262 



the characteristics of the parent plant"; that (in the light of 

 recent work by Pond and others) solution is given (p. 359) as 

 one of the ways by which branch roots make their way through 

 the cortex; that Plateau's experiments (of really popular aspect) 

 are ignored in discussing the significance of flower color in pollina- 

 tion by insects; and that the statolith hypothesis is treated (p. 

 248) as a generally accepted, correct explanation of geotropism. 



Natural selection is still held (p. 409) to explain "very per- 

 fectly" the origin of new species; in fact, in the light of the Die 

 Mutationstheorie, and all the work that has followed from it, this 

 statement and the first half of page 411 read almost like ana- 

 chronisms. 



To list the good points of the book not previously mentioned 



would require more space than has already been occupied. The 



endeavor on the part of professional scientific men to popularize 



their work; to prepare for the layman a readable account of the 



present status of their science, equally free from unnecessary 



technicalities, and from statements exaggerated, distorted, or 



otherwise misleading in the attempt to simplify, and to invest 



the subject with interest which it is supposed otherwise to lack, 



is a labor very much worth while, and too frequently left to 



tyros. One conspicuous value of the book under review is that 



it acquaints the reader, not only with the results of botanical 



study, but also with the methods of thought and work by which 



such knowledge is ascertained. It is unfortunate that the book 



is much too heavy to be held comfortably in the hands while 



reading. /- c r- 



^ C. Stuart Gager 



NEWS ITEMS 



During Dr. D. T. MacDougal's trip through the Sudan and 

 the Egyptian Desert in January and February, 1912, a consider- 

 able collection of herbarium specimens was made and later 

 submitted to Dr. A. B. Rendle and other members of the staff of 

 the department of botany of the British Museum of Natural 

 History. The collection is enumerated by Dr. Rendle in the 



