May :o, 1929] 



MA TURE 



345 



be cultivated. Those who possess his earlier volume 

 will require the supplementary one, and those who 

 do not will, on reading- this one, be anxious to possess 

 it. The illustrations are very well e.xecuted, but 

 have, as a rule, little connection with the text. The 

 latter part of the book (dealing with bog-plants) is 

 of especial value to those who are attracted to the 

 practice of this frequently misunderstood style of 

 decorative work. Among the alpines most heartily 

 commended are Saxifras^a peltala, Oxalis cnneapliylla, 

 Hypericum reptans, and Hypericum coris. The 

 index contains several misprints. 



(4) This book is a series of detached simple essays 

 on problems presented and solved by familiar plants. 

 In matter and plan, the book compares somewhat 

 closely with the delightful essays by Prof. Miall. The 

 constitutional advantages of such weeds as camomile 



.did coltsfoot, the relation between insect fertilisation 

 and floral adaptations, the markings of leaves and 

 the fertilisation of grasses, the evolution of the 

 buttercup order, and the movements of sensitive 

 leaves are some of the topics which Mr. Ward dis- 

 courses upon pleasantly and illustrates clearly. On 

 some points, indeed, he olTers new hypotheses, and it 

 is with them that we shall chiefly deal, premising 

 that the whole volume is full of suggestion, and is' 

 based upon close observation. 



Among the problems of diverse form and detail 

 with which the book deals, the diverse behaviour of 

 certain composites at nightfall is one to strike the 

 most casual observer. Daisies mark the oncoming 

 of night by closing, camomile by opening more widely. 

 The explanation here given is the protection of the 

 nectaries from dew- and rain-depletion of their store. 

 The outer florets only successfully protect the disc 

 NO. 2064, VOL. 80] 



of the flower from rain if they can cover it. If 

 this is beyond their span, the method of acting as 

 spouts to carry off the surplus moisture is an alterna- 

 tive rendered effective by the more horizontal position 

 of the central florets on a raised disc. It is this adapta- 

 tion which camomile effects, and such an explanation, 

 whether new or not, is eminently a feature of the 

 educational value of this work. 



The relative evolutionary order and efficacy of 

 colour and scent in relation to insect pollination of 

 flowers is a point still in dispute ; indeed, the dictum 

 about cross-fertilisation being so eminently superior 

 as a racial stimulus over self-fertilisation is coming 

 up again for consideration. Most entomologists 

 would, we think, consider scent of primary import- 

 ance, and floral decoration as a means of directing 

 the attracted insects to the right spot. The author, we 

 notice, takes the view that the eye of the insect is 

 caught first. It is, of course, almost impossible to 

 write popularly on this subject without assuming a 

 Wroad general conclusion as to its efficiency, which is, 

 [itrhaps, hardly warranted. At least, the tendency to 

 lircome dogmatic may blind us to a further explana- 

 lion of these intricate associations between insects 

 ind plants that is as yet unknown. In this connec- 

 tion, we notice that, without stating definitely what 

 insect pollinates the primrose, the author refers to 

 the bee or the moth as doing it, in a misleading way. 

 lie would have been wiser to ask readers to notice 

 w liat insect is really effective in the case of this plant. 

 Neither honey-bees nor moths are known to be so. An 

 inleresting chapter is given to the markings of 

 -[lotted orchis-leaves. 



" The exposed part of the olive body of the viper, 

 -Iriped and spotted with dark markings . . . was 

 ilmost identical with the appearance of some of the 

 li'ives of the orchis when similarly placed." 



This resemblance is said in a footnote to be borne 

 I'.it bv the occurrence of unspotted leaves of the 

 [ilant in Ireland, where, of course, the viper is absent. 

 Hut at present the suggestion, instead of throwing 

 light on the subject, makes it more mysterious than 

 ever, for it is surely more to the point to regard the 

 viper as assimilating to the spotted leaves than vice- 

 versa, and for that there is as yet no particle of 

 evidence. We could have wished for more information 

 on grasses. We notice also the strange word 

 " trinary." The illustrations are very good. 



REFORM AT CAMBRIDGE. 



FOR the last eighteen months the University has 

 been inquiring into its management and consti- 

 tution with the view of reforrii. At the end of his 

 first year of office in October, 1907, the then Vice- 

 Chancellor, the Rev. E. S. Roberts, the Master of 

 Gonville and Caius College, spoke these words to the 

 Senate : — • 



" I venture to touch now on dangerous ground. 

 It is a matter of common knowledge that in a recent 

 debate of the House of Lords some of the speakers 

 urged His Majesty's Government to appoint a Royal 

 Commission to inquire into the endowment, govern- 

 ment, administration, and teaching of the Universities 

 of Oxford and Cambridge and of their constituent 

 colleges, in order to secure the best use of their 

 resources for the benefit of all classes of the com- 

 munitv. The Government, through their spokesman 

 the Earl of Crewe, held that the moment was not 

 opportune for appointing such a Commission, nor did 

 he encourage the idea that a Royal Commission 

 should be appointed in the immediate future. 



" The attitude of neutralitv incumbent by a whole- 



