I04 



SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



NOTICES BY JOHN T. CARRINGTON. 



The Student's Handbook of Bvitish Mosses. By 

 H. N. Dixon, M.A., F.L.S., with illustrations, and 

 Keys to the Genera and Species by H. G. Jameson, 

 M.A., pp. xlvi and 520 royal 8vo, and 60 plates. 

 (Eastbourne : V. T. Sumfield, London : John 

 Wheldon and Co., 1896). Price iSs. 6d. 

 ^7Bryologists will rejoice at the issue of this fine 

 v/ork ; botanists who have toyed with mosses have 

 now no longer the 

 excuse of diffi- 

 culty of studying 

 the British Moss 

 Flora, on account 

 of the absence of 

 suitable litera- 

 ture, and begin- 

 ners have an 

 excellent guide. 

 Those who de- 

 pend on illustra- 

 tions for identify- 

 ing species will 

 find the study of 

 mosses made 

 easy, for there 

 are no less than 

 684 figures, some 

 containing up to 

 eight or ten draw- 

 ings, charmingly 

 executed by the 

 Rev. Mr. Jame- 

 son. Our Moss 

 Flora now enu- 

 merates about six 

 hundred species, 

 many of which 

 have lately been 

 added. It will 

 therefore be seen 



that such a book as this was much wanted for that 

 reason, and especially as the larger works now in 

 existence on the subject are far more expensive. 

 Of the smaller they are either out of date, 

 or else, though giving much valuable information, 

 do not carry the student far enough as he advances. 

 In a sixteen-page introduction, Mr. Dixon 

 gives a history of mosses under the headings 

 "General Characteristics," "Vegetative Organs," 

 "Reproductive Organs" and "Classification and 

 Nomenclature." There is also a full glossary and 

 instructions for taking microscopic measurements. 

 Mr. Jameson's Key to the Genera will be found 

 indispensable when once mastered. It occupies 

 fourteen pages. The descriptions of species are 

 lucid, and general information with each most 

 useful. The classification is based on Schimper's 

 " Synopsis Muscorum Europseorum," with such 

 additions as are rendered necessary through 

 modern knowledge. This has, of course, made 

 some changes in arrangement, especially in the 

 the separation of the Grimmiaceae from the 



Tarantula Spider. 

 (From Warne's " Royal Natural History.") 



Orthotrichacese and their removal to the 

 Aplolepideae, and a few such changes in other 

 groups. These make no difference in the 

 general arrangement now adopted. The changes 

 in nomenclature of species are fortunately not 

 too many, on which we congratulate the moss-men, 

 though no complete synonomy is given where 

 changes have been made, reference is made to the 

 more familiar names beginners have learned when 

 working with other manuals. The localities given 

 are general rather than special, excepting in cases 

 of rare species, and then the list is as complete as 

 possible. One feature of the work is perhaps rather 

 dangerous, and that is the number of sub-species 

 referred to ; we never know where this sub-division 

 may end ; still Mr. Dixon seems to have done this 

 part of his work with care and full criticism. As 

 we have said the plates are admirable. The book 

 is well printed, though, even at the cost of making 

 two volumes, it would have been better to have 



used a little 

 stronger paper, 

 for this is a work 

 which will have to 

 stand much wear. 



The Collector's 

 Manual of British 

 Land and Fresh- 

 water Shells. By 

 Lionel Ernest 

 Adams, B. A. 214 

 pp. 8vo, second 

 edition, with 9 

 coloured and 2 

 plain plates, also 

 other illustra- 

 tions. (Leeds : 

 Taylor Brothers, 

 1896.) Price 8s. 

 plain ; los. 6d. 

 coloured plates, 

 Postage 5d. net. 



That Mr. 

 Adams' well- 

 known work on 

 our native in- 

 land shells has 

 gone into a second 

 edition is most en- 

 couraging. This 

 is the more grati- 

 fying because the author, to bring it abreast with 

 the times, has nearly re-v/ritten many of the pages. 

 As a beginner's book it is not possible to recom- 

 mend a better, but in doing so we would suggest 

 that the small extra price should be paid for the 

 coloured plates, which are in this edition distinctly 

 improved. As a rule they aie all that can be desired 

 and reflect much credit on the printer. A repro- 

 duced photograph by Mr. J. Wetherall, of the four 

 smaller Pisidia, makes an admirable frontispiece to 

 the book. Every species is represented by figures 

 and descriptions, with particulars of their habits 

 and localities ; numerous named varieties are also 

 noticed, this rather on the principle that those who 

 do not like them may leave them. There is also in- 

 cluded the Conchological Society's census of comital 

 distribution. The illustrations are by Messrs. 

 Gerald W. Adams, Alfred Sich and the author. 

 The coloured plates are by Taylor Brothers, of 

 Leeds, and are most successfully executed. 

 The nomenclature is that of the Conchological 

 Society's latest list. The information contained in 



