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3 1 2 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [October 



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new), a revision of Capnorea (14 species, 8 of which are new), 5 new species 

 of Cryptanthe, and 3 new species of Compositae (Helenium, Thelesperma, 

 Vernonia). — C. DeCandolle (Urban's Syinbolae Antillanae 3^:i59--74- 

 1902) in his monograph of West Indian Piperaceae recognizes 70 species in 

 Piper (21 new), 3 in Verhuellia, 79 in Peperomia (4 new), and excludes Sym- 



bryon Griseb. — Janet Perkins (Engler's Bot. Jahrb. 31 : 481-494- 1902) has 



completed her study of Styracaceae and has revised the genus Lisianthus 

 (Gentianaceae). — Alice Eastwood (Bull. Torr. Bot. Club 29: 523-525. 1902) 

 ' has described new western species of Castilleia, Lappula, Corydalis, and 

 Campanula (2).— H. D. DeBoissieu (Bull. Herb. Boiss. II. 2 : 803. 1902) has 

 described a new genus {Melanosciadum) of Umbelliferae from China, belong- 

 ing to the Smyrnieae. — J. M. C. 



Professor Strasburger, in his first paper*' on double fertilization, 

 insisted that in fertilization two processes should be recognized : the stimula- 

 tion to development and the mingling of ancestral qualities, the latter process 

 being the essential one, and the stimulation to development only providing the 

 conditions which make it possible to attain the advantages which result from 

 a mingling of ancestral plasma masses. In a recent paper ^ he defines very 

 clearly his own views and makes critical references to recent work. Fluctu- 

 ating variations do not furnish a starting point for the formation of new species. 

 It is the principal function of fertilization, through the mingling of ancestral 

 plasma masses, to keep the species characters constant. This view agrees 

 with that of Richard Hertwig and approaches that of Solms-Laubach in so 

 far as the latter regards '* so-called fertilization," or the fusion of hereditary 

 masses, as an essential element in fertilization ; but Solms-Laubach regards 

 the stimulation to development as an equally important attribute of fertiliza- 

 tion. Strasburger, however, defines the "so-called fertilization" definitely as 

 the union of the two hereditary plasma masses and believes that it was to 

 insure this essentially "generative fertilization" that in the course of phylo- 

 genetic development the inability of the sexual cells to develop independently 

 without fusion became more and more marked. The term "generative fer- 

 tilization*' is used to designate a union of ancestral plasmas, in contrast with 

 "vegetative fertilization," which is merely a stimulus to development. Were 

 it not for the fact that the two processes occur simultaneously, the distinction 

 would have been recognized long ago. The term "fertilization *' has often 

 been loosely used in cases like many nuclear fusions in fungi, where there is 

 no union of hereditary masses, but only a stimulus to development. While 

 Strasburger would be willing to admit that the stimulus to development might 

 be due to chemical or physical influences, he insists that "generative fertili- 



<* Strasburger, Ed., Einige Bemerkungen zur Frage nach der doppelten 

 Befruchtung bei den Angiospermen. Bot. Zeit. 58 : 293-316. 1900. 



'Strasburger, Ed., Ueber Befruchtung. Bot. Zeit. 59: 1-8. 1901- 



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