NOTICES OF BOOKS AND MEMOIRS. 21 



generically from Ruellia, and says it is remarkable for having a 

 a fifth sterile stamen, and for the peculiar hairs that cover the 

 testa of its seeds. — James Britten. 



Nottttg tif Boofts autr ffimoix*. 



Monographic Phaneroymnarum. Prodromi nunc continuatio, nunc 



revisio. Auctoribus Alphonso et Casimir DeCandolle 

 aliisque Botanicis ultra memoralis. Vol. ii. Arace*:. 

 Auctore Engler. G. Masson, Paris, September, 1879. 



It is now nineteen years since Schott published his ' Prodromus 

 Aroidearurn,' which has remained until now the standard mono- 

 graph of the Order. During the time that has since elapsed a 

 large number of species have been described in scattered works, 

 and our collections have been enriched by a large amount of 

 additional material, which has made it requisite that a new 

 monograph should be written. This has been undertaken by 

 Prof. Engler, of Kiel, and forms one of the new series of mono- 

 graphs under the editorship of the MM. DeCandolle. The first of 

 these was reviewed in this Journal for 1878, p. 309, where the 

 purpose, style, and character of the work is fully set forth; there- 

 fore all that it is necessary to do in reviewing the present volume 

 is to give an outline of the general plan, and criticise its 

 contents. The author includes in the Order Aracea the genus 

 Pistia, and the Lemnacea as sub-families; but as the Lemnacea 

 have been so recently monographed by Hegelmaier, they are 

 omitted from the present book. The work is divided into two parts. 

 The first part, occupying fifty-five pages, is devoted partly to the 

 anatomy and morphology of the stems, leaves, and flowers, and 

 partly to the geographical distribution of the Order. The second 

 part is entirely systematic, containing a synopsis of the genera, 

 or what the author calls a natural system of the Aracea 

 (p. 62) ; after which follow descriptions of the genera and species. 

 The whole concludes with two very useful indices ; the first being 

 an index of the numbered collections seen and determined by Prof. 

 Engler, with a reference to the page and species under which each 

 number will be found quoted in the body of the work ; the second, 

 of the genera, species and synonyms. No plates are given. Such 

 is the plan, and an excellent one it is ; but, unfortunately for those 

 who require to use the book, the systematic part is worked up with 

 such little care, and so many inaccuracies and discrepancies occur, 

 that it is far from being a complete or satisfactory monograph. 

 The tables of geographical distribution are perhaps the most 

 interesting feature of the work, and, although inaccurate in some 

 particulars, are still sufficiently correct to give a good idea of the 

 general distribution of the Aracea ; the plant-regions adopted are 

 those proposed by Prof. Grisebach. The tables show that about 

 thirteen-lburteenths of the whole are confined to the tropical 



