Mabch 6, 189G.] 



SGIENGE. 



367 



forms of the Decapods are given for the different 

 regions. 



The last chapter gives a short review of our 

 present knowledge of the geographical distribu- 

 tion of the other groups of animals. 



A map shows the distribution of the regions 

 and subregions of the marine life zones, the 

 lltoral, abyssal and pelagial. G. Batje. 



Introduction to the Study of Fungi. By M. C. 



Cooke, LL. D. , author of ' Hand-book of 



British Fungi,' Fungi, Their Nature, Uses; 



etc. 8vo., pp. 360. London, Adam and 



Charles Black. 1895. 



This, the latest and, as stated in the preface, 

 'probably last contribution to British Mycol- 

 ogy ' from Dr. Cooke, is a work ' for the use 

 of collectors.' It is divided into three parts; 

 namely, organography, with eight chapters; 

 classification, with fifteen chapters — by far the 

 largest portion of the book — and two chapters 

 upon distribution. 



Under organography there is a chapter each 

 upon: The mycelium, carpophore, receptacle, 

 fructification, fertilization, dichocarpism sapro- 

 phytes and parasites and constituents. The 

 author, as a lifelong student of his subject, 

 recognizes many of the difficulties that lie in 

 the pathway of the collector and endeavors to 

 help him to overcome them. His method is to 

 begin with the more common and easily seen 

 forms and pass to the less conspicuous. Thus 

 with mycelium the start is made with the spawn, 

 or artificial ' bricks ' of the cultivated mush- 

 room, and he afterward considers the filaments 

 of mildews and then the more complex forms as 

 illustrated by the ergot grains and other indur- 

 ated forms. The work is fairly well illustrated, 

 there being in the neighborhood of one hundred 

 small wood cuts taken in large part from the 

 author's 'Haud-book.' From one who has 

 written so largely upon the topics considered in 

 the book before us there is perhaps no occasion 

 for new engravings, but there is, nevertheless, 

 a lack of freshness that the mycologist notes 

 upon first taking up this work. 



The carpophore, defined in brief as ' the fruit- 

 bearer,' logically and in reality follows from the 

 mycelium, and in the chapter upon it, it is shown 

 in various stages of complexity from the com- 



paratively simple bearing of spores upon the 

 free tips of threads to the globose compact 

 structure, where the spores are produced in sacs 

 within the closely knit tissue. The author does 

 not hesitate to use the names of genera without 

 stint in citing instances, and these names, being 

 set in italics, give the pages a heavy cast of 

 countenance that might not please the beginner 

 upon the first acquaintance. In fact it is to be 

 inferred that Dr. Cooke expects more of his 

 latest work than a mere introduction. Some of 

 his earlier books may well serve as a prepara- 

 tion for this. A case, and not an extreme one, 

 is the following upon page 262: "In Chseto- 

 phoma the penthecia resemble those of Phoma; 

 but are innate in a dermatioid subiculum re- 

 sembling Famago or Asterina." Here we have 

 the free use of genera, but it is innate, derma- 

 tioid and subiculum that the beginner might 

 stumble over. He will natvirally turn to the 

 glossary to find none of these words mentioned 

 and be disappointed. Upon the other hand, he 

 may notice in the brief glossary the following: 

 ' Cryptogamia — applied to the lower orders of 

 plants in which there are no conspicuous flowers 

 as there are in Phanerogamia. ' To say the 

 least, the mind of the reviewer is left in the 

 dark concerning inconspicuous flowers. 



The chapter upon fructification precedes that 

 on fertilization, which does not seem entirely 

 logical; but it is to be remembered that the 

 author holds that sexual reproduction is not 

 well established, or, in his own words, "the 

 instances in which sexual reproduction has been 

 determined are exceptionally few." This sub- 

 ject of fertilization is treated somewhat at 

 length with several engravings, and it is a sur- 

 prise to have it finally dismissed with the re- 

 mark that "experience and investigation of 

 forty years have shown that lichens and fungi 

 still remain practical exceptions to the rule of 

 sexuality." 



The above view naturally leads one to look 

 at the bibliography under each subject, and it 

 is found far from complete. For the rusts 

 (Uredinese) the only American authority cited 

 is Dr. Farlow. Under the circumstances it is a 

 pleasure to find that Ellis and Everhart receive 

 mention under the bibliography of the Pyrono- 

 mycites, Morgan under pulT-ball fungi, and 



