August 12, 1898.] 



SCIENCE. 



195 



that future volumes of the authors will follow 

 English terminology more closely, since, with- 

 out regard to race prejudice, it appears vastly 

 superior to that of other languages. The lack 

 of a generally accepted precise terminology in 

 French and German appears to have led the 

 authors to attribute a similar indeiiniteness to 

 English terms wherein such defect does not ex- 

 ist. Thus, on page 81, they say: "Gewohnlich 

 wird in den englischen Biichern statt Impuls das 

 etwas farblos wort momentum benutzt ; die 

 Komponenten des Impulses heissen dan ' the 

 moments of momentum.' ( ! ) " 



R. S. W. 



An Illustrated Flora of the Northern United 

 States, Canada and the British Possessions, 

 from Newfoundland to the parallel of the 

 southern boundary of Virginia, and from the 

 Atlantic ocean westward to the 102d meridian. 

 By Nathaniel Lord Beitton, Ph.D., and 

 Hon. Addison Brown. Vol. III., Apocy- 

 naceae to Compositae ; Dogbane to Thistle. 

 New York, Charles Scribner's Sons. 1898. 

 Large 8vo. Pp. xiv + 588. 

 A little less than two years ago (August 22, 

 1896) the first copies of Volume I. of this im- 

 portant work were distributed ; less than a year 

 later (June 15, 1897) a copy of Volume II. 

 reached the writer ; now (July 5) the third and 

 last volume is at hand. When we bear in mind 

 that these three volumes include descriptions of 

 4,162 species, and that every one of these is 

 illustrated by outline drawings, one-half to 

 three-fourths natural size, with many additional 

 figures somewhat enlarged, we are able to 

 realize the great amount of labor Involved in 

 their preparation and publication. The authors 

 and publishers are to be congratulated upon 

 such prompt completion of this work, whose 

 value is greatly increased by the fact that so 

 short a time has elapsed between the appear- 

 ance of its volumes. 



It is not necessary here to speak of the pecu- 

 liarities of these volumes, since every working 

 botanist in this country is familiar with them. 

 The modern nomenclature, following the famous 

 ' Rochester Rules,' and the modern sequence of 

 families, following the system of Engler and 

 Prantl, distinguish this from every other syste- 



matic work on the plants of North America. 

 It follows that those who do not like the 

 Rochester Rules will not like this book, nor 

 will those who persistently adhere to the 

 Candollean sequence of families. However, 

 it is inevitable that one result of its publication 

 will be that the number of those actively oppos- 

 ing these modern features will rapidly grow 

 less. It will soon be much easier to follow the 

 modern innovations along the plain highway 

 here made than to continue in the less and less 

 frequented paths of the conservatives. 



The General Key to the Orders and Families 

 will be helpful, not only as a key, but also as 

 affording a synoptical view of the sy.stem 

 adopted. While necessarily keys are all much 

 alike, this one shows in many ways the influ- 

 ence of the modern ideas in regard to plants. 

 Here and there a slip occurs, and now and then 

 there is a patch of old cloth used in the new 

 garment. But these are to be expected, and 

 they are not serious blemishes. In a second 

 edition, for example, we may have a correction 

 on page viii of the statement which makes em- 

 bryo-sac synonymous with macrospore, and of 

 the description of the leaves of Isoetacae as 

 'tubular.' 



Having accomplished so good a work the au- 

 thors now owe it to the botanical public to bring 

 out a small, thin-paper edition, without illustra- 

 tions, so that all the descriptions may be brought 

 within the limits of a small book. If the pub- 

 lishers will then give it a flexible binding, with 

 narrow page margins, they will make a most 

 useful book, which will be a fine adjunct to the 

 fine large three-volume edition now before us. 

 Chaeles E. Bessey. 



The Univeesity of Nebraska. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS. 

 The contents of the American Journal of 

 Science for August are as follows : ' Jurassic 

 Formation on the Atlantic Coast — Supple- 

 ment ;' By O. C. Maesh. ' Mineralogical 

 Notes :' By C. H. Waeren. ' Origin and 

 Significance of Spines — A Study in Evolution :' 

 By C. E. Beechee. ' Prehistoric Fauna 

 of Block Island, as indicated by its .An- 

 cient Shell- Heaps:' By G. F. Eaton. 



