572 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XXXIV. No. 878 



PLANT PROTECTION 



Eecently there came to hand a little book 

 by Sorauer and Eorig under the title 

 " Pflanzenschutz," which should be duplicated 

 in this country. In about 200 pages the au- 

 thors tell how to recognize and combat vari- 

 ous injurious fungi and insects of commonly 

 grown plants. Fifty-eight text figures and 

 seven colored plates add to the usefulness of 

 the book for farmers and non-technical read- 

 ers. The book was issued by the German 

 Agricultural Society, which is a hint to our 

 similar societies. 



SHORT NOTES 



Among recent small books worthy of note is 

 Geddes and Thompson's "Evolution" (Holt), 

 which presents in about 250 duodecimo pages 

 a summary of the great features of the doc- 

 trine of descent. An enumeration of the 

 chapter headings will suffice to give the reader 

 a good idea of the scope of the little book. 

 These are (1) Evidences of Evolution from 

 Explorer and Palaeontologist; (2) Evidences 

 of Evolution from Anatomist, Embryologist 

 and Physiologist; (3) Great Steps in Evolu- 

 tion; (4) Variation and Heredity; (5) Selec- 

 tion; (6) Organism, Function and Environ- 

 ment; (7) Evolution theories in their Social 

 Origins and Inter-Actions; (8) The Evolu- 

 tion Process Once more Eeinterpreted ; Bibli- 



Mrs. Flynn's "Flora of Burlington and 

 Vicinity " will interest field botanists of the 

 older type. It includes the names of all the 

 vascular plants in the vicinity of Burlington, 

 Vermont, and is based upon specimens in the 

 herbarium of the University of Vermont. The 

 seventh edition of Gray's Manual is strictly 

 followed in matters of nomenclature. The 

 species admitted are 1,240, of which 962 are 

 strictly native, while 278 are foreign, but 

 " growing without cultivation." While dis- 

 tinctly old-fashioned, and not at all tinctured 

 with any ecological fads, the list will be a 

 handy one for botanists who wish to know 

 what species occur in the area covered. 



Among recent papers on Philippine botany 

 are C. B. Robinson's monograph of Philippine 

 Urticaceae, which appeared in the December 

 (1910) and February (1911) numbers of the 

 Philippine Journal of Science. It covers 

 somewhat more than a hundred pages and 

 includes generic and specific keys, with Latin 

 diagnoses of the new species. The total num- 

 ber of species included is stated to be 129, 

 distributed among 21 genera. 



In the June number of the Philippine Jour- 

 nal of Science C. B. Robinson contributes a 

 most interesting paper on " Philippine Hats," 

 dealing primarily with the materials used, and 

 secondarily with their manufacture. The 

 plants used include three ferns (species of 

 Lygodium), eight species of Pandanus, five 

 species of grasses, two sedges, six or more 

 species of palms, and one species each of 

 Musaceae, Marantaceae, Orchidaceae, Mo- 

 raceae, Leguminosae, Sierculiaceae and two 

 of Cucurhitaceae. 



In the same number of the Journal E. B. 

 Copeland makes a report upon a collection of 

 Papuan ferns received from Reverend Copland 

 King, of Ambasi, Papua. All told they num- 

 ber 171 species, representing 58 genera. Two 

 new species of Marattia are described. The 

 genera with considerable numbers of species 

 are: Lygodium (7), Trichomanes (11), Ey- 

 menophyllum (6), Dryopteris (16), Tectaria 

 (8), Athyrium (7), Asplenium (12), Pteris 

 (7), Polypodium (16). Forty-two new species 

 are described, and three new genera, all very 

 properly with Latin diagnoses, in accordance 

 with the Vienna Code. 



After a careful study of the testimony 

 Professor Dr. D. H. Campbell concludes {Am. 

 Nat., January, 1911) " that graft-hybrids are 

 possible." He bases his conclusions largely 

 upon the results reached by Professor Winkler 

 of Tubingen. It appears that when two plants 

 of different species are mechanically united, 

 as in grafting, this may result in a 

 " chimaera " (as though two vertical frag- 

 ments of the different stems with their leaves 

 were united longitudinally), or in a real 

 hybrid arising from a fusion of two somatic 



