K.—BOTANY. 1838 
investigations of Sauvageau, followed by those of Kylin and others, have 
now solved the puzzle; and as a result the systematists have moved the 
Laminarians from among the Pheospore to compete for the premier 
position with the Fucoids. At the same time Dr. Margery Knight’s 
studies at the other end of the series of Brown Seaweeds—the Ectocar- 
pacese—already promises to be most fruitful in valuable information about 
the cytology and ecology of these, the simplest of the Pheospore. 
There is, however, still another reason for discussing this group of 
Alge. Dr. Church, by his insistence on the marine origin of the Land 
Flora, and by his very detailed exposition of the successive steps in the 
supposed transmigration ; and still more by the importance he assigns to 
the Brown Seaweeds in the *‘ elaboration of specialisations,’ which (quoting 
Church’s own expressions) ‘subsequently adapted and improved (often 
beyond knowledge) in the new environment of subaerial vegetation,’ has 
roused renewed interest in the group. One hardly knows which to admire 
most—the wealth and precision of knowledge possessed by the author, 
or the daring flights of imagination and scientific speculation indulged in 
by him. Personally, I confess to a lack of courage to follow the theorist 
in his adventures. I marvel at the advocate’s complete mastery of his 
brief, and admire the ingenuity of the arguments he advances to support 
his case: yet, when I try to follow his lead I feel an insecurity akin to 
that of a man walking on quicksands. The story is interesting, often 
romantic ; and one wishes it were true, if only to satisfy the questionings 
of one’s mind; but though the general idea may be sound, the detailed 
elaboration of it bristles with difficulties, especially to minds that, like 
my own, have the misfortune to be both slow and sceptical. But here 
we at once lay ourselves open to the author’s pungent criticism: ‘ If this 
is not the story of the rise of plant-life in the world, the field is still open 
to anyone who can concoct a more convincing narrative ; but in such a 
case it has to be a better one, and must give a more intelligible reason for 
the same natural phenomena.’ A shrewd thrust, which it is not easy to 
parry. 
When we turn from the field of hypothesis and speculation to the dis- 
cussion of facts and phenomena, the contents of these memoirs must 
excite everyone’s admiration. The wealth of knowledge of plants (and 
animals) displayed by the writer, his extensive and detailed acquaintance 
with the literature of botany and the allied sciences, the keen insight 
shown by him into the interplay of organisms and their various environ- 
mental factors, his passion for exactitude and measurement (though it 
often makes his phraseology highly technical), and his pregnant and highly 
condensed style (which, paradoxically, does not always save him from 
repetition and loose arrangement)—all these things quicken our interest 
in the numerous problems that are dealt with. The memoirs are treasure- 
houses of knowledge collected from far and near. Their pages are 
reservoirs of learning that continually overflow into footnotes—always 
informative, but often pithy and even pungent. 
In his ‘Somatic Organisation of the Pheophycee,’ + Church is exceed- 
ingly severe in his condemnation of morphologists who confine their 
attention to reproductive structures, and who neglect the study of the 
soma. ‘Given a moss-capsule,’ says he, ‘the timber-tree follows as 
1 Church, A. H., Bot. Mems., 10, 1920. 
