424 



NA TURE 



[June io, 1909 



logically as they are incorporated seems sufficiently 

 obvious, but collectors have sometimes numbered each 

 species separately, a system which is possibly open 

 to slight objection so long as the collection is small 

 and composed of well-defined specimens, but which 

 entails endless confusion as thn collection increases 

 in size; for instance, if a specimen, as often is the 

 case, displays several species, it may not be easily 

 traced in the register, and, again, if the species has 

 been wrongly determined, a fresh number must be 

 assigned to it. Dr. Brendler rightly lays stress on the 

 importance of supplementing the general register by 

 a card-catalogue in which the species are grouped 

 separately, each card to contain the whole of the 

 available information relating to the corresponding 

 specimen. 



The author has greatly increased the value of the 

 book to the amateur collector by inserting lists of 

 firms supplying mineral specimens or materials and 

 apparatus required in the testing, housing or labelling 

 of specimens and quoting, where possible, the prices. 

 An error on p. 7 calls for correction ; the branch in 

 Paris of the Foote Mineral Co. (of Philadelphia^ has 

 been closed for some years. 



G. F. H. S. 



THE PLANT KINGDOM. 

 Das Pflanzenreich. Vols, xxviii. to xxxvii. Scrophu- 

 lariacese-Calceolariea. By Fr. Kranzlin. Pp. 12S. 

 Price 6.40 marks. Erythroxylaceae. By O. E. 

 Schulz. Pp. 166. Price 8.80 marks. Styracacea;. 

 By J. Perkins. Pp. iii. Price 5.60 marks. 

 Potamogetonacese. By P. Ascherson and P. 

 Graebner. Pp. 184. Price q.20 marks. Orchid- 

 acese-CcElogynin2e. By E. Pfitzer and Fr. Kranzlin. 

 Pp. 169. Price 8.40 marks. Liliaceae-Aloinese. 

 By A. Bergcr. Pp. 347. Price 17.60 marks. 

 Sarraceniaceae. By J. M. Macfarlane. Pp. 89. 

 Price 2.40 marks. StylidiaceEe. By J. iMildbraed. 

 Pp. 98. Price 5 marks. Nepenthacese. By J. M. 

 Macfarlane. Pp. 92. Price 4.60 marks. Aracese- 

 Monsteroidese and Calloidese. By A. Engler and K. 

 Krause. Pp. 160. Price 8.40 marks. (Leipzig : 

 VVilhe'm Engelmarn.) 



THE ten volumes forming the subject of the 

 present notice have appeared at intervals during 

 the last two years. Six volumes deal with entire 

 families, while four are confined to tribes. The tribe 

 of the Calceolarieae, represented by two small genera 

 and Calceolaria, is collated by Dr. Franz Kranzlin. 

 Fifty years ago these .South American plants were 

 in great request, but interest in collection and cultiva- 

 tion has waned until recently the collections of Dr. 

 Weberbauer in Peru have furnished a number of 

 new species. Basing his opinion on the well-known 

 tendency of Calceolaria to hybridise, the author 

 favours the view that natural hybrids occur, and 

 appends a list of possible hybrids. 



The volume on the Erythroxylaceas is practicallv a 

 monograph of the genus Erythroxylon. Systematic 

 alterations are introduced by Miss J. Perkins in the 

 NO. 2067, VOL. 80 "I 



family Styracace^e; the genera Lissocarpa and Diclitf- 

 anthera are excluded, Foveolaria is reduced to Styrax, 

 and Pterostyrax is restored to generic rank. The dis- 

 tribution and a high proportion of endemic species- 

 are outstanding features of the principal genus Styrax. 

 Dr. Graebner has undertaken the difficult task of 

 classifying the Potamogetonacose, with the help 0/ 

 Dr. Ascherson for the marine genera. The chief diffi- 

 culty lies in the interpretation of the numerous critical 

 species of Potamogeton, which also hybridise readily ; 

 lists of hybrids and fossil species are given. 



The monograph treating the tribe CoelogjoiinaB is 

 of considerable importance because the talented author,. 

 Dr. Pfitzer, who died before the manuscript was- 

 quite complete, had adopted a definite opinion with 

 regard to splitting the large orchidaceous genera 0/ 

 which CcElogyne furnishes a good example. Besides 

 restoring some old genera, five new ones were formed, 

 and are left bv Dr. Kranzlin on Pfitzer's authority. 

 The Aloineae fills a thick volume, as the genera' 

 Kniphofia and Haworthia each provides more thau 

 si.xty species, and the species of Aloe number 168. 

 The tribe, almost entirely African, supplies a number 

 of the succulent plants cultivated in green-houses in 

 northern climates or acclimatised on the Mediterranean 

 littoral. Hybridisation is prevalent, and is even inter, 

 generic, as crosses have been effected between species 

 of Gasteria, on the one hand, and Aloe, Haworthiai, 

 and Apicraea on the other. 



The two families Sarraceniacea and Nepenthaceae 

 have been monographed by Prof. J. M. Macfarlane, 

 who presents his general descriptions in English. 

 Naturally, a full account is provided of the lures for 

 insects and the question of insect digestion. Sarra- 

 cenia furnishes a number of artificial hybrids, and 

 some natural hvbrids have also been discovered. The 

 name of Stylidiace» displaces the Candolleacese of the 

 " Pflanzenfamilien," and Candollea gives way to 

 Stylidium. Dr. J. Mildbraed also restores Forsterri 

 and Oreostylidium to generic rank. Finally, Drs. 

 Engler and K. Krause have worked out two tribes 

 of the Araceffi. Raphidophora, Monstera, and Spathi- 

 phyllum are the more important genera, all belonging 

 to the tribe Monsteroidese. 



THE COMPARATIVE PHYSIOLOGY OF MAN. 



The Human SpecieSj considered from the Stand- 

 points of Comparative Anatomy, Physiology, Patho- 

 logy, and Bacteriology. By Ludwig Hopf. Author- 

 ised English translation. Pp. xx-t-457. (London : 

 Longmans, Green and Co., 1909.) Price 10s. 6<f. 

 net. 



THE literature of evolution is exceedingly exten- 

 sive and varied, but there are not many books 

 which, in a small compass, place before the general 

 reader a simple account of man's structure, nature, 

 and zoological relationships extending over the whole 

 field of anthropology. This task has been attempted 

 with considerable success in the present volume. 

 Commencing with a review of the speculations of 

 primitive man as to his own origin, the author passes 



