90 ]^i;sT, To ihe Alps for Coleoptera. [voy'xx^^ii 



concerned, including the Shire Council and the Government, 

 that nothing is being done to check its further spreading. At 

 places you cannot get near tlic river, so dense is it, and it is 

 rapidly spreading over the hills : nothing seems to stop it. 

 Altogether, the trij) was a most enjoyable one, and, all being 

 well, wc- hope to repeat it during next December. 



Thk (iENis PiLTEX.E.A. — Many of the species of the 

 Leguminosct are very puzzling to botanists, but perhaps noni- 

 so difiticult as the Pulteuc'eas. In tlie recently-issued Proccediii^>< 

 of the Royal Society of Victoria, vol. xxxii. (new series), part i, 

 Mr. H. H. Williamson, in a paper t-ntitled " A Revision of the 

 Genus Pultenaia, Part 1.," deals critically with about half 

 (fifty) of the known species. The genus, which is confined to 

 Australia, has long been in a confused state as regards limita- 

 tion of species, and the author, by means of short descriptivi- 

 and comparative notes and simple diagnostic drawings, seeks 

 to clear up some of this confusion. In his introductory 

 remarks \\v. outlims the factors which have guided him generally 

 in determining the species. The work was undertaken at the 

 suggestion of Prof. Ewart, and all the material at the National 

 Herbarium, as well as specimens forwardid by the Government 

 Hotanists of the other States, were carefully examined. The 

 following are the alterations and ad(htions made : I*, daflt- 

 noidcs, Wendl., par. parv i folia Vpytrv Murray, (". I'lciuli. 

 jun., i<S80, Eldorado, H. H. Williamson, nyzo : P. Millari, var 

 anguslifolia, Okl. ; P. paleacea, var. sericea-rohiista. (.)ld. ; /'. 

 largiflorens, 1-. v. M.. var. latifolia, S.A. -all new \-arieties ; 

 P. Maidcni, Reader, wliich has i)een regarded as a doubtful 

 species, is allowed ; P. ffexilis, var. allissima, Hentham is 

 followed, and the plant treated as a distinct species under tlu' 

 name of P. altissiuia, I', v. M. ; /'. capitellata, Sicb., i)lac(ul h\ 

 Hentham under /'. slricla, Sims, is restored to sjx-cific rank. 

 The two last-named should be added to the N'ictorian list, /'. 

 flexilis being deleted. The foUcjwing species are not considtued 

 valid ; /'. Williamsont, Maiden P. paleacea. var. Williaiii- 

 soni ; /'. miicronala, V . v. M. = P. polifolui. ( niui., var. 

 mucronata ; and /-•. cinerascens, Maiden and ]>(;l(-lie ^ P. 

 nticrophylla, Sieb., var. cinerascens. In the concluding part, 

 which has not been published yet, tin- author deals with some 

 thirty species, of winch four are considered as new to science 



Thk L.ATii Pkofhssok Saccakdo. The Prooklyu HoUniic 

 (rardcn Record announces the deatii <if Prof. Piei Andn a 

 Saccardo, Professor of l^otany in the koyal University of 

 Padua, Italy, at the age of seventy-four, after a life devoted 

 to the progress of l)otanical science, more especially of mycology. 

 He was the author of " Sylloge I-'ungorum," a work of twent\ 

 volumes, commenced in i8^<2 and com])kted in i(<i.;. 



