1 56 



SCIEXCE-GOSSIP. 



Missouri Botanical Garden. Sixth Annual Report, 

 1895. Edited by William Trelease. 134 pp. 

 royal 8vo, with 62 fnll-page plates. (St. Louis, 

 Mo., and London : W. Wesley and Son.) 



This year's report of the Missouri Botanical 

 Garden at St. Louis is a handsome volume, which 

 is improved by the omission of the annual flower 

 sermon and reports of the two banquets. The 

 scientific papers include a revision of the North 

 American species of Saggiltaria and Lophotocarpus, 

 by Jared G. Smith. It is illustrated by twentv- 

 nine plates of species, varieties being added The 

 letterpress of this useful monograph extends to 

 thirty-eight pages, treating over forty species and 

 many varieties. Among the plates are half a dozen 



the means by which that result has been brought 

 about. . . . The object of this work is to show 

 that natural selection has no place in the world 

 of nature." The book is well worth reading, even 

 if we do not agree with all the author's arguments. 

 There is, however, a considerable amount of special 

 pleading in its pages. There is every evidence of 

 much research, and a wide range of books that 

 have been annotated with the object in view 



T::-Eits Guide to London. 140 pp. 8vo, with 

 illustrations. (London : George Newnes, Limited, 

 1895.) Price 6d. 



This is a handy little Guide for strangers visiting 

 the metropolis. It is arranged in daily excursions 



Yodbg Coots. 

 From " Country Pastimes for Boys." 



views from the gardens, the frontispiece " Among 

 the Willows" being especially successful. The 

 scientific papers are also published separately. 



Nature versus National Selection : An Essay on 

 Organic Evolution. By Charles Clement Coe. 

 220 pp. royal 8vo. (London : Swan Sonnenschein 

 and Co., 1895.) Price ios. 6d. 



This book has been evidently a great undertaking 

 on the part of Mr. Coe. We will, however, quote 

 the author's own words as to the intentions of the 

 work, and leave to our readers the task of forming 

 their own opinions upon his arguments. In his 

 preface he says : " The author believes that the pro- 

 cess of organic evolution has taken place, but he 

 does not believe that natural selection has been 



from each of the great railway stations. There is 

 a list of the museums, and regulations for admis- 

 sion, from which we regret to see one of the hand- 

 somest and most central omitted, namely, the 

 Geological Museum, in Jermyn Street. 



A Handbook of the British Macro-Lepidoptera . By 

 Bertram Geo. Rye, F.E.S., with hand-coloured 

 illustrations by Maud Horman-Fisher. Vol. i. 

 part 3 ; 8 pp. large 8vo, with two coloured plates. 

 (London : Ward and Foxlow.) Price 2s. 6d. 



We are pleased to find that the parts of this work 

 are to be more frequently issued, and it will appear 

 at intervals of two months. The species dealt with 

 are Euchloe cardamines, Leucophasia situpis. Colias 

 hyale and C. edusa. 



