'68 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. VII. No. 159. 



complained of is as follows : " The student of 

 science may fairly ask whether, when twelve 

 doctorates are conferred in zoology and but 

 three in Latin and Greek combined, this means 

 that there is less demand for teachers of the 

 classics or that a less exacting preparation is 

 required." It seems difficult to interpret this 

 in any other way than to the effect that if fewer 

 doctorates are conferred in the classics than in 

 the sciences then it follows that there are fewer 

 adequately prepared teachers of the classics 

 than of the sciences. We should not like to pub- 

 lish an unsigned note disparaging the classics — 

 least of all the admirable instruction given 

 in the classical languages at the University of 

 •Chicago — but it is proper for a scientific journal 

 to call attention to the fact that more well- 

 trained teachers and students have been sent 

 out from the University of Chicago in zoology 

 than in any other subject. — Ed. Science.] 



INFORMATION DESIRED. 



I shall be greatly indebted to any reader of 

 Science who will inform me of the whereabouts 

 of a partial cranium of Bison antiquus, figured 

 in the Kansas University Quarterly for July, 

 1897, and stated to be ' in a high school in Illi- 

 nois.' 



F. A. Lucas. 



Washington, D. C. 



SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE. 

 _A Text-Book of General Lichenology, with de- 

 scriptions and figures of the genera occurring 

 in the northeastern United States. By Al- 

 bert Schneider, M.S., M.D., Fellow in 

 Botany, Columbia University, 1894-1896. 

 Binghamton, N. Y., Willard N. Clute & Com- 

 pany. 1897. 8vo. Pp. xvii+230. PL 76. 

 It is now several months since this important 

 -work first appeared, and doubtless many 

 American botanists are already familiar with 

 its contents. The author intended it primarily 

 as a test-book for the use of students in col- 

 leges and universities, and it is not too much 

 to say that, with all its faults, it is the only 



modern work of its kind in the English lan- 

 guage. The first chapter is devoted to the 

 history of lichenology, in which seven periods 

 are recognized, viz. : I. Theophrastus (circa 

 300 B. C.) to Tournefort (A. D. 1694). II. 

 Tournefort to Micheli (1729). III. Micheli to 

 Weber (1779). IV. Weber to Wallroth and 

 Meyer (1825). V. Wallroth and Meyer to 

 Schwendener (1868). VI. Schwendener to 

 Eeinke (1894). VII. Eeinke to the close of 

 1896. This historical summary will be of in- 

 terest to students, especially those who do not 

 have access to the older works, which are con- 

 veniently cited in numerous footnotes. In 

 this historical treatment the author has quite 

 needlessly separated the last three years, a 

 procedure due to his adherence to Eeinke's 

 somewhat confusing views as to the nature of 

 lichens. 



The second chapter deals with the subject 

 of Symbiosis, including (a) antagonistic and (6) 

 mutualistic symbiosis, the latter only, accord- 

 ing to our author, occurring in lichens. This 

 view, again, is inspired by Reinke. 



The third, fourth and fifth chapters are de- 

 voted to the structure, growth and reproduc- 

 tion of lichens. To our mind this is the best 

 part of the book, and the student who goes 

 over these chapters carefully, while studying 

 the plants themselves in the laboratory, will 

 obtain a very good idea of the subject they 

 treat, especially if, at the same time, he makes 

 use of the text and plates of Part II., dealing 

 with classification and special morphology. 

 Regarding the latter it may be said that the 

 text is far better than the plates for the pur- 

 pose for which the book was prepared. The 

 figures are almost entirely diagrammatic, in 

 spite of the statement on page 110 that they 

 were ' made from hand sections mounted in 

 water (C. ocular, 1-5 objective, and camera 

 lucida).' The student who is led to suppose 

 that he may obtain sections like these will find 

 himself sadly mistaken after making the at- 

 tempt. As diagrams these figures will be help- 

 ful, but they should not be placed before the 

 student as camera lucida drawings of actual 

 sections. The text of this portion of the book 

 possesses the merit of clear and direct statement, 

 which is more than can be said of lichen litera- 



