AuGusT 19, 1915] 
NATURE 
681 

Drs. J. C. Cosrerus and J. J. Smith continue 
their studies in tropical teratology in the Annals of 
the Buitenzorg Botanic Gardens, 2° Series, vol. xiv. 
Several interesting cases of malformations are 
described and figured, especially in ferns, palms, and 
orchids. Among the most interesting are two 
germinating coconuts. In one, three stems are 
sprouting from a single nut; two stems from a nut 
have been recorded before, though such cases are not 
more than one in a thousand, but the present case is 
one out of forty thousand, and is probably unique. 
The phenomenon is no doubt due to polyembryony. 
The other, and more remarkable, case is that of the 
premature flowering of a germinating coconut. The 
young plant had produced eleven leaves, the blade of 
the biggest being 56 cm. long, and a terminal in- 
florescence bearing both male and female flowers, the 
latter being at the base, as is normal. Dr. Costerus 
has previously noticed similar cases of premature 
flowering in Melia and Tectona (Ann. Jard. Bot. 
Buitenzorg, vol. ix., p. 115). 
THE number, vol. i., No. 8, issued June 22, of the 
Gardens Bulletin, Straits Settlements, is devoted to 
a paper on the Para Rubber Trees in the Singapore 
Botanic Gardens, by the director, Mr. I. H. Burkill. 
A detailed account of the treatment the trees have 
received is given, and a very good series of figures 
illustrate the methods of tapping adopted. The publi- 
cation of the details of latex-yield will be of great 
service in determining which trees are the best latex- 
yielders, and which, therefore, should be used as seed- 
bearers for the raising of new stock. It is well 
known that variability is found in the latex-yield of 
trees in Brazil comparable to that noted in plantation 
trees. A large map of the rubber ground ,at Singa- 
pore has now been prepared, so that full details of 
each tree can be accurately noted. A carefully com- 
piled history of the introduction of the Para rubber 
tree to the Straits, and an account of early tapping 
records, occupies several pages of this useful paper. 
IN an interesting paper entitled ‘‘ Observations on 
the Study of Plant Pathology,’ reprinted from the 
Journal of Economic Biology, June, 1915, vol. x., 
Nos. 1 and 2, Mr. G. Massee considers generally the 
subject of plant pathology. He points out that the 
leading idea in dealing with cultivated plants is to 
intensify or develop to an abnormal extent either the 
flowering, fruiting, or some other desirable quality, 
and in so doing there is a marked tendency to upset 
the physiological balance of the plant and open the 
door to the spread of disease. A general discussion of 
the different types and modes of attack of the various 
parasitic fungi is followed by some reflections on the 
training needed by anyone who desires to be a com- 
petent plant pathologist, and it is very justly pointed 
out that a sound knowledge of cultivation and of plant 
physiology is an essential part of the training. The 
remark that ‘the scientific standard of plant pathology, 
in this country at least, is little above that of spraying 
to check disease, which is useful in proportion to the 
benefit derived therefrom,”’ is no doubt partially true, 
but Mr. Massee appears to forget that a good deal of 
work is being done in investigating the resistant 
NO. 2390, VOL. 95| 

powers of plants, in the breeding of disease-resistant 
forms, and in attempting to discover the factors which 
underlie the susceptibility of plants to disease. 
A FURTHER instalment of ‘‘ Materials for a Flora of 
the Malayan Peninsula’? has just been issued, and is 
reprinted from the Journal and Proceedings, Asiatic 
Society of Bengal, vol. Ixxv., part iv., 1915. The 
part before us, No. 25, contains the families Cytinacez 
and Balanophoracez, from the pen of Mr. H. N. Rid- 
ley, while the Juglandaceze, Myricaceze, Casuarinaceze, 
Fagacez, and Salicacez, by Mr. J. S. Gamble, occupy 
sixty-eight out of the seventy-five pages of the instal- 
ment. One new species in Balanophoracezee and 
eight in Fagacez are described. The oaks are particu- 
larly interesting, three species of the genus Quercus, 
a typically northern hemisphere genus, being found in 
the mountains of Malaya, while there are thirty-five 
Pasanias and thirteen species of the closely-allied genus 
Castanopsis. Pasania is a genus confined to Malaya 
and the Pacific Islands, and the distribution of Castan- 
opsis is remarkable since one species inhabits North 
America and the rest belong to tropical or subtropical 
Asia. 
Tue Gardeners’ Chronicle for August 14, 1915, con- 
tains a well-written article on the Island of Java, 
dealing especially with the cultivated products, the 
more important of which are rice, sugar-cane, tobacco, 
coffee, leguminous crops, and cassava. Good 
photographs of terraced rice fields in a valley, of the 
planting of rice in irrigated fields are given. As in the 
East generally, the agricultural work is mainly done 
by hand, and mechanical means for carrying out 
tillage are few. The Dutch are at present engaged in 
providing a system of education for the natives which 
the writer of the article considers may prove to be of 
doubtful value, since it cannot easily be made suitable 
to local conditions. 
Pror. SHIRASAWA describes some new species and 
varieties of Picea and Abies in the Gardeners’ 
Chronicle of August 14. They are Picea koya- 
mai, a new. species. discovered in 1911 on 
Mount Yatsugatake, in Shinano province, at 1500- 
2000 m., where it forms a pure stand in the midst 
of a forest of Larix leptolepis. On the same mountain 
occurs the new variety, acicularis, of Picea bicolor, 
Mayr, which has a very limited distribution. Another 
variety of this species, var. reflexa, distinguished by 
the broad and reflexed apices of the cone scales, is 
found in the valleys of the Oi and Haya rivers, Central 
Japan. Picea maximowiczii, now a rare spruce, rising 
to 50 m. in height, was discovered two years ago on 
the mountain ranges of Shinano province, its native 
place having been unknown, and a new _ variety, 
olivacea of Abies vietchii—distinguished especially by its 
olive-grey cone—from the higher mountains of Central 
Japan, are also described. The account is illustrated 
by a set of useful figures. 
Tue Madras Fisheries Bulletin, No. 8, 1914, con- 
tains two interesting papers by Mr. James Hornell. 
The first of these is an account of fishery experiments 
made by an English steam trawler in 1907 for the 
Ceylon Company of Pearl Fishers, Ltd. The com- 
