May 20, 1909] 



NATURE 



!5i 



several examples were thrown up during a storm in Bass 

 Strait. At first sight the general appearance of these 

 jelly-like organisms, for which the name Hologlaea dubia 

 has been proposed, suggested affinity with the Ctenophora, 

 but such a relationship is negatived by the fact that what 

 appear on superficial examination to be ctenophoral bands 

 present no trace of the distinctive features of such struc- 

 tures. At one time its describer was of opinion that these 

 organisms might be detached portions of some larger 

 creatures, but he now considers that they probably repre- 

 sent a stage in the life-history, possibly a nursing-stock, 

 of some type at present unknown to naturalists. 



It is argued by Prof. E. L. Greene, with considerable 

 reason, in a paper published in the Proceedings of the 

 Washington Academy of Sciences (vol. xi., No. i), that 

 Linneeus was not a dogmatic believer in the doctrine of 

 fixed species. This opinion is based on the notes affixed 

 to certain plants in the " Species Plantarum." Thus it is 

 remarked with regard to Thaliclrum lucidutn that the 

 plant is not very distinct from Thalictriim fiavum, and 

 seems to be the product of its environment. Again, with 

 reference to Achillea alpina, it is suggested that the 

 Siberian mountain soil and climate have moulded it out 

 of Achillea Ptarmica. A few other similar examples are 

 cited. 



An interesting epitome of the lines of classification 

 adopted by Dr. T. Wolf in his monograph of the genus 

 Potentilla, and communicated by the author, is published 

 in the Sitzungsherichte tind Abhandlungen der naltirwisseti- 

 schaftlicheii Gcscllschajt Isis for 1908. The pistil provides 

 the primary characters of distinction for the sections and 

 subsections. The author also discusses the distribution of 

 the genus, which is in accord with the morphological 

 classification, and concludes with the following enunciation. 

 If it is possible to classify a group of plants so that the 

 morphological relationship of the species coincides with a 

 definite geographical distribution, then the classification is 

 certain to be phylogenetic, and therefore natural. 



The rate of growth of palms forms the subject of an 

 article, by Mr. A. W. Lushington, published in the Indian 

 Forester (March). The author observed that a fresh leaf- 

 bud was formed every month in the case of all palms, 

 whether betel, date, palmyra, &c., so that the develop- 

 ment of twelve leaves a year appeared to be constant. 

 Reckoned on this basis, a palmyra palm would attain a 

 height of about 28 feet in a century, and would not reach 

 maturity for 300 years. Palms develop the full thickness 

 of the stem below ground before they throw up the aerial 

 shoot ; the time required for the palmyra appears to vary 

 from about four to twenty years. It is suggested that 

 increase in thickness, being caused by the expansion of 

 the soft central tissue, continues so long as the vascular 

 tissue of the leaf-sheaths can extend, and this varies with 

 the nature of the soil. 



The greater portion of the Kew Bulletin (No. 3) is 

 devoted to the flora of Ngamiland as exemplified by the 

 collections of Major and Mrs. E. J. Lugard. Major 

 Lugard furnishes an introductory sketch of the physical 

 and natural features of the country that is peopled by the 

 Batawana, and includes the northern portion of the 

 Kalahari desert. The flora is subtropical ; the trees, 

 which are confined to the river banks, consist of several 

 species of Acacia, notably Acacia giraffae, Copaifera 

 i7iopane, Tertninalia pruinoides, and Kigelia pinnata. The 

 collections yielded no fewer than ninety-three new species 

 out of a total of 373. ■ The Leguminosx, the dominant 

 NO. 2064, VOL. 80] 



family, provides three new species of Acacia, an Albizziaj 

 and others. Out of eight species of Grewia, five supply 

 new types. Habenaria Lugardii and Crintim rhodanthiim- 

 are two new plants with brilliant flowers. 



Prof. Schwendener, of Berlin, is well known as a 

 leader in the investigation of the numerous mechanical, 

 problems which arise in the study of plants. Botanists 

 will therefore be indebted to Prof. Holtermann for the 

 publication of Schwendener's lectures in an easily accessible 

 form (" Vorlesungen ueber mechanische Probleme der 

 Botanik," Leipzig, Engelmann). The principal topics, 

 treated rather in sketchy outline, consist of the mechanicaf 

 svstem of tissues, theory of leaf arrangement, ascent of 

 sap, stomata, and the various mechanisms connected with 

 motile structures. Prof. Holtermann adds critical notes of 

 his own, dealing with some of the points raised in modern 

 controversy. The booklet is well worth reading, though- 

 we cannot help wishing that it had been expanded into- 

 a larger work. " Lectures," when published in book form, 

 have often been employed as the means of a full discussion 

 by their author of the subjects on which he is specially 

 qualified to speak. So far as the lecturer himself is con 

 cerned, the latter sentence would have eminently applied' 

 to Schwendener, but these " lectures " stop a long way 

 short of full discussion. 



The habit of using ancient sarcophagi in modern inter- 

 ments is familiar in the case of Charlemagne, who, after 

 his canonisation in 1165, was interred in a sarcophagus 

 which he himself had brought from Ravenna, and Nelson- 

 was buried in a stone coffin which legend says was pre- 

 pared for Henry VHL by Cardinal Wolsey. The finest 

 existing examples of sarcophagi used in this way in Roman 

 Churches, that of Cardinal Ficschi in the Church of St. 

 Lorenzo fuori le Mura, and that of the Savelli family in. 

 Sta. Maria in Ara Coeli, are described by Mr. J. Tavernor- 

 Perry in the April number of the l^eliquary. That of 

 Cardinal Fieschi, which probably belongs to the second- 

 century of our era, is decorated with a Roman marriage 

 in high relief, a frieze representing the story of Pha;ton, 

 the angles forming two great masks, unfortunately some- 

 what injured. The more artistic Savelli monument was 

 probably intended for Luca, Senator of Rome, who died 

 in 1266, and was nephew of Pope Honorius III. This 

 sarcophagus is carved with Bacchic figures, holding 

 festoons, from which rise portrait busts, doubtless intended' 

 for the original occupants of the tomb. To this the Savelli 

 family added a beautiful superstructure bearing the in- 

 scriptions and family arms, the decoration being of the 

 Sienese school, and the lovely glass mosaic the work of 

 the famous Comati family, who were engaged for six 

 successive generations in the churches of southern Italy. 

 Other examples of their work are described, with fine 

 illustrations, in the same number by Miss E. Stacey. 



The May number of the Geographical Journal contains 

 an important article, by Prof. Dr. Eugen Oberhummer, oj' 

 Vienna, on Leonardo da Vinci and the art of the Renais- 

 sance in its relations to geography. From the fresh in- 

 .formation now available the reputation for scientific know- 

 ledge enjoyed by the great painter is still further enhanced. 

 It is not quite certain that the remarkable map of the- 

 world now at Windsor, and dating from the beginning 

 of the sixteenth century, is really his work; but much- 

 material of a similar kind was discovered by Jean Pauf 

 Richter. It is known that in 1502 Leonardo, then in the- 

 service of Cesare Borgia as a military engineer, made as 

 tour through Urbino, Pesaro, Rimini, and other places,, 

 where he carried out a survey and constructed maps. The 



