CURRENT LITERATURE 
MINOR NOTICES 
Malayan ferns.—This work" presents in a single volume a synoptical treat- 
ment of all ferns known to occur in the Malayan Archipelago; its elaboration 
has been carried on mainly at Buitenzorg, where the facilities for studying dried 
and living material of this group of plants are exceptionally good. A compendium 
of the families, tribes, and g introd the body of the work; and the sequence 
of families, the limitation of genera, and the nomenclature are for the most part 
in accordance with ENGLER and Prantt’s Natiirlichen Pflanzenfamilien. Fairly 
concise and clear keys precede the carefully drawn descriptions whenever the 
genus consists of two or more species, and the bibliography and synonomy are 
given in some detail; but it is unfortunate that the author has cited so few exsic- 
catae. The extended spacing and the numerous blank pages make the volume 
unnecessarily bulky. Moreover, the appendix of some 58 pages, treating princi- 
pally of ferns discovered affer January 1, 1907, and 11 pages of ‘‘additions, 
modifications, and corrections” which the author suggests “may be cut out and 
pasted on the places indicated” will mar materially the practical use of the work. 
It would seem almost as though publication might better have been delayed until 
such necessary additions and corrections could have been incorporated in the 
body of the text. On the whole, however, the work represents careful co'lation, 
combined with a large amount of original research, and presents in available and 
reliable form a comprehensive treatment of approximately 1500 species and 
numerous varieties, representing 10 families and 95 genera. T. he book doubtless 
w ll find a useful place in the taxonomic literature of ferns.—J. M. GREENMAN. 
Warming’s Ecology of plants. A correction.—My attention has been 
called to an unfortunate error in my review of Warminc’s Ecology, viz., the 
statement that the work was written in English by the author, assisted by Dr. 
As a matter of fact the work, as it has appeared, is a translation by 
Professors BALFouR and Groom from manuscript prepared by Professor WARM- 
inc and Dr. Vant. My mistake was due to the statement on the title-page: 
‘prepared for publication in English by Percy Groom,” etc. (which might have 
been less vague if printed: “translated from manuscript,” etc.), and by a personal 
knowledge of Warmino’s facility in the English language. It is certainly scant 
«VAN ALDERWERELT VAN RosENBURGH, C. R. W. K., Malayan ferns. Hand- 
book to the determination of the ferns of the Malayan Islands (incl. those of the Malay 
Peninsula, the Philippines, and New Guinea). Royal 8vo, pp. xl+ 899+ 11. Batavia: 
n kkerij. 1908. 
2 Bor. GAZETTE 48: 149-152. 1909. 
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