October 7, 1909] 



NATURE 



423 



tage to the inquiring tourist to wliom tiie west is 

 unknown. 



The systematic section forms half the book, and 

 follows mainly the classification and nomenclature of 

 the London catalogue. Pihilaria globuUfera is wTongly 

 placed in the Selaginellaceae. The distribution of each 

 species is recorded, and in many cases it is due to the 

 work of the author that the distribution is now known 

 tn be so extensive. First records are duly credited to the 

 discoverers, and many interesting observations are 

 embodied in the text. The Saxifrages and the heaths, 

 e.g., are adequately treated. The book can be well 

 recommended for the sake of its illustrations, and 

 would be worth purchase if it had none. It does 

 justice to the delightful botanical and other attractive 

 features of the west, and is a credit to author and 

 publisher. 



{2) The avowed object of the writer of this book is to 

 enable readers, knowing little of botany, by its use to 

 give names to the plants they find, the name being, the 

 writer insists, the first essential. This idea is not at 

 all in keeping with recent views on nature-study. 

 Still, every student of botany should learn to name a 

 plant bv the help of a " flora." Teachers know 

 how students, -even with the keys in our best 

 floras, fail from time to time to name a plant. 

 In the book under review all flowering plants are 

 divided into ten sections. One section — flowers in 

 heads or umbels — includes the Papilionaceae. In 

 another section — flower parts in threes or sixes — 

 Rumex occurs between Triglochin and Luzula. The 

 section devoted to aquatic plants will prove useful. 

 Monocotyledons and Dicotyledons are not differen- 

 tiated. Ruscus is said to have " phyllodes " as leaves. 

 This is one of the few cases in which botanical terms 

 are introduced. 



The second part of the book is devoted to a selected 

 number of natural orders, and more especially to the 

 means of identification of the species of different 

 genera, arranged alphabetically. This is the most use- 

 ful part of the book. The illustrations, though small, 

 are generally good. Misprints are few. There is, 

 however, no index. The book is cheap, and will prove 

 serviceable to the reader who already knows his natural 

 orders fairly well. 



(3) Mr. Makai's work is indicative of the line 

 followed by Japan on the absorption of a new 

 province into its empire. Korea was quite recently 

 annexed, and so early as 1906 Makai began his study 

 of its flora. The systematist of Japan is to-day doing 

 as the British systematists did at the time England 

 first acquired and explored her colonies. 



This first part of the " Flora Koreana " deals with 

 the Polypetalae and certain Gamopetalae, and is well 

 Illustrated by fifteen plates (one or two of which are 

 rather crowded) of plants mostly new to science. 

 Though printer's errors are numerous and generally 

 indicated in a list of errata, the volume is produced 

 in a form in keeping with the high standard of the 

 other publications of the College of Science of Tokyo. 

 The keys to the genera, and, under each genus, to its 

 species, are useful. Under each species its biblio- 

 graphy, habitat, distribution, and Japanese name are 

 NO. 2084, VOL. 81] 



given. New species and varieties are described in 

 Latin, and usually illustrated. The index is inade- 

 quate. It is necessary to search the body of the 

 work for the novelties, and there is no general index 

 to the contents of the plates. It is impossible to dis- 

 cuss the contents of the volume in detail. One illus- 

 tration must suffice for comparison with our flora. 

 The beautiful genus .\cer is represented by fifteen 

 species or varieties. Trifolium by one species only. 



(4) This work deals in a comprehensive manner with 

 the flowering and flowerless plants of the county of 

 Worcester. In an introduction of twenty pages justice 

 is done to earlier publications. Lees and Mathews being 

 specially noted. The authors follow the London Cata- 

 logue in the names of the species, adding useful 

 synonyms. First records are duly credited, and 

 valuable specific distinctions are occasionally added. 

 Some of the notes, now and then amusing, are often 

 loosely worded, and might sometimes have been 

 omitted with advantage. The mosses and liverworts 

 are listed by J. E. Bagnall, and the fungi by C. Rea, 

 both authorities on their groups. It is a little dis- 

 concerting to find Protonema muscicola, Ag., recorded 

 as a fresh-water alga (crowding about the bases of 

 moss-stems) ! Throughout the book derivatives of the 

 Latin names are given. A map showing the botanical 

 areas of the county is an excellent feature. The book 

 is a distinct advance on previous publications on Wor- 

 cestershire botany, and should stimulate interest in 

 field botany in the county. The price is high for a 

 county flora, but local patriotism will probably rise to 

 the occasion. T. J. 



GEOLOGY OF NEW YORK CITY. 

 Geology of the City of New York. By L. P. 

 Gratacap. Pp. x + 232; with 65 figures and 4 

 maps. Third edition, enlarged. (New York : 

 Henry Holt and Co., iqog.) 



THIS general treatise on the underlying structure 

 of the city of New York and its immediate sur- 

 roundings appears to be the amplification of a shorter 

 work on the same subject, printed privately for the 

 author. Its outlook is local, and, as the interpolated 

 " Class Directions " indicate, it is intended primarily 

 for use in the instruction of the inhabitants of 

 the great city. It is compiled from various sources, 

 which are duly acknowledged, and contains, besides, 

 some original observations, but these are not suffi- 

 ciently important or numerous to appeal to the wider 

 circle of geologists who have no particular interest 

 in the locality. In many passages it emphasises the 

 transformation wrought by man on the original 

 aspect of the country, in deference, no doubt, to the 

 naive astonishment with which the average town- 

 dweller receives such information. 



New York is one of the few great cities founded 

 upon crystalline schists. Some of the problems of 

 the schists and their entangled igneous intrusions are 

 touched upon by the author, but his grasp is hardly 

 adequate for their unravelling. .As in almost every 

 similar region, diverse views are held respecting the 

 age of the different members of the schistose series. 



