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complete, the depths of the sea surrouiuhng it so great, that there 

 has been a long continuing opportunity for the fixing of types 

 and the preservation, sometimes almost unchanged from the 

 earliest geological times, of ancient forms of vegetation. From 

 Gaudichaud who wrote in 1826, to Wallace, Guppy, Campbell, 

 and the author of the present volume, this endemic nature of 

 a large part of the flora of the islands, has always been among the 

 chief interests in their studies. That these few little dots in the 

 limitless expanse of the Pacific should contain plants found no- 

 where else in the world, and such curious plants, has almost 

 dramatic significance in the general scheme of plant distribution 

 in that quarter of the earth. 



Mr. Joseph H. Rock, who has studied for years the species 

 and varieties of what he calls the tribe Lobelioideae of the Cam- 

 panulaceae, has written a monographic quarto volume on these 

 plants that clears up many points of identity which no doubt, 

 have bothered some insular and continental botanists. Such 

 a study, involving comparison with the types, of which there 

 are photographs; delving in the literature, for which there is 

 a bibliography; and settling specific and generic limits, for which, 

 of course, there are keys, must be thorough to be really useful. 

 Those who study the present volume can well understand that 

 these features of the book have been prepared with great care 

 and attention to details. Perhaps such a scholarly work will 

 come as a surprise to those who have noted with not very envious 

 astonishment the effects, no doubt, of the exuberant climate of 

 these islands upon recent botanical production in Hawaii. 



Nearly one hundred pages are taken up with a discussion of 

 the affinities of the Lobelioideae of Hawaii with those of their 

 nearest relatives, which, in many cases, are geographically remote. 

 The baccate genera, Clermontia, Cyanea, Delissea and RoUandia 

 of American affinity, and the capsular genera Lobelia, Tremato- 

 lobelia and Brighamia, all woody plants except the latter, com- 

 prise the tribe which is synonymous with the family Lobeliaceae, 

 in the islands. These seven genera contain 149 species and 

 varieties, the genus Cyanea being larger than all the others com- 

 bined. It is of interest then that Mr. Rock considers this still 



