514 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXVII. No. 691 



structure of the wood in what is called 

 " birdseye maple." Looked at with a lens the 

 fibers of the wood are seen to bend out and 

 around the " eyes," and this gives the pecu- 

 liar effect. But why there is this bending 

 of the fibers is what has baffled solution. In 

 the " Notes from the Eoyal Botanic Garden 

 of Edinburgh " (No. XVI.) Dr. A. W. Borth- 

 wick publishes the results of some of his 

 studies of birdseye structure in various kinds 

 of wood. He reaches the conclusion that this 

 structure is due to the formation of adventi- 

 tious roots upon the stem, and that these arise 

 from abnormal medullary rays. In none of 

 the cases examined (with possibly one excep- 

 tion) were such roots due to mechanical in- 

 jury, or the attacks of fungi or insects. Dr. 

 Borthwick was not able to determine "the 

 conditions which govern the production of the 

 adventitious roots," but he is certain that 

 "moisture plays an important role in their 

 subsequent development, as it is only in the 

 moistest situation that they persist for any 

 time after they pierce the periderm." 



AN ENGLISH KEY TO THE SYLLOGE FUNGORUM 



Several years ago Professor Doctor 

 Clements, then of the University of Nebraska, 

 and now of the University of Minnesota, and 

 Mr. Eaymond J. Pool, now instructor in 

 botany in the University of Nebraska, under- 

 took the preparation of a key to the orders, 

 families and genera of fungi as found in 

 Saccardo's " Sylloge Fungorum." This was 

 typewritten, and used in the classes in mycol- 

 ogy in the University of Nebraska. Origi- 

 nally it included only the fungi of the first 

 eight, volumes of Saccardo, but it has now 

 been revised and enlarged so as to include the 

 Discomycetes of Abteilung III. (Kehm's) of 

 Eabenhorst's " Kryptogamen Flora." It in- 

 cludes also an index of families, which refers 

 to all of the volumes of Saccardo. At the 

 end of the volume (which covers 137 pages) 

 is added a " Lexicon Mycologicum " in which 

 are given the meanings of all the Latin words 

 used in the Sylloge. The practical value of 

 such a work as this to the student who is 

 troubled in his attempts at using the Latin 



keys and descriptions in the Sylloge is quite 

 obvious. Even for those who are fairly good 

 classical scholars it has proved useful in sav- 

 ing much time in doubtful translations. 



A few bound copies (typewritten) are still 

 obtainable for $2.85 postpaid, from the De- 

 partment of Botany of the University of 

 Nebraska. 



BOTANICAL CHARTS 



Under the title of " Tabulae Botanicae " 

 the Berlin publishers Gebriider Borntraeger 

 began two years ago the publication of a set 

 of botanical charts of marked excellence. 

 Now that seven charts have appeared it is 

 quite safe to estimate their value to teachers 

 of botany. The charts are of large size (1 

 by 1.5 meters), and the figures are so large 

 and so distinct that even in a large lecture 

 room they may be easily seen by students. 

 There is no crowding of the figures (one of 

 the common faults of obtanieal charts) and, 

 as a consequence, students are in no danger 

 of being confused in their study of the objects 

 represented. Another pleasing feature is the 

 fact that these are not copies of figures com- 

 monly found in botanical text-books. 



The first and second charts are devoted to 

 the Myxobacteriaceae, the third to the 

 Acrasieae, the fourth to the Myxomycetes, 

 the fifth to stomata, and the sixth and seventh 

 to the Mucorineae. The drawings (by E. 

 Erlich, of Berlin) are all accurately done, and 

 the coloring is most excellent. The editors 

 are Doctor E. Baur, and Doctor E. Jahn, of 

 Germany, in collaboration with Dr. A. F. 

 Blakeslee, of the United States, and A. Guil- 

 liermond, of France. The undertaking is thus 

 international, and accordingly the very help- 

 ful accompanying text is printed in the Ger- 

 man, English and French languages. The 

 high worth of these charts should insure their 

 wide sale, especially when it is known that the 

 price per chart when mounted on cloth, and 

 nailed to wooden strips, all ready for use, is 

 a little more than two dollars (eight and a 

 half Marks). They are by far the best 

 botanical charts for lecture-room use that we 

 have yet seen. 



