324 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVI. No. 662 



is significant that the author entirely omitted 

 all of the hawthorns (Crataegus), apparently 

 regarding the task of disentangling them as 

 quite hopeless. Localities are given, and 

 many notes are quoted from various state re- 

 ports. Twenty-five of the species are illus- 

 trated hy cuts borrowed from Sargent's " Man- 

 ual of the Trees of North America." 



THE GENUS CRATAEGUS IN AMERICA 



Under this title, in the August number of 

 the Journal of Botany, Professor Sargent 

 publishes an interesting statement in regard 

 to the new species of Crataegus (hawthorns), 

 in which he refers to the small number known 

 to Torrey and Gray (about fourteen), and 

 says that some years ago it was noticed that 

 trees grown from seeds from different parts 

 of the country differed from the recorded de- 

 scriptions in certain particulars. From this 

 came a careful study of the genus in several 

 states, the result being that about " five hun- 

 dred species " have been described in the last 

 eight years. " It is not surprising," he says, 

 " that botanists, looking at the genus through 

 the eyes of Torrey and Gray, or reaching their 

 conclusions from the study of the scanty and 

 generally incomplete material found in her- 

 baria, have regarded the makers of all these 

 species with pity, and have tried to throw 

 ridicule on this investigation and its results." 

 We are assured, however, that to those persons 

 who engage in a study of these plants in the 

 field " the fact is soon apparent that the genus 

 contains many very distinct forms, whether 

 these are to be called species or not." 



Following this is a discussion of the groups 

 (20) into which the species naturally fall, 

 with botes on their geographical distribution. 

 The study of the genus, as every one knows 

 who has done anything with the species, is 

 beset by many difficulties. Flowering speci- 

 mens must be collected in the spring and 

 fruiting specimens in the autumn, and since 

 in many cases the trees look much alike, they 

 must be marked carefully in order to avoid 

 mistakes. After this must come the test 

 through cultivation, of which a beginning has 

 been made. On the grounds of the Arnold 



Arboretum nearly twenty-five hundred lots of 

 Crataegus seeds have been planted, so that 

 comparisons may be made of the seedlings 

 with the trees from which they were derived 

 in order " to determine the value of the field- 

 work which has been done in this genus." 



That the end is not yet in the matter of new 

 species is evident from this sentence : " In 

 every township of half a dozen states it is 

 more than probable that forms exist which 

 differ from those that have already been de- 

 scribed, and many years will be needed to 

 elucidate the characters and distribution of 

 the genus in this country." 



PHILIPPINE BOTANY 



In the Philippine Journal of Science, under 

 its new management, whereby the botanical 

 articles constitute a separate series, there have 

 appeared three numbers, namely, those for 

 January, April and June. These have in- 

 cluded articles as follows : " The Comparative 

 Ecology of the San Ramon Polypodiaceae," 

 by E. B. Copeland ; " The Cyperaceae of the 

 Philippines," by C. B. Clarke; "The Occur- 

 rence of Antiaris in the Philippines," by E. 

 D. Merrill ; " Philippine Myxogastres," by 

 George Massee ; " Cihotium haranetz and re- 

 lated Forms," by H. Christ; " Pteridophyta 

 Halconenses," by E. B. Copeland ; " Spicil- 

 igium filicum Philippinensium," by H. Christ; 

 " The Philippine Species of Dryopteris," by 

 H. Christ; "Notes on Philippine Pahns, I.," 

 by O. Beceari ; " Index to Philippine Botan- 

 ical Literature," by E. D. Merrill. The last- 

 named paper is mainly an index to recent lit- 

 erature, and is quite evidently supplementary 

 to Tavera's " Biblioteca Filipina," published 

 in 1903 by the Library of Congress. 



Charles E. Bessey 



The Univeesitt of Nebraska 



EXPEDITIONS OF THE BERLIN ETHNO- 

 GRAPHICAL MUSEUM 



The Ethnographical Museum of Berlin is 

 organizing a number of important expedi- 

 tions. Dr. Czekanowsky is going to visit the 

 region of the Victoria Nyanza for the purpose 

 of investigating the pygmy tribes of that area. 



