October 24, 1913] 



SCIENCE 



597 



and their completeness through the year. Con- 

 siderable attention is given to the matter of 

 " formations " and " associations," as is the 

 custom nowadays in works treating of distri- 

 bution ; it may be a question how far subdivision 

 should be carried in this matter, and whether 

 it is wise to refer to the " Nemalion associa- 

 tion," " Dasya association " and the like, to 

 indicate that a single species grows plentifully 

 in certain localities, without, as far as stated 

 by the author, admixture of any other plant. 

 While much attention is paid to the habitats 

 of the different species, favorable and un- 

 favorable conditions, epiphytes, etc., the word 

 " ecology " is generally conspicuous by its 

 absence; this is to the writer a good sign, as 

 authors who most enjoy using it seem often 

 to be persons with a distaste or contempt for 

 systematic botany, and the systematic botanist 

 has learned to be somewhat cautious in ac- 

 cepting the names used for the plants making 

 up their " associations," etc. The case is 

 stated very compactly in a footnote to a 

 recent paper by Tidestrom.' 



While there will always be differences of 

 opinion as to the limitations of species, etc., 

 the writer, who is fairly familiar with the New 

 England marine flora, has not found anything 

 to indicate an error in determination in Dr. 

 Davis's list. 



While this work is by far the most complete 

 study of the marine flora of any limited region 

 of this continent, it leaves plenty of questions 

 for further study. Among them the writer 

 would suggest as specially interesting lihe 

 matter of the different range in latitude on 

 the two sides of the Atlantic, of a species 

 occurring on both sides. The occurrence in 

 the Woods Hole region of many Mediterra- 

 nean species, but the absence of others asso- 

 ciated with them in Europe, was long ago 

 pointed out. While this is not taken up by 

 Dr. Davis, it would seem to the writer that it 

 may be due to the much greater range of tem- 

 perature at Woods Hole, as indicated by the 



'"Much argument ecological falls of its own 

 weight when the entities considered are not known 

 to the observers." Ivar Tidestrom, "Notes on 

 Vol. XV., p. 104, 1913. 



charts, etc.; a Mediterranean annual demand- 

 ing a high summer temperature, but passing 

 the winter in the spore state, would find no 

 difficulty in living here; while it would be im- 

 possible to acclimate an alga requiring a tem- 

 perature of at least 40° Fahr. throughout the 

 year. But some other cause must be found in 

 the case of a species like Hypnea musciformis, 

 abundant and luxuriant at Woods Hole, but 

 not reaching to the English Channel; while 

 Dictyota dichotoma, at its best on the English 

 coast, has not been found with us north of 

 North Carolina. 



Botanists who desire uniformity of nomen- 

 clature will be glad to see that the interna- 

 tional rules, as adopted at the Vienna Con- 

 gress of 1905, are here followed,^ and it is a 

 matter for congratulation that so careful and 

 thorough a work as Dr. Davis's has been 

 brought out in so good shape as a government 

 publication. 



Frank S. Collins 



North Eastham, Mass. 



A Bibliography of the Tunicata, H69-1910. 

 By John Hopkins, F.L.S., F.G.S., F.Z.S., 

 etc., Secretary of the Ray Society. Printed 

 for the Eay Society and sold by Dulau & 

 Co., Ltd., 37 Soho Square, London, West, 

 dated 1913. 



The author prepared a portion of this bibli- 

 ography, dealing with titles up to the year 

 1870, in connection with his preparation for 



' The results of the Brussels Congress of 1910 

 were not published at the time Dr. Davis's manu- 

 script was accepted by the government; under the 

 rule that the names of Nostocacese heteroeystese 

 and Nostocacese homocysteae date, respectively, 

 from the " Revision " of Bornet & Flahault, and 

 the " Monographie " of Gomont, a few names of 

 authors, given in parenthesis by Dr. Davis, would 

 be omitted, but no generic or specific names would 

 be changed. It is possible that under a strict 

 construction of the Vienna rules the name of Grif- 

 fithsia Bornetiana may have to be given up ; but 

 as the few writers who have proposed a substitute 

 use a name certainly unjustified by the same rules. 

 Dr. Davis has done well to retain, in company 

 with all other American algologists, the specific 

 name given by Farlow. 



