474 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XXIII. No. 58b. 



ranged so as to illustrate the vegetative fonna- 

 tions of the Pike's Peak region of Colorado. 

 Every set was promptly taken, showing that 

 there is a demand among botanists for some- 

 thing more than the old-time collections of 

 mere specimens. This fact has encouraged the 

 authors to begin the publication of a similar 

 set of lower plants, under the title of ' Crypto- 

 gamae Formationum Coloradensium,' cen- 

 turies I. and H. of which were issued to sub- 

 scribers some months ago. This is apparently 

 the first serious attempt to treat adequately 

 with respect to their ecological relations the 

 lower plants (cryptogams) of a particular re- 

 gion. The centuries thus far issued include 

 of Pyrenomyceteae 50 sheets; Fungi Imper- 

 fecti, 19; Discomyceteae, 62 (23 'lichens'); 

 TTredineae and Ustilagineae, 24; Basidiomyce- 

 teae, 39; and Musci, 6. Three new genera 

 and twelve new species are represented. With 

 the specimens are forty photographs, consist- 

 ing of plant portraits, and views of fungus 

 and moss communities. 



RECENT BOTANICAL BULLETINS. 



AsioNG the recent botanical bulletins may 

 be noticed Kellerman and Robinson's ' Inocula- 

 tion of Legumes ' (Farmers' Bulletin No. 240, 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture), in which 

 directions are given for the practical use of 

 cultures of nitrogen-fixing bacteria. The 

 conditions under which soil inoculation is de- 

 sirable or undesirable are clearly set forth for 

 the guidance of the farmer. — The ' Wild 

 Medicinal Plants of the United States ' are 

 brought together in a useful annotated alpha- 

 betical list by Alice Henkel (in Bulletin No. 

 89, of the Bureau of Plant Industry). Brief 

 descriptions are given, with the range of each 

 species, the scientific and common names, and 

 the family to which each belongs. — The same 

 author discusses ' Peppermint ' in Pt. III. of 

 Bulletin No. 90 of the Bureau of Plant In- 

 dustry, and Albert C. Crawford, ' The 

 Poisonous Action of Johnson Grass' {Sorghvm 

 halapense) in Pt. IV. of the same bulletin. 

 Apparently this grass must now be added to 

 the already considerable number of plants 

 which produce hydrocyanic acid in poisonous 

 quantities imder certain conditions. — In Cir- 



cular No. 36 of the Forest Service, Giiford 

 Pinchot tells what the service is, and how it 

 deals with forest problems. Its perusal will 

 no doubt be quite enlightening to many people. 

 — Suggestive and helpful are Chapman's 

 ' Working Plan for Forest Lands in Berkeley 

 County, South Carolina' (Bull. No. 56), and 

 Clothier's ' Advice for Forest Planters in 

 Oklahoma and Adjacent Regions ' (Bull. No. 



65) in which photographs and maps help the 

 carefully written text. — Of more direct inter- 

 est to the botanist, is Kellogg's ' Forest Belts 

 of Western Kansas and Nebraska ' (Bull. No. 



66) in which he discusses the distribiition and 

 natural extension of the forest belts in these 

 two states on the great plains. — In the Report 

 of the Experiment Station Committee of the 

 Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association, for the 

 year 1905, a considerable amount of space is 

 given to the newly established division of 

 pathology and physiology, to the directorship 

 of which Dr. N. A. Cobb (of New South 

 Wales) was called less than a year ago. The 

 laboratory with some of its peculiar apparatus 

 and mountings is described, and a program of 

 the work to be undertaken is given with some 

 detail. With such an outfit, and apparently 

 with ample funds, we may look for good work 

 from Dr. Cobb and his corps of assistants. 



THE KEW PUBLICATIONS. 



In the last Bulletin of Miscellaneous In- 

 formation (No. 1, 1905) of the Royal Botanic 

 Gardens of Kew, is given a ' select list ' of the 

 works prepared by members of the staff or in 

 collaboration with such members. About eighty 

 titles are cited, ranging from such serials as 

 Curtis' s Botanical Magazine, and the Annals 

 of Botany, to the standard works like Flora 

 Australiensis (7 vols.), Biologia Centrali- 

 Americana (5 vols.). Genera Plantarum (3 

 vols.), Sachs's Text-Booh of Botany, and 

 finally to thin pamphlet hand-lists and guide 

 books. It is a most useful and instructive 

 list, especially to botanists who are trying to 

 fill their libraries with desirable books. In- 

 cidentally it will serve to show what a center 

 of botanical activity these gardens have been 

 during the past forty or fifty years. A very 



