860 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XI. No. 283. 



of dealers. But the editors have done some- 

 thing with them, and they have handled the 

 more lasting forms with a rather surprising ful- 

 ness of treatment. 



Nomenclature, which is a source of some con- 

 cern and more confusion to botanists, has been 

 conformed, more or less consistently, to the 

 more conservative horticultural and botanical 

 views. It could not give satisfaction in any 

 case, and it has at least the merit of simplicity 

 as it has been handled. 



In a word, whatever one would most reason- 

 ably look for in a Cyclopedia of American Hor- 

 ticulture, is to be found in Professor Bailey's 

 book. While good things may have been 

 omitted from it, the present reviewer has not 

 found bad things that have been introduced into 

 it ; and it is worthy of a place where not only 

 gardeners and botanists, but school-children 

 may see it daily. 



Wm. Teelease. 



La nature tropicale. By J. Constantin. Paris, 

 Felix Alcan, Ed. Pp. 315, figs. 166. 1899. 

 The first chapter of this book is chiefly com- 

 prised of selections from the expressions of 

 various naturalists on their first encounter 

 with the forests and jungles of the tropics, and 

 the second analyzes the principle factors in the 

 equatorial climate. Succeeding chapters are 

 devoted to trees and their architecture, foliage, 

 periodicity, flowers and fruits, the tropical 

 forest in previous geological epochs, climbers 

 of all kinds, parasites and parasitic action of 

 flowers, saprophytes and epiphytes, co-opera- 

 tion of ants, influence of the sea, the mangrove, 

 the flora of islands and the final chapter is a 

 singular mixture of fanciful conceptions relative 

 to the earlier history of the earth and the cos- 

 mos, with enough of an admixture of mythology 

 and tradition to endear it to readers of tender 

 years. The general style of the book is not 

 unpleasant, and although most of it might have 

 been written a decade since, yet some recent 

 results have crept into the discussions, espec- 

 ially in regard to the more sensational discover- 

 ies in botany. A table of contents placed at 

 the end of the book does not redeem the lack of 

 a suitable index. 



D. T. MacDougal. 



Fossil Flora of the Lower Coal Measures of Mis- 

 souri. By David "White. Monographs of 

 the United States Geological Survey, Vol. 

 XXXVII. Washington. 1899. 4to, cloth. 

 Pp. 467 ; pis. 73. 



This work is based upon material collected 

 by Dr. J. H. Britts and by geologists of the 

 Missouri and United States Geological Surveys, 

 in Heury county, Missouri. 



It may be regarded from either the point of 

 view of the geologist or from that of the paleon- 

 tologist, but it is essentially a contribution to 

 paleo-botany in which the facts are utilized for 

 purposes of correlation and comparison between 

 the coals of Missouri and those of the Eastern 

 United States and Europe. 



The species enumerated are 124. Of these 

 10 are gymnosperms, 1 (Palaeoxyria) is classed 

 provisionally under ' Animalia ? ' and the re- 

 mainder are cryptogams, most of them pre- 

 viously described. The discussion and table of 

 synonomy under each genus and species is ex- 

 ceedingly full and a number of changes in no- 

 menclature are made in order to bring it into 

 harmony with modern ideas on the subject. 

 The systematic arrangement is in accordance 

 with the botanical aflinities and sequence of the 

 species and families. 



Several innovations may be noted in the mat- 

 ter of illustrations. The figures are mainly re- 

 productions of photographs of the rock contain- 

 ing the species, accompanied by drawings of 

 portions of the species in which details of out- 

 line, nervation or fructification, etc., are shown. 

 This method gives a good general idea of the 

 actual appearance of each specimen as a whole 

 together with the particular features which re- 

 quire emphasis, but such plates are not equal, 

 for purposes of exact study, to reproductions 

 from carefully made drawings, as may be seen 

 by a comparison between Plates XL. and XLI. 

 Another innovation which has produced excel- 

 lent results is in the line of enlarged photo- 

 graphic reproduction, an example of which may 

 be seen on Plate LI. 



In the final discussion of the flora there are 

 tables of distribution, for purposes of compari- 

 son with other coal floras and the conclusion 

 is reached that the stratigraphic position of the 

 Henry county coals is subsequent to the lower 



