﻿F 
  

  

  1 
  890. 
  J 
  BOTANICAL 
  GAZETTK. 
  

  

  lOI 
  

  

  Minor 
  Notices. 
  

  

  A 
  PORTFOLIO, 
  larger 
  or 
  smaller, 
  in 
  which 
  the 
  flowering 
  tops 
  of 
  a 
  few 
  

   plants 
  are 
  precisely, 
  or 
  often 
  fantastically, 
  arranged, 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  the 
  ideal 
  

   " 
  herbarium 
  " 
  of 
  the 
  high 
  school 
  and 
  too 
  often 
  of 
  the 
  college 
  teacher 
  of 
  

   botany; 
  Such 
  an 
  ideal 
  will 
  be 
  fully 
  met 
  by 
  the 
  handsome 
  7 
  by 
  9 
  portfolio 
  

   designed 
  by 
  Professor 
  Nelson.* 
  It 
  contains 
  50 
  folded' 
  sheets 
  of 
  thin 
  

   paper 
  of 
  the 
  size 
  named. 
  The 
  first 
  page 
  of 
  each 
  is 
  intended 
  for 
  a 
  descrip- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  the 
  plant, 
  which 
  is 
  to 
  be 
  mounted 
  on 
  the 
  third. 
  Our 
  objections 
  

   to 
  the 
  design 
  are 
  fundamental. 
  It 
  gives 
  to 
  a 
  student 
  a 
  wholly 
  wrong 
  

   notion 
  of 
  what 
  a 
  herbarium 
  is, 
  of 
  what 
  it 
  is 
  for, 
  and 
  of 
  how 
  it 
  ought 
  to 
  be 
  

   prepared. 
  Any 
  student 
  who 
  wishes 
  to 
  form 
  a 
  real 
  herbarium 
  will 
  have 
  

   to 
  have 
  these 
  notions 
  eradicated, 
  and 
  for 
  one 
  who 
  does 
  not, 
  making 
  such 
  

   a 
  "play" 
  herbarium 
  is 
  worse 
  than 
  useless, 
  since 
  it 
  gives 
  him 
  to 
  think 
  

   that 
  he 
  has 
  done 
  something 
  right 
  when 
  he 
  has 
  done 
  it 
  wrong. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  F. 
  H. 
  Knowlton 
  of 
  the 
  National 
  Museum 
  has 
  published 
  a 
  paper 
  

   on 
  the 
  fossil 
  wood 
  and 
  lignite 
  of 
  the 
  Potomac 
  formation.^ 
  The 
  specimens 
  

   discussed 
  occur 
  in 
  the 
  neighborhood 
  of 
  Washington 
  and 
  Baltimore, 
  in 
  

   pockets 
  of 
  hard 
  bluish 
  clay. 
  The 
  lignite 
  is 
  more 
  abundant 
  than 
  the 
  si- 
  

   licified 
  wood, 
  and 
  is 
  jet 
  black 
  in 
  color. 
  Sections 
  were 
  rendered 
  trans- 
  

   parent 
  by 
  macerating 
  pieces 
  for 
  a 
  week 
  in 
  carbonate 
  of 
  potash, 
  cutting 
  

   thin 
  sections 
  with 
  a 
  razor 
  and 
  heating 
  these 
  in 
  a 
  watch 
  glass 
  with 
  strong 
  

   nitric 
  acid 
  until 
  they 
  become 
  yellow, 
  when 
  they 
  were 
  dropped 
  into 
  cold 
  

   water 
  and 
  afterward 
  mounted 
  in 
  glycerine. 
  Five 
  new 
  species 
  are 
  de- 
  

   scribed 
  with 
  illustrations. 
  The 
  paper 
  is 
  preceded 
  by 
  an 
  important 
  re- 
  

   sume 
  of 
  the 
  previous 
  writings 
  on 
  fossil 
  woods. 
  

  

  NOTES 
  AND 
  NEWS. 
  

  

  , 
  The 
  British 
  Museum 
  has 
  purchased 
  the 
  largest 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  collec- 
  

   tion 
  of 
  mounted 
  slides 
  left 
  by 
  the 
  late 
  Dr. 
  DeBary. 
  

  

  Dr. 
  Julius 
  Roll 
  shows 
  in 
  a 
  recent 
  paper 
  on 
  the 
  Botanisches 
  Centml- 
  

   olatt 
  (xli. 
  241) 
  that 
  the 
  stem 
  leaves 
  of 
  Sphagna, 
  which 
  have 
  been 
  relied 
  on 
  

   as 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  constant 
  specific 
  characters 
  of 
  this 
  group, 
  are 
  subject 
  

   to 
  extensive 
  variation. 
  

  

  Dr. 
  C. 
  Warnstorf, 
  of 
  Neuruppin, 
  has 
  just 
  issued 
  the 
  second 
  Century 
  

   of 
  European 
  Sphagnace^e. 
  As 
  he 
  is 
  well 
  known 
  as 
  an 
  authority 
  on 
  the 
  

   numerous 
  and 
  difficult 
  forms 
  of 
  this 
  exceedingly 
  variable 
  genus 
  the 
  

   specimens 
  will 
  be 
  of 
  decided 
  critical 
  value. 
  Of 
  the 
  commoner 
  species 
  a 
  

   large 
  number 
  of 
  forms 
  are 
  issued. 
  

  

  'Nelson, 
  Edward 
  T.— 
  Herbarium 
  and 
  plant 
  descriptions. 
  Boston: 
  AUyn 
  & 
  Bacon. 
  

   75 
  cents. 
  

  

  2KN0WLT0N, 
  Prank 
  Hall.— 
  Fossil 
  wood 
  and 
  lignite 
  of 
  the 
  Potomac 
  formation. 
  (Bul- 
  

   letin 
  .06, 
  U. 
  S, 
  G. 
  9.) 
  pp. 
  72. 
  pi. 
  7. 
  Svo. 
  Washington 
  : 
  Gov. 
  Printing 
  Office. 
  1889. 
  

  

  