BOTANICAL GAZETTE. 115 
AS AN INSTANCE of polymorphic species Euphrasia officinalis, L., might be 
mentioned. Mr. Frederick Townsend, in a recent number of the Journal of Bot- 
any, has grouped the many forms, naming fourteen groups, and preparing an 
analytical key which looks formidable enough for a large genus. 
Mr. MEEHAN has published quite a sizeable catalogue, with notes, of the 
plants he collected in July, 1883, during an excursion along the Pacific coast 
in 8, E. Alaska. He enumerates about two hundred and sixty species and the 
local notes with regard to occurrence, native names and uses are very interest- 
ing. 
THE METHOD of sectioning diatoms practiced by Prof. W. J. Sollas, of 
England, and communicated by him to the Royal Microscopical Society, is to 
arden in a mixture of chromic acid, osmic acid, and absolute alcohol, stain 
with hematoxylin or eosin, and then cut by freezing in gelatine jelly, from 
which the sections are directly mounted in glycerine without passing through 
water. He hopes by this means to obtain a clear insight into the protoplasmic 
structure. ; 
Ir Is PLEASANT to note the interest taken in fungi in England. We have 
now to announce a manual covering the British Discomycetes, with illustra- 
tions of the genera, by William Phillips, F. L. 8. The author's special knowl- 
edge and excellent facilities warrant us in anticipating a thoroughly good work. 
The price will not exceed $2.50, and a liberal subscription will reduce it, Ad- 
dress the author at Canonbury, Shrewsbury, England. 
THE FosstL FLORA of Greenland now numbers 617 species, according to 
Prof. Heer’s recent studies, distributed through the Cretaceous and Tertiary 
epochs. Only one dicotyledonous plant is known from the lowest beds, and the 
character of the vegetation shows the climate at that time to have been subtrop- 
teal. A slow change took place until in the Lower Miocene no tropical forms 
remained, and the mean yearly temperature fell to about 53° F. 
SWITZERLAND HAS a society to prevent the extermination of wild plants, 
and England has introduced a bill in the House of Commons looking to the 
Same end. In this country we have only a few local laws for this purpose, but 
We agree with Science that at present the danger of valuable kinds becoming ex- 
tinct is very slight. Some are likely to become rare in certain localities, how- 
€ver, so that protective laws applicable to restricted districts would be desirable 
iM special cases. 
__ Durie THE First two days of the Association at Philadelphia, botanists 
Will find the registry book of the American Botanical Club at the Academy of 
Natural Sciences, and upon entering their names will become members of the 
club, and entitled to its privileges. A reception will be given the club on Mon- 
lay evening, September 8, by the Botanical Section of the Philadelphia Aca- 
demy of Sciences at the rooms of the Academy, it being the date of their regu- 
lar monthly meeting, 
fe At A Fesrvary meeting of the Linnean Society of London, Mr. R. Miller 
Tisty read a paper entitled “The power of penetrating the skins of animals 
