426 
plant-communities and associations, with a classi- 
fication of types of vegetation as_ ultimate 
physiographical units. Section IV., “ Ecological 
epharmosis and phylogeny,” includes a brief dis- 
cussion of the relation or absence of relation 
between plant-habitat and natural relationships, 
eurychory and stenochory, the behaviour of nearly- 
allied species in the fight for space, and similar 
questions, with finally a short discussion on muta- 
tion of species and evolution. Explanatory notes 
and a bibliography are appended to the first sec- 
tion, and also in the form of a general appendix 
at the end of the book, and the eighty block illus- 
trations form a helpful addition to the text-matter. 
(3) The purpose of Dr. Cook’s work is to direct 
attention to some of the most common and most 
destructive diseases of tropical plants; to give as 
practical a knowledge as possible of plant diseases 
in general and their causes; and to give the most 
common remedies and methods of prevention. 
Since the eastern and western tropics have each 
their own peculiar problems, the writer notes that 
his own experiences have been restricted entirely 
to the American tropics. The first chapter deals 
with the nature and symptoms of diseases; the 
second contains a very brief account of the general 
structure of a seed-plant, and of fungi as sources 
of disease, and their modes of reproduction. 
Chapter III. is a classified account of the fungi 
which cause plant disease; in chapter iv. other 
causes of plant diseases are briefly considered, 
whether due to plant- or animal-organisms or 
physical environment.» These chapters are brief 
and admittedly very general. The most impor- 
tant part of the book is a description of the 
diseases which attack the various plants cultivated 
in the tropics, with suggestions for prevention or 
cure. The book closes with two short general 
chapters on prevention and control of disease and 
fungicides and spraying apparatus, followed by a 
useful classified bibliography. 
(4) The third volume of the late Dr. Bolus’s fig- 
ures and descriptions of South African orchids has 
the appearance of a posthumous work. The nature 
of the authorship is explained in the preface by 
Mrs. H. M. L. Bolus who, as Miss Kensit, was 
intimately associated with Dr. Bolus in his 
botanical work; but for bibliographical purposes 
her share in the work might appropriately have 
been indicated on the title-page. The volume 
represents the fulfilment in part of a trust be- 
queathed by the author of the previous volumes. 
Of the hundred plates, thirty-six have already 
appeared in the “Orchids of the Cape Peninsula,” 
now out of print, nine have been drawn by Mr. F. 
Bolus, and the remaining fifty-five are from finished 
or incomplete drawings by Dr. Bolus; in the latter 
NO, .22220)eyiOL 102) 
NATRGRE 
tion has been added to the citations. 
/ which 
[JUNE 25, 1914 
case, additions having been made by his son, 
Mr. F. Bolus. The form of the book is uniform 
with that of previous volumes; the descriptions 
are in both Latin and English, and the plates in- 
clude full and clear analyses of the flowers with 
careful indications of the colour of the parts. The 
announcement that Mr. and Mrs. Bolus propose 
to proceed with the illustration of African orchids 
is a most welcome one. 
(5) It is not extravagant praise to say that no 
botanical publicatiqn is more eagerly expected, 
or more keenly welcomed on its appearance, 
than the five-yearly supplement of the Index 
Kewensis. The working systematist has now 
ready to hand a record of the names of the 
genera and species of flowering plants from the 
initiation of the binominal system in 1753 to the 
end of 1910, a record which only those who re- 
|/member the time when there was no Kew Index 
can fully appreciate. The present supplement 
marks a great improvement on the earlier-issued 
portions of the work in that the date of publica- 
We note 
also a considerable number of references to species 
have previously been overlooked. New 
combinations as distinguished from newly de- 
| tion is properly left to the worker. 
_of Kew and his willing staff. 
| German, 
scribed species are indicated by reference to the 
earlier name. Further, the names indexed are all 
in the same type; presumed synonyms are not 
printed in italics: the book admirably fulfils its 
obligations as an index, but botanical discrimina- 
In view of the 
periodical appearance of supplements the question 
naturally arises as to the intercalation of the 
supplements with the original work; a question 
| which must, without doubt, have occurred to those 
responsible for the compilation. But it is also 
_matter for consideration whether the onus of such 
a work and its continuation indefinitely—a work 
of such supreme importance to the whole botanical 
world—should be the unaided task of the Director 
A. Bo ie 
OUR BOOKSHELF. 
The Childhood of the World. A Simple Account 
of Man’s Origin and Early History. By E. 
Clodd. New edition, re-written and enlarged. 
Pp. xilit240. (New York: The Macmillan 
Co. ; London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1914.) 
Price 45. 6d. net. 
A Book which has maintained a large and unin- 
terrupted circulation for forty-one years, which has 
been printed in Braille character for the use of 
the blind, and translated into Dutch, French, 
Italian, Sekwana, and Swedish, well 
deserves the honour of a revised edition. 
It falls into three parts: “Man the Worker,” 
a record of the origin and life of early man; “Man 
