Febeuary 21, 1902.] 



SCIENCE. 



307 



fresh-water formations, comprising the liygro- 

 phile forest, with its two types, the black gum 

 swamp and the juniper swamp, and the fresh- 

 water marsh formation, with the reed marsh 

 and the low-marsh types. The phytogeograph- 

 ical affinities of the flora are discussed at some 

 length, touching upon the position of the spe- 

 cies in the various vegetation zones. The 

 northern limit of Dismal Swamp species is 

 tabulated in an exhaustive manner. The 

 broader relationship of the flora receives some 

 attention also, a number of interesting com- 

 parisons being made. The agricultural prod- 

 ucts of the region are touched upon briefly, 

 special consideration being given to the in- 

 fluence of drainage and soil composition upon 

 the native and cultural vegetation. 



Anatomical notes upon the leaf structure of 

 a number of the most interesting species eco- 

 logically constitute a very important feature 

 of the work. The notes treat chiefly of the 

 adapted structures of the leaf, embracing a 

 brief description of the leaf, the epidermis, 

 mesophyll, mestome and sterepme. Much is 

 to be said in commendation of thorough his- 

 tological work of this sort, a field of investiga- 

 tion which must come to play an increasingly 

 important part in all comprehensive ecological 

 work. The text closes with a list of the plants 

 of the region, a bibliography of the books and 

 papers consulted, and a full index. 



Frederic E. Clements. 



University of Nebraska. 



Monographie der Termiten AfriJcas. By 

 Yngve Sjostedt. Kongl. Svenska Vetens- 

 kaps-Akademiens Handlingar, Vol. xxxiv., 

 No. 4, 1900 (received late in 1901). Pp. 236. 

 Plates IX. 



Africa, the classic land of Termites, has, in 

 recent years had its termitid fauna quite 

 thoroughly explored. New species have been 

 coming thick and fast from the pens of 

 Sjostedt, Wasmann, and Haviland; and now 

 the work is capped by an excellent monograph 

 from the hands of the Swedish student. 



The author has had at his disposal practi- 

 cally all of the available material, and with 

 great care has produced a work that will 

 always be the basis for the future study of 



African white ants. Descriptions are given of 

 82 species, arranged in six genera; and tables 

 are given for the determination of the species. 

 One of the notable features of the work is the 

 attention paid to biology. The habits of each 

 species, when known, are detailed at consider- 

 able length, and four of the plates represent 

 nests or parts of them. We are accustomed 

 to think of Termite nests as being pyramidal 

 in shape, but this applies only to certain 

 species of Termes; the nests of Euiernies 

 aurivilli and E. fungifaher, which are illus- 

 trated, are larger at the top than at the base, 

 and have the appearance of some gigantic 

 mushroom. The tree-nests of E. arhorum and 

 E. arhoricola are also figured, the former at- 

 tached to the twigs, the latter to the trunk of 

 a tree. Accounts are given of how the natives 

 collect certain species for eating, and of how 

 other species collect grass and leaves, and 

 conduct their mushroom gardens. Two 

 bibliographies are appended: One, a list of 

 papers on African termites; the other, a list 

 of termitid literature published since Hagen's 

 'Monograph of the Termites' in 1855. 



Nathan Banks. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 



The January number of the Botanical Ga- 

 zette (the first of Volume XXXIII.) opens 

 with an article on 'Binucleate Cells in Certain 

 Hymenomycetes,' by R. A. Harper, of the Uni- 

 versity of Wisconsin. Dr. Harper confirms 

 and extends the results of Maire, finding the 

 young cells of numerous Hymenomycetes to be 

 binucleate. On the basis of these and other 

 observations he then discusses the relationship 

 of the Basidiomycetes with the Ascomycetes, 

 controverting the conclusions of Massee, and 

 holding that "the widespread occurrence of 

 regularly binucleated cells in the Basidiomy- 

 cetes, with the additional evidence that these 

 cells reproduce by conjugate division and con- 

 stitute the reproductive series in each indi- 

 vidual through at least a considerable part of 

 its life-history, leading up to the formation of 

 basidia, while no such binucleated cells are 

 found in Ascomycetes, in either vegetative or 

 ascogenous hyphte, shows that the two groups 

 are widely separated phylogenetically. * * * 



