Decembeb 28, 1906.] 



SCIENCE. 



869 



is reserved until the completion of the volume, 

 which is promised within a few months. 



VEGETATION PHOTOGRAPHS. 



Attention has already been called to the 

 admirable reproductions of photographs of 

 vegetation issued under the editorship of Pro- 

 fessors Karsten and Schenck, and bearing the 

 title of ' Vegetationsbilder.' The publication 

 consists of quarto Heften, each containing six 

 plates, and as there are eight Heften for each 

 volume, it follows that the latter will contain 

 forty-eight plates. Three volumes are already 

 completed, and five Heften of the fourth vol- 

 ume have appeared. With each plate is a 

 short descriptive text covering a page or two. 

 The Heften which have appeared during 1906 

 include ' Yegetationsbilder aus Kleinasien,' 

 by Emerich Zederbauer ; ' Vegetationstypen 

 von der Insel Koh Chang im Meerbusen von 

 Siam,' by Jobs. Schmidt; ' Ameisenpflanzen 

 des Amazonasgebietes,' by E. Vie; 'Das siid- 

 liche Togo,' by Walter Busse ; ' Yegetations- 

 bilder aus Feuerland, von den Ealkland-Inseln 

 und von Sudgeorgien,' by Carl Skottsberg; 

 * Westafrikanischen IsTutzpflanzen,' by Walter 

 Busse. The beauty of the photographs and 

 the admirable manner of their reproduction 

 merit the highest praise. They must con- 

 stitute an indispensable addition to every 

 botanical library. 



SHORT NOTES. 



Several months ago, H. A. Gleason pub- 

 lished in the Bulletin of the New York 

 Botanical Garden (Yol. 4, No. 13) ' A Eevi- 

 sion of the North American Yernonieae ' 

 which should go far toward clearing up the 

 confusion regarding the species of this tribe 

 of Compositae. Seventeen genera are recog- 

 nized, of which one — Orthopappus, a segre- 

 gate of ElephantopuSj is new. Of the 143 

 species here described, 99 are referred to the 

 genus Yemonia, and of these, twenty-five are 

 new to science. No less than ten of the 

 genera are monotypic. — The genus Ptelea, 

 represented in the northern states by the well- 

 known hop-tree (P. trifoUata) expands won- 

 derfully in the west and southwest, where, 

 according to a recent monograph entitled ' The 



Genus Ptelea in the Western and South- 

 western United States and Mexico' (Contrib. 

 U. S. Nat. Herb., Yol. X.) by Dr. Edward L. 

 Greene, there are fifty-nine species. In this 

 paper, fifty-five of the species are described as 

 new. It is noteworthy that in framing names 

 for these species, the author has most com- 

 mendably not found it necessary, excepting in 

 one instance, to make use of the names of 

 persons. — Botanists may now read an official 

 account of the proceedings of the inter- 

 national botanical congress which took place 

 in Yienna in 1905. A committee, consisting 

 of Professors Wettstein and Wiesner, and 

 Doctor Zahlbruckner, has issued a thick octavo 

 pamphlet of 268 pages, entitled ' Yerhand- 

 lungen des Internationalen Botanischen Kon- 

 gresses in Wien, 1905 ' which gives the history 

 of the movement which culminated in the con- 

 gress, its personnel, the programs of the 

 sessions, the discussions, etc., and the result- 

 ing ' International Bules of Botanical Nomen- 

 clature.' The latter are given in French, 

 English and German. Along with the latter 

 is given the list of generic names ('nomina 

 conservanda ') which are to be retained, the 

 rule of priority to the contrary notwithstand- 

 ing. The pamphlet may be obtained from the 

 publisher (Gustav Fischer of Jena) for 12.50 

 Marks. — The same committee has issued a 

 similar but somewhat larger (452 pages) 

 pamphlet under the title of 'Resultats scien- 

 tifiques du Congres international de Botan- 

 ique Yienne 1905.' It is edited by Dr. J. P. 

 Lotsy, and is published also by Fischer (20 

 marks). It contains twenty-seven papers, 

 mostly in German (one in English) which 

 were presented during the scientific sessions 

 of the Yienna Botanical Congress in 1905. 

 The only paper by an American botanist is 

 one by Professor Doctor Arthur on the struc- 

 ture, development and classification of the 

 Uredineae. — A little book, issued three years 

 ago by the same German publisher entitled 

 * Dendrologische Winterstudien ' by C. K. 

 Schneider, should be of much value to stu- 

 dents of trees in these days when so many 

 are fitting themselves for work in forestry. 

 About sixty pages are given to the general 

 organography of trees, including their general 



