468 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [DECEMBER 
Two recent books on algae. 
A very readable text on British fresh-water algae by G. S. WesT® has appeared 
and will be welcomed as the only work of its kind in English that is up to date. 
The descriptive portions of the book are clear and the figures excellent. The 
accounts of the desmids, diatoms, and unicellular green algae deserve special 
mention. The general arrangement of the groups is quite simple and consistent 
from the author’s point of view, but few specialists would be likely to agree with 
him, so varied are the classifications of the algae. EST’s arrangement is in the 
main conservative, and the synopses and keys are so clear that the reader cannot 
be confused. There is a preliminary account of methods of reproduction, sexual 
organs, polymorphism, and phylogeny. These topics might well have been 
expanded, as in their condensed form a reader with little knowledge of mor- 
phology is scarcely likely to grasp the underlying homologies and evolutionary 
principles illustrated in the algae. 
uch more pretentious is a large volume of OLTMANNS? which is announced 
as the special part and is to be followed shortly by a second that will treat of general 
problems. OLTMANNs covers the entire group of the algae, fresh water and 
marine, excepting the Cyanophyceae, and aims to collect all important literature 
of recent years. His classification is elaborate, and the arrangement of the great 
groups is quite different from that in Die natiirlichen Pflanzenjamilien. How- 
ever, the families are easily understood, and it is around them that the descriptive 
matter is collected in convenient form. Reproductive processes are discussed in 
great detail, especially for the Phaeophyceae and Rhodophyceae, where the 
advance in our knowledge has been greatest in recent years. The account of the 
Rhodophyceae, following his interpretation of the cystocarp as involving a sporo- 
phytic generation associated with the gametophyte, is an especially valuable con- 
tribution, bringing order into what has been one of the most chaotic subjects in 
botany. The work is very full of figures, some 470, excellently reproduced, many 
of dea covering the greater part of the page. This first volume is sure to find a 
hearty reception and the second one will be awaited with keen interest. —B. M. 
Davis 
Index Bryologicus. 
Tue Index Bryologicus of Général Paris® was completed in 1894 and a sup- 
plement was published in 1900. It was welcome as a real boon to bryologists 
and the immense toil of its author was gratefully appreciated. Now it has been 
6 West, G. S., A treatise on the British freshwater algae. 8vo. pp- 37?- Ags. 
166. Cambridge University Press. 1g04. ros. 6d. 
7 O_tmanns, F., Morphologie und age der Algen. Vol. I. 8vo. pp- 733 
jigs. 467. Jena: Gustav Fischer. 1904. M 20. 
8 Paris, E. G., Index Bryologicus sive enumeratio muscorum ad diem 
anni 1900 cognitorum, adjunctis synonymia distributioneque geographica | 
fasc. II. 8vo. pp. 65~128. Paris: Librairie Scientifique A. Hermann. 1903 
ul am 
ocupletis- 
2.50 fr. 
