a quotation of 

 " Kiitzing Phyc. german. (1845)." We might multiply instances of 

 this kind, but these will suffice to show how all rules of nomen- 

 clature are set at naught. In the table of distribution of the 

 Characem in Europe we notice that Great Britain is not credited 

 with C. coronata, C. ceratophylla, C. contraria, or C. intermedia. 

 The illustrations are, with one exception, original, and, though 



