4o8 THE AMERICAN NATURALIST. [Vol. XXXVI. 



{pattes) for " legs," and the frequent confusion between genus and 

 family. 



Footnotes recording similar work or opposite conclusions would 

 have been valuable, and the lack of an index is especially regret- 

 table. S. H. 



BOTANY 



The Rhodomelaceae. — Originally planned as one of the series 

 of monographs of the marine organisms of the bay of Naples, 

 the author ^ of this work has extended its scope until now it 

 covers the entire family of the Rhodomelaceae, as represented in 

 all waters. Of its large quarto pages 109 are given to the gen- 

 eral part, covering the anatomical development of the stem, the 

 morphology of the vegetative organs, and the reproductive organs ; 

 588 pages are given to the special part, with detailed studies of all 

 the species found in the Neapolitan region, and of all other species 

 authentic specimens of which were accessible to the author ; 248 

 species are elaborately treated in this part. The third part, " Sys- 

 tematic Results," 34 pages, includes notes on phylogeny, on the 

 relation of the Rhodomelaceae to other families, and a synoptical 

 view, practically a key to the genera of the Rhodomelacea;, giving 

 under each genus the names, with descriptions, of the species 

 described in the second part, and of such other species as the 

 author had reason to consider sufficiently studied to leave no doubt 

 of their position under his arrangement. The large genera Laurencia 

 and Polysiphonia are excepted from this full treatment, only a por- 

 tion of the species being mentioned, about which the many other 

 species can be grouped; even with this reduction, 320 species are 

 given in this third part. 



A monograph of this character, from the hands of the one person 

 competent for the task, is an important event, and the care and 

 thoroughness with which it is done are remarkable. The author 

 undertook che task in 1878, and some of the plates were printed 

 in 1885 ; after all, this long stretch of time seems none too much 

 for the enormous amount of work involved. What the future may 



1 Falkenberg, R. Flora und Fauna dcs Golfes von N'eapcl. 26. Monogiaphie. 

 Die Rhodomelaceen. Herausgegeben von der Zoologischen Station- zu Neapel. 

 Berlin, 1901. xvi -1-754 PP-- -A l^ls. 



