i897 SOME NEW BOOKS. 275 



certainly have been obtained trom the Monocotyledons and 

 Incompletae ; for the orders now dealt with have been entirely covered 

 by the first two volumes of " The Flora of Tropical Africa." This 

 being so, we are surprised to find two genera and 60 species here 

 described lor the first time, rather than disappointed at the smallness 

 of the number. Each order is prefaced by an account of its distribu- 

 tion in Angola, with mention of its more interesting species. The 

 details concerning the latter, though based almost entirely on 

 Welvvitsch's notes, derive great value from the many years spent by 

 that botanist in Angola and from the earnest study he made of the 

 country. 



The new genera, Epinetrum in Menispermaceae and Zanha in 

 Burseraceae, are described entirely from male flowers, the fruits and 

 female flowers being unknown. A sign of the times, and a feature that 

 will be welcomed by many, is the use of the English language instead 

 of the Latin for the description of all novelties. It is true that such 

 unusual phrases as "strict branches," " depresso-hemispherical 

 discs," and " quasi-sheathing scales," are neither elegant, nor English, 

 nor more intelligible ; but in the notes an occasional sentence is more 

 attractive. Thus, we read of plants, " decked in all parts with a 

 silvery lustre," and fruits " which glow with the brightest scarlet red." 



Much valuable information as to dyes, timber, medicines, and 

 economic plants generally is to be found in this volume — though not 

 too easily, for there is no index to native or economic names. This 

 addition, which might be made in a future volume, ought to render the 

 work of service to practical men. 



Great pains have been taken with the synonymy. Apparently 

 the names of over 160 genera, many of them familiar to us in the 

 '_' Genera Plantarum " and in " The Flora of Tropical Africa," have 

 been replaced by previously given but unfamiliar and often less 

 euphonious names. Thus, instead of the well-known Cola, Smithia, and 

 Swieienia, one finds Edwavdia, Damapana, and Entlandrophragma. Mr 

 Hiern's extreme conscientiousness in these matters is shown by his 

 use of Annona for Anona, Cajan for Cajanus, Seshan for Sesbania, 

 Canavali for Canavalia. For work of this kind we cannot profess 

 gratitude. All this historical nomenclature changing might safely be 

 left to those incapable of true botanical work. We are not surprised 

 to learn that a protest against it has been raised by many German 

 botanists. Finality, as experience of Dr. Otto Kuntze shows us, can 

 hardly be hoped for ; and yet that is more likely to be reached by 

 someone prepared to write a new " Genera Plantarum," dealing 

 with all the plants of the world, and not merely with those of what 

 is at best but a small portion of Africa. 



An Unnatural Union. 



A Manual and Dictionary of the Flowering Plants and Ferns. By J. C. 

 Willis, M.A. 8vo. Vol. i., pp. xiv., 224 ; vol. ii., pp. xiii., 429. Cambridge 

 University Press. 1897. Price ids. 



This is the latest member of the biological series of the Cambridge 

 Natural Science Manuals, and forms a useful addition to that series. 

 The two volumes are practically two distinct books, and the recogni- 

 tion of this by issuing them as such would be beneficial to the botanical 

 public, and also, we think, to the publishers. Vol, I., which was 

 originally " intended only to be a kind of index to Part II.," ultimately 

 developed into "what is practically a text-book of morphology, 

 classification, natural history, and geographical distribution." The 



