SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XVIII. No. 455. 



Sciences, Ph'ila., March 7, 1903) in his inter- 

 esting paper on ' The Development of Gonio- 

 7iema' first gives the authority of Agassiz 

 approving the correction, but in view of 

 the confusion that might arise I propose to 

 retain the name Gonionemus, originally given 

 the genus by Professor Agassiz, and would 

 like to urge that future writers use this form. 

 l. murbach. 

 Peteoit, ]\Iich. 



BOTANICAL NOTES. 

 MOSSES. 



Dr. a. J. Grout has just published ' Mosses 

 with Hand-Lens and Microscope, Part I.,' as 

 a quarto pamphlet of 86 pages. This is a 

 ' non-technical hand-book, of the more com- 

 mon mosses of northeastern United States,' 

 and is the outgrowth of ' Mosses with a Hand- 

 Lens,' published by the same aiithor a few 

 years ago. 



After a brief introduction, chapters are 

 given dealing with classification and nomen- 

 clature, collection and preservation, mounting 

 and methods of manipulation. The life his- 

 tory and structure of the moss plant are then 

 given in some detail. Since the peristome is 

 of considerable importance in indicating the 

 relationships of mosses, the discussion of its 

 structure is given due prominence in this sec- 

 tion. An illustrated glossary of bryological 

 terms constitutes a valuable feature of the 

 work. 



After listing the more imfiortant works on 

 mosses for American students, the author 

 takes up the systematic study of the more 

 common forms. The key to the families is 

 followed by the treatment of the Sphagnaceae, 

 Andreacea;, Georgiacese, Polytrichaces, Bux- 

 baumiaceffi, Fissidentaceas and Dicranaceas in 

 part, leaving the remainder of the twenty- 

 seven families recognized for treatment in 

 subsequent parts (four to five parts in all 

 will be issued). The classification adopted 

 does not deviate very much from that given in 

 Dixon and Jameson's ' Hand-book of British 

 Mosses.' In the matter of changes in nomen- 

 clature the author has been quite conservative. 



The work is illustrated with a considerable 

 number of figures in the text, besides ten full- 

 page plates. The fact that the latter are 

 reproductions from ' Eecherches sur Les 

 Mousses,' by Schimper, ' Bryologia Europea,' 

 and Sullivant's ' Icones Muscorum ' is suffi- 

 cient guarantee for their excellence. The 

 purpose of the work is best given in the words 

 of the author : ' To give by drawings and 

 descriptions the information necessary to en- 

 able any one interested to become acquainted 

 with the more common mosses with the least 

 possible outlay of time, patience and money,' 

 but we doubt if the author's prediction, 

 ' that it makes the mosses as easy to study as 

 the flowering plants,' will ever be realized. 

 The beginning student will find Dr. Grout's 

 publication a very valuable aid, and by those 

 who do not have the more exhaustive treatises 

 at their command" it will be especially prized. 



MORPHOLOGY OF ANGIOSPERMS. 



Students of morphology will welcome the 

 appearance of ' Morphology of Angiosperms,' 

 by Dr. J. M. Coulter and Dr. Chas. J. Cham- 

 berlain, from the press of D. Appleton & Co. 

 It is worthy of note that this work is not 

 issued as Part H. of the ' Morphology of 

 Spermatophytes,' as was the intention when 

 its companion volume dealing with the Gym- 

 nosperms was published in 1901. This may 

 be taken as a protest against considering the 

 S]5ermatophytes as a group coordinate with the 

 Pteridophytes. 



The present volume, to use the authors' 

 words, " Has grown out of a course of lectures 

 accompanied by laboratory work, given for 

 several successive years, to classes of graduate 

 students preparing for research. It seeks to 

 organize the vast amount of scattered ma- 

 terial so that it may be available in compact 

 and related form." After a brief introduction 

 the following sequence of chapters is taken up : 

 The flower, the microsporangium, the mega- 

 sporangium, the female gametophyte, the 

 male gametophyte, fertilization, the endo- 

 sperm, the embryo. The chapter on the micro- 

 sporangium ends with the formation of the 

 mother-cells, and with their division the his- 

 tory of the male gametophyte is entered. 



