406 



THE AMEBIC AN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



We quote the following from Nature: 

 "Dr. Hugo de Vries, professor of botany in 

 the University of Amsterdam, has just com- 

 pleted his seventieth year. His long connec- 

 tion with the University has been marked by 

 patient and successful investigations on 

 'sporting' among plants, especially in (Eno- 

 iliera LamarcTciana, a plant which had be- 

 come naturalized in Holland. His work with 

 (Enothera began in 1895, and an article 

 upon it appeared in Nature of November 

 26, 1908 (vol. Ixxix, p. 101), when the Hor- 

 tus Botanicus at Amsterdam was the subject 

 of a contribution to our series of 'Scientific 

 Centres.' Out of the work and the experi- 

 ments that had led up to it the 'mutation 

 theory' of evohition originated and devel- 

 oped. Professor de Aeries gave an account 

 of this theory and of his researches in the 

 Masters memorial lectures, which he deliv- 

 ered before the Eoyal Horticultural Society 

 in 1909 (he was the first Masters memorial 

 lecturer), and his great book, Die Mutations- 

 theorie, has been ably translated into Eng- 

 lish by Professor J. B. Parmer and A. D. 

 Darbyshire. The fundamental idea of unit 

 characters upon which the whole argument 

 rests has been at the back of almost all 

 recent research into heredity in plants, and 

 the development of Mendel's work, which 

 had been so long overlooked, was prepared 

 for, and aided not a little by, the researches 

 de Vries made with OEnothera and other 

 plants. This work has had a profound effect 

 upon our outlook towards, and knowledge of, 

 the origin and development of horticultural 

 varieties of plants. In order to mark its 

 appreciation of the great value of this work 

 the council of the Eoyal Horticultural So- 

 ciety has conferred upon Professor de Vries 

 one of the Veitch memorial medals — a gold 

 medal awarded only to those whose re- 

 searches have had, or are likely to have, 

 great influence in the advancement of horti- 

 culture." 



The following additions to the American 

 Museum library are worthy of note: 



A valuable collection of works, largely in 

 the Spanish language, dealing with the his- 

 tory and archaeology of Peru, Bolivia, Cen- 

 tral America, and Mexico, comprising the 

 library of the late Adolf Bandelier. In the 

 neighborhood of four hundred volumes are 

 included in the lot. 



A 1785 edition of Cook's Voyages, entitled 

 A Voyage to the Pacific Ocean, Undertaken 



hy the Command of Flis Majesty for Making 

 Discoveries in the Northern Hemisphere. 

 Volumes I and II were written by Captain 

 James Cook, Volume III by Captain James 

 King. An atlas accompanies the edition, 

 which is the gift of Dr. T. Mitchell Prudden. 



Illustrations of the Nests and Eggs of 

 the Birds of Ohio, by Dr. Howard Jones and 

 Mrs. N. E. Jones. This book was prepared 

 after eight years of costly and painstaking 

 labor. It contains much valuable informa- 

 tion about Ohio eggs and nests, which is 

 equally true for those of all northeastern 

 North America. The full size illustrations 

 are drawn with great accuracy and beauty. 



A first edition (1837), in six volumes, of a 

 History of the Indian Tribes of North 

 America, with Biographical Sketches and 

 Anecdotes of the Principal Chiefs, by 

 Thomas L. M'Kenney and James Hall. 

 This unusual work is embellished by 120 

 large colored portraits from the Indian 

 Gallery in the Department of War at Wash- 

 ington. 



Through Dr. Herbert J. Spinden has come 

 a notable collection of about twenty vol- 

 umes concerning the language of the natives 

 of the Mosquito Coast. 



The Grammar of Ornament, by Owen 

 Jones, published in London in 1868, covers 

 all stages of decorative designing, from the 

 work of savage tribes to the most oniate 

 jjroductions of European peoples. It is 

 fully illustrated with 1]2 colored plates. 



A Check List of North American Am- 

 phibians and Eeptiles, by Leonard Stejneger 

 and Thomas Barbour, issued by the Harvard 

 University Press, fills an urgent need in the 

 field of herpetology. The list includes all 

 the species and subspecies which the authors 

 deem valid and of unquestioned occurrence 

 in North America, north of the Eio Grande, 

 and in Lower California, Mexico. The 

 names of the two foremost students of the 

 subject in North America appearing on the 

 title-page make of this list a work of au- 

 thority — one which should be but the first 

 edition of a permanent check list. 



The black walnut is now being called the 

 "Liberty Tree," and all patriotic landowners 

 who possess such trees have been urged to 

 offer them to the United States Government. 

 Builders of aircraft have learned that there 

 is no wood so suitable for propellers, and it 

 has long been the wood employed in the 



