1900] CURRENT LITERATURE 215 
OF GREAT INTEREST to all botanists is the report of Henry Gannett*> on 
the forests of the United States. The author as chief of the Division of 
Geography and Forestry of the U.S. Geological Survey has had long and 
intimate acquaintance with the subject. It seems that on July 1, 1899, there 
were thirty-seven government forest reserves, aggregating 72,139 square 
miles, composed mainly of mountainous, rugged country, of no value for 
agriculture, but especially favorable for tree growth. The states containing 
these reserves are Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New 
Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. Of these 
Washington has much the largest proportion, 19 per cent. of the total area 
of the state being thus reserved. The bulk of the publication consists of 
RS of reports on forest reserves by special agents sent to examine them. 
—|, as 
To THE List of seeds whose germination is affected by light, Heinricher 
adds our common Veronica peregrina” Light, even weak light, accelerates 
germination, as a difference of five to eight days between light and dark 
cultures strikingly shows. The effect of the light depends eer upon 
its action in promoting the digestion of the reserve foods.— B. 
OsWaLD RICHTER recommends” a concentrated solution of ammonia, 
‘sed boiling, at 4o° C., or cold, as a maceration fluid. He finds it much 
Nperior to the usual acids, because the cell wall is always intact. In many 
“ses, also, the cell contents are preserved and even made clearer. —C. R. B 
Pei le Dr. S. Rosrowzew has devised,* apparently independently, 
Siderab] cide table with trapezoidal top, identical in form with that con- 
first 5 Yused in this country when window space is scant. The form was 
“ggested, we believe, by Dr. C. E. Bessey.— C. R. B 
P “Extract from Aiea Ann. Rep. U. S. Geol. Surv., Part V, Forest Reserves. 
2 37, with 7 map: 900 
pe d, Misa bot. Geséils 17: 308. 1899. 
terr. Bot. Zeitsch. 50: 5-11. 1900. *8 Bot. Cent. 81 : 361. 1900. 
