53< 



ATA TURE 



[April 5, 1900 



the present volume. It makes no pretension to be a 

 scientific enumeration, but it will be of the greatest 

 service to those who occupy themselves with the numer- 

 ous scientific questions that arise in connection with 

 cultivated plants, such as heredity, adaptation to varying 

 conditions, variation, selection, cross-breeding, the origin 

 of species, &c. 



The book has reference to the introductions made 

 within a period of twenty-one years, and the total number 

 of names registered is no fewer than 7600, of which the 

 majority are orchids, an indication of the taste and 

 fancies of the times. 



It is of interest to note that whilst in the early part of 

 the century New Holland and the Cape of Good Hope 

 furnished a very large proportion of the introductions — 

 now the majority of the actually new plants " have been 

 derived from the United States of Colombia, the Malayan 

 and Polynesian regions." 



The second volume referred to at the head of this 

 notice is another of those very serviceable hand-lists 

 which we owe to the director of Kew and his staff. The 

 list includes the majority of what are called stove and 

 greenhouse plants, omitting orchids and other mono- 

 cotyledons elsewhere treated. This list is not a mere 

 compilation of published names, but is an enumeration 

 drawn up with as much scientific accuracy as the nature 

 of the case permits. 



It will thus, with the lists previously published, be 

 invaluable to the botanist and to the cultivator who is 

 interested in the plants he grows for reasons other 

 than the mere attractiveness of their appearance or their 

 economic use. 



The director contributes a preface containing some 

 very interesting information concerning the history of 

 the Kew collections, and of the structures built to con- 

 tain them. The Temperate House, now completed by 

 the construction of two wings, is no less than 628 feet in 

 length, and, what is of more importance, it is filled with 

 well-cultivated plants of botanical or economic interest. 

 The part that Kew has played in the collection and 

 distribution of cinchona, india-rubber and other pro- 

 ducts, is appropriately referred to in the preface. It 

 reminds us that whilst we are proud, as we have every 

 reason to be, of our National Garden as such, we have 

 also reason to rejoice in the great benefits it has been 

 the means of conferring on humanity at large. 



Maxwell T. Masters. 



OUR BOOK SHELF. 



Les arbres a Gutta-Percha, leur culture. Mission relativ 

 a Pacclimatation deces arbres aux Antilles et la Guyane. 

 Par Henri Lecomte. Pp. 95. (Paris : G. Carre et 

 C. Naud, 1899.} 

 M. Lecomte was charged by the French Minister of the 

 Colonies to effect the plantation of gutta-yielding plants 

 in the French colonies of the new world. For this 

 purpose he took with him, in wardian cases, plants be- 

 longing chiefly to the genera Palaquium {Dichopsis) and 

 Sideroxylon, and in the small brochure before us he em- 

 bodies an account of his expedition in the form of a 

 Report to the Minister of the Colonies, and also includes 

 in it a statement respectmg the indigenous trees, such as 

 Mimusops Balata, which he found already growing wild 

 in Guiana. 



NO. 1588. VOL. 61] 



The first portion of his book is devoted to a short' 

 sketch of the various plants which yield gutta-percha, 

 and it appears to be largely drawn from the monograph 

 on the Sapotaceae by Burck. It cannot be said, however, 

 that M. Lecomte has contributed much to the story of 

 the discovery of these economically important trees, and 

 indeed he seems now and then to have fallen into in- 

 accuracies. Thus he states that gutta-percha was intro- 

 duced by Montgomery {sic) into Europe in 1832, whereas 

 it would seem that Montgomerie, although he first met 

 with the substance in 1822, lost sight of it for twenty 

 years, and it was not until 1843 that he sent home his 

 first specimens from the East. M. Lecomte states that 

 Palaquium {Isonandra) Gutta is extinct, but nevertheless 

 there appear to be still a few trees known in Singapore 

 besides those growing in the Buitenzorg garden. 



The chief source of the best gutta at the present day 

 is, as the author remarks, the closely allied species P. 

 oblongifolium, which, previously distinguished as a 

 variety of P. gutta, was raised to specific rank by Burck. 

 The native name in Perak for P. oblongifolium is given 

 by M. Lecomte as Taban inerah, whilst it is stated by 

 Obach that this name really belongs to P.gutta,\he. other 

 plant being known as Taban sutra. In this M. Lecomte 

 adopts the views of Burck (Rapport Gutta-Percha, 1884), 

 who has expressed the opinion that P. oblongifolium is the 

 real Taban merah, since P. gutta was not found by him to 

 occur in the Malay peninsula, but only in Singapore. 



It is of course possible that this may turn out to 

 represent the true state of the case, since, although 

 differing in habitat, the two species (?) closely resemble 

 each other ; but if so it is a pity that the matter was not 

 more fully enquired into, as the native names are of some 

 importance in a matter of this kind. If Burck should 

 prove to be correct in his statements, its wide geographical 

 range, extending from Malacca to Sumatra and Borneo, 

 would perhaps indicate that P. oblongifolium ought to be 

 regarded as the parent species, P. gutta representing a 

 local off-shoot which has developed in, and is confined to, 

 a very limited area. But in any case it is clear that 

 several questions with regard to the mutual affinities of 

 these plants still await definitive solution. 



The book is an interesting record of an endeavour to 

 extend the cultivation of a most important series of 

 tropical economic plants, and it is sincerely to be hoped 

 that the efforts made in this direction will be crowned 

 with success. J. B. F. 



Determination of Radicles in Carbon Compounds. By 



Dr. H. Meyer. Authorised translation by Dr. J. B. 



Tingle. Pp. x -t- 133. (New York: J. Wiley and 



Sons ; London : Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1899.) 

 There is no doubt but that the original edition of Dr. 

 Meyer's "Anleitung zur quantitativen Bestimmung der 

 organischen Atomgruppen" supplied a, want which had 

 been felt for some time by all who had seriously taken up 

 the study of organic chemistry, as well as by more 

 advanced workers engaged in original investigations. 

 The translation, which has now been provided, is 

 thoroughly up-to-date, and, in the author's words, " has 

 been further improved by certain changes in arrangement 

 which Dr. Tingle has made." 



It might, perhaps, be suggested that but little dis- 

 tinction is drawn between methods which are purely 

 qualitative and those which also admit of quantitative 

 treatment, in spite of the fact that, according to the 

 translator, one of the main objects of the book is "the 

 introduction of some quantitative work into the collie 

 courses of organic preparations" ; generally speaking, 

 however, the arrangement is excellent, and the numerous 

 references to the original papers is a noticeably useful 

 feature in a work of this kind. 



The statement that "considerable care has been 

 bestowed on the proof sheets ' is hardly borne out by the 

 results. F. S. K. 



