


1901] CURRENT LITERATURE 207 
Schumann and Karl Lauterbach.? Descriptions are given of numerous new 
and critical species, but those better known are merely named and their 
distribution given. The book begins with the Myxomycetes and follows the 
sequence of Engler and Prantl. This bringing together of a great amount 
of scattered material makes the book an admirable compendium of informa- 
tion concerning the plants of the ‘South Seas.” The new genera described 
are as follows: Dammera (Palmaceae), Scleromelum (Santalaceae), Lauter- 
bachia (Monimiaceae), Macropsychanthus (Leguminosae), Syndyophyllum 
(Euphorbiaceae), Gertrudia (Flacourtiaceae), Xenodendron (Sonneratiaceae), 
Bamlera (Melastomaceae), Kentrochrosia (Apocynaceae), and Airosperma 
(Rubiaceae).—J. M. C 
A VALUABLE CONTRIBUTION to the literature of special diseases of 
plants is the recent bulletin of the Division of Vegetable Physiology and 
Pathology on Peach leaf curl3 The bulletin is divided into eleven chapters. 
The first is introductory and treats of the distribution and origin of the dis- 
ease and of the losses caused by it, which are estimated to reach at least 
$3,000,000 annually. Next is taken up the nature of the disease itself, which 
is caused by the fungus EZxoascus deformans. It is shown that the perennial 
mycelium of this fungus is responsible for only about 2 per cent. of the 
infections each spring, the others being due to spores which have remained 
over winter in the crevices of the bark and between the bud scales. In the 
next five chapters the history of the various methods of treatment is dis- 
cussed, and the plans of the experiments for the prevention of the disease 
and the results in saving of foliage and fruit are given in great detail. It is 
shown that from 95 to 98 per cent. of the injury to the foliage can be pre- 
vented by treating the trees, while still dormant, with various sprays, the best 
being a Bordeaux mixture containing five pounds each of copper sulfate and 
lime, and forty-five gallons of water. One chapter is devoted to a discussion 
of the preparation, use, and character of the different sprays used, another 
to the methods of applying the sprays, and still another to a description of 
the various substances used in preparing them. The sprays are shown to be 
successful only when applied while the tree is dormant, preferably one to 
three weeks before the flower buds open. The final chapter is devoted to a 
comparison of the susceptibility of different peach varieties to the disease, 
and toa discussion of the treatment of nursery stock. A short summary con- 
cludes the bulletin Ernst A. BESSEY. 
? Die Flora der deutschen Schutzgebiete in der Siidsee. Small 4to, pp. xvi + 613. 
with map and 22 plates. Leipzig: Gebriider Borntraeger. 1901. M 40 unbound, 
Mf 45 bound. 
3PIERCE, NEWTON B.: Peach leaf curl: its nature and treatment. Bulletin 20. 
Division a Veosintie Physiology and Pathology, U. S. Department of Agriculture, 
8vo, pp. 204. figs. 70, pls. 30. Washington: Government Printing Office. 1900. 
