April 2^, 1879] 



NATURE 



585 



\ collected both in flower and fruit vrere preserved in 

 t alcohol, and were most painstakingly investigated at 

 I Prof, de Bary's botanical laboratory at Strassburg. The 

 only portion of the life-histoiy of these plants left for 

 future investigators is the germination of their seeds, 

 which, probably, does not take place until the first quarter 

 of the year. The stem structure is simple. Of the 

 presence of sieve-tubes in the bundles there appears to 

 be no doubt. The mode of the tissue formation at the 

 tips of the roots is peculiar ; from an initial group of 

 cells underneath the root-cap, there issues three dis- 

 tinct tissues. This corresponds to the third type of 

 Janczewski, who, among the monocotyledons, found it 

 only in Elodea. The scale and foliage leaves are de- 

 scribed in detail. The epidermal layer is peculiar ; 

 stomates are to be foimd in neither of the species. The 

 floral axis is short and axillary ; there is a double- leaved 

 spathe. The author is inclined with Ascherson to 

 consider the plants dioecious. = The anther cavities are 

 411ed with a mass of conferroid pollen. These pollen 

 cells are found to be united in long strings, each string 

 * apparently continuous through the greater part of the 

 length of the cylinder. The partition walls between 

 adjacent cells in a string are transverse. The ovary is 

 inferior and contains many o\iiles. The author suggests 

 the morphological identity of the stamens and carpels, 

 "the same phyllomes (or the phyllomes from the same 

 nodal 'regions), which, in the male form stamens, in 

 the female form carpels."' A technical and emended cha- 

 racter to the genus and of the two species concludes this 

 paper. 



American Aphides.— Dr. Riley gives a detailed 

 account of the life-history of some species of gall-making 

 Pemphiginse (Art. i, vol. v. Bulletin of the United States 

 Geological and Geographical Suney of the Territories, 

 1879). The facts concerning these Aphides have a special 

 interest on account of the close relationship between the 

 insects of this group and the now notorious grape vine 

 Phylloxera. The special history of Schizoiieura atnericana, 

 n. sp., is given. It is to be found curling and gnarhng the 

 leaves of the White Elm {Ulmus americana), and passes 

 from the egg state through no less than seven stages, in 

 some winged, in some wingless, but in all agamic until 

 the seventh, when, as the result of fertiUsation, the true 

 egg state is again reached. Another very common gall 

 described is that formed by Colopha ulmicola, and the 

 diagnoses of five new species of Pemphigus are given. In 

 a second part of this paper Mr. Monell describes several 

 new species, and gives detailed s)Tionymy of several 

 already described. Two excellent plates accompany Dr. 

 Riley's notes on the gall-making forms. 



New Birds from the Portuguese Possessions in 

 Western Africa. — Prof. Barboza du Bocage publishes 

 (Journ. de Scien. Math, Phys. Nattir. , Nos. xxiii. and xxiv., 

 Lisboa, 1878) his sixteenth and seventeenth lists of birds 

 from Angola . A new genus and species {Hylypsomis sal- 

 vadori) is established for a creeper, and a pretty sun-bird 

 is called after M. d'Anchieta, who has added so much to 

 our knowledge of the birds of Angola {NectaiHtiia anchietce). 

 Several other new species are described in the sixteenth 

 list. In the seventeenth list a new genus and many addi- 

 tional new species are also established, the more remark- 

 able being a sun-bird {Nectarinia oustaleii) and a unique 

 bird from Caconda {Sharpia angolensis), called after JMr. 

 Sharpe, of the British Museum, and having affinities with 

 Hyphantomis. 



A UNIVERSAL CATALOGUE 



'T'HE Council of the Society of Arts, probably the most 



■•■ practically useful body in the kingdom, has taken a 



positive step towards the accomplishment of a task which 



certainly deserves to be called gigantic. We need not 



moralise once more on the extent to which the making of 

 books has been carried ; many a modem Solomon has no 

 doubt been appalled into silence in the effort even to 

 realise, far less to express, the extent of this manufacture. 

 To attempt to begin ab initio to catalogue the works pub- 

 lished during the past century, or even since the beginning 

 of the present century, would be a task which to us would 

 seem to be hopelessly endless. Any one whose business 

 it is to work with books, and even the most thorough- 

 going scientific worker must refer to them occasionally, 

 must recognise the immense advantage, however, of 

 having in one properly arranged catalogue, as complete 

 a list as possible of printed books, and the farther back 

 it went, the more valuable it would be. It is, then, cer- 

 tainly a fortunate thing that there exists ready to hand, 

 though unprinted, a catalogue which for all practical pur- 

 poses may be regarded as a vmiversal catalogue of printed 

 books, and that not only for the past century, but the 

 past four centuries and more; for the British Museum 

 Catalogue begins as far back as 1450. Some time ago 

 the Society of Arts considered the advisability and prac- 

 ticability of constructing a catalogue coming down to the 

 year 1600. The Council addressed a series of questions 

 to them likely to give useful answers, and afteraards met 

 to hear evidence on the subject. ^Ir. Bullen and other 

 authorities were thus examined, and it seems to have 

 been Mr. Bullen who happily suggested that the best and 

 only sure method of laying a solid foimdation for the 

 Universal Catalogue of English printed literature would 

 be to print the Catalogue of the Printed Books in the 

 British Museum, from A.D. 1450 to the present time, say, 

 the end of the year 1878, representing about 1,250,000 

 vols., and comprising between 2,000,000 and 3,000,000 

 entries, i.e., main titles and cross references. He con- 

 sidered the work might be ready for printing, " in a rough 

 and ready way,'' in two years, and in less time if more 

 force were employed, and that it would take five years to 

 print. All the witnesses agreed that the printing of the 

 British Museum Catalogue would be highly desirable, and 

 the Committee are of the same opinion. 



As we have had occasion to point out in these pages, 

 the British Museum Catalogue is by no means perfect, 

 and it is specially difficult for a man in search of a scien- 

 tific serial or paper to get at it without much roundabout 

 hunting from one cross reference to another, much waste 

 of time, and loss of temper. Still considering all the diffi- 

 culties in the way of constructing a perfectly new catalogue, 

 we do not think a better course could be followed than that 

 suggested by the Society of Arts' Council. It might be 

 possible to introduce some improvement in arrangement 

 during the process of printing, and especially with reference 

 to the arrangement of the publications of scientific societies, 

 which at present is so completely unscientific. It must 

 also be borne in mind that the Catalogue is only one of 

 authors, and that for many purposes of research such a 

 catalogue is of little use without an equally complete one 

 of subjects. Still the want of the latter is no argument 

 against the publication of the former, though we should 

 hope that the one would be followed by the other. 



Of course such a stupendous, and, at its cheapest, 

 costly undertaking could hardly be accomplished by any 

 private body, and it is natural that the Society of Arts 

 should look to government for help in the matter. As the 

 scheme has the approval of the President of the Society, 

 the Prince of Wales, we should think that the Govern- 

 ment is not likely to hesitate in granting such aid ds 

 might be required. Of course the printing and paper 

 need not be luxurious nor expensive, and the specimen- 

 page issued by the Society seems to us satisfactory. It is 

 calculated that the British Museum Catalogue would thus 

 occupy about forty-five voliunes of 1,000 pages each, and 

 could be issued through the Stationery Office at about i&r. 

 per vol., and even less if the edition were of 2,000 copies. 

 No doubt a fair sale would be obtained for such a publica- 



