January 27, 1893.] 



SCIENCE, 



other mammals, enables training of a progressive nature in succeed- 

 ing generations, and whether this lengthened immaturity is a re- 

 sult, or cause, or both, it is a great advantage. W6 may be jus- 

 tified in regarding the immaturity as prolonged beyond that of 

 other mamtuals rather than that man's longevity is proportionate- 

 ly less. S. v. Clevenger. 



Chicago, 111. 



BOOK-REVIEWS. 



Hmxlbook of Aiistralian Fungi. By M. C. CoOKE. Lomion, 1892. 

 458 p.' 36 pi. 



Select Extra- Tropical Plants, Beadily Eligihhfor Industrial Culture 

 or Naturalization. By Baeon Feed, von Mueller. 8th Edi- 

 tion. Melbourne, 1891. 595 p. 



He who nowadays would keep posted in regard to the progress 

 of science must frequently turn to the southern hemisphere. In 

 South America, in South Africa, and in Australia the devotees of 

 science have been and are working. The recent organization of 

 an Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science is an 

 effort toward a union of scientific men such as already exists in 

 North America, England, France, and Germany; and it will do 

 much toward unifying the work of the numerous scietitific bodies 

 that have long existed in the various colonies. The vast extent 

 of territory and the distances between the capitals of the several 

 colooies is paralled only by our own country, but here we have 

 the advantage of a greater net work of railways and more rapid 

 means of communication. From Hobart, the capital of Tasmania, 

 to Christchurch, New Zealand, where the meeting of the Associa- 

 tion was held in 1891, the distance is about 1,000 miles. From 

 Sydney, iu New South Wales, it is over 1,300 miles; from Ade- 

 laide, in South Australia, the distance is over 3,000 miles; while 

 it is even further than this from Brisbane, in Queensland. .411 of 

 these places are included in the comprehensive Australasian Asso- 

 ciation. 



To enumerate the scientific societies in Australia would require 

 considerable space. We cannot, however, forbear alluding to 

 some of the more important, as shown by their publications. 

 There is, for example, the Royal Society of New South Wales, 

 that has issued 24 volumes of proceedings ; the Royal Society of 

 "Victoria, and the New Zealand Institute, also each with 24 vol- 

 omes; the Linnsean Society of New South Wales, with 6 volumes; 

 the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science, 3 

 volumes, and the Royal Society of Tasmania, that has been pub- 

 lishing since 1863. Besides these there are innumerable irriga- 

 tion, engineering, mining, and geological reports published by 

 the governments of the several colonies. The agricultural side is 

 represented by reports of the secretaries for agriculture of Queens- 

 land, New South Wales, etc., and by the grand publications of 

 Mueller on the Eucalypts, and the well-edited agricultural journal 

 of New South Wales. To mention all the official publications 

 would be a task too great to be undertaken here. But from what 

 has already been said, it must be manifest that the Australian 

 colonies are not one whit behind the rest of the civilized world in 

 their contributions to scientific and practical literature. 



There is, of course, a reason for this activity. The country is 

 new, and is full of wonderful birds and animals and plants ; and 

 the men who left behind them in Europe an exhausted field, as 

 far as novelties in science go, find in the colonies a virgin field. 

 The vegetation, the animal life is so different from that of the 

 northern hemisphere that we may look forward for years to come 

 for additions to our knowledge of the productions of the wonder- 

 ful island. 



Two books that have lately been added to botanical literature 

 from Australia are those mentioned at the head of this article. 

 Both are from veterans in their respective fields, one a cryptog- 

 amist, the other a phanerogamist. Both have a world-wide repu- 

 tation, and both have exceeded the three-score and ten years of 

 allotted human life and are yet active workers. Although here 

 brought into conjunction, the men themselves are residents of 

 opposite sides of the globe. The names of Dr. M. C. Cooke and 



Baron Ferd. von Mueller must live as long as the science of botany 

 exists. Students of science are grateful that they have been 

 spared long enough to give them two such valuable works. 



The " Handbook of Australian Fungi" is a compilation of the 

 descriptions of these plants that have at various times been pub- 

 lished in widely-scattered volumes. The work was undertaken 

 at the request of the Australian colonies, and is published under 

 their authority. A limited edition only has been ijnnted, some 

 500 copies, and the major part of it has gone to Australia. The 

 total number of species given in the volume is 2.087, exclusive of 

 varieties. This, in comparison with the total number of species 

 recorded by Saccardo, some 36,000, seems small when the extent 

 of country covered is considered. But it is of course very im- 

 probable that all the Australasian forms have been described. 

 Indeed, scarcely a month passes but some new forms are recorded, 

 and it is probable that they will continue to be sent m for many 

 years to come. 



The largest order represented is Hymenomycetes, with 1,178 

 species, more than half the total number recorded. This is proba- 

 bly due to the fact that the species are large, or at least conspic- 

 uous, and are therefore collected. Another order, however, also 

 with conspicuous members, the Gastromycetes, is exceptionally 

 well represented, as there are 174 species out of a total known 

 from the whole world of 650 species. Among the interesting 

 species of this family we note Podaxis indica, a plant bearing a 

 surprising outward resemblance to Copriniis cornatus, but of 

 course with a very distinct internal structure. There is also 

 Xylopodium ochroleucum, with a long stalk and a peridium 

 marked with numerous angular projections. 



The occurrence of a number of species m the two islands of 

 Ceylon and Australia is noted as a curious fact in geographical 

 distribution. The flora in general and the fauna as a w-hole is 

 so distinct in these two countries that it is difficult to account for 

 this fact. It is true that plants in many cases seem to overstep 

 the bounds that have been assigned to them by botanists, and do 

 not appear to follow the ordinary laws of distribution. Especially 

 is this true of ferns and fungi, two classes having spores so minute 

 as to be capable of transportation long distances through the air 

 by winds. Some species thus become cosmopolitan, but at present 

 we cannot account for finding some species of such conspicuous 

 genera as Lepiota, Hymen ochcete, Stereum aseroe, etc., only in 

 Ceylon and Australia. It is of course possible that when the in- 

 tervening islands of New Guinea, Java, Borneo, Celebes, Sumatra, 

 and other smaller ones of the Malay archipelago are explored, 

 that the same species may^be found there. That would do away 

 with the anomaly. Comparing the flora with that of Europe. Dr. 

 Cooke finds that 332 of the Hymenomycetes are exclusively 

 Australian, 473 are also found in Europe, and 370 are common to 

 Australia and some other country. Of the Gastromycetes only 

 31 out of 178 species are European. 



In the introduction Dr. Cooke gives condensed accounts of the 

 principal groups, with tables of the genera. This, while not 

 claimed to be complete in any sense, cannot but be of assistance 

 to the student. The species vvill have to be identified from the 

 descriptions. This is to some extent facilitated by the plates. 

 Of the 36, 20 are colored, and on them are given 377 figures. A 

 list of the authorities cited, and a full index are valuable portions 

 of the book. The descriptions of the plates would have been 

 more convenient for reference had the page where each species is 

 described been given. 



The second one of our titles is a new edition of an old book, 

 but it is such a valuable book that it deserves to have general 

 attention called to it. The early editions being exhausted, and 

 there being much new matter in hand, the government of Vic- 

 toria publishes this volume. To give an adequate idea of its con- 

 tents would be to index it. We can only refer in a general way 

 to its contents and perhaps mention a few of the more important 

 and interesting facts presented. We have also been struck with 

 Baron Mueller's remarks in both preface and postscript. In the 

 former, after reviewing in a general way the contents of the vol- 

 ume, and mentioning the various editions of it that have appeared 

 from time to time, he says : — 



"The fact that this work through successive editions and ex- 



