258 | BOTANICAL GAZETTE [MARCH 
responsible for the vascular plants, giving rise directly and independently to 
three groups (“‘Filicineae, Lycopodineae, Equisetineae’’), the first of which 
gives rise to the cycadophytes, while the lycopods produce the conifers and 
these in turn are responsible for the gnetums and the angiosperms. To the 
modern student of phylogeny this scheme is more interesting than appealing.— 
Arm-chair science.—Sir Ray LANKESTER has brought together in book 
form a group of papers which he contributed to a London daily paper,” and 
which were addressed, of course, to the general public. It is a good illustration 
of the attitude of the man of science in England, as contrasted with the atti- 
tude of his colleagues in the United States. He wishes the public to know of 
the achievements of science, and this same spirit makes of the British Asso- 
ciation a body of great popular interest. Of course “science from an easy 
suggestive way rather than about demonstrated facts. But still it is a fair 
question whether the arousing of interest in this way is not justified by the 
results. 
It is of interest to note a zoologist’s selection of botanical topics for such 
presentation. It is as follows: “‘A rival of the fabled upas tree” (which turns 
out to be Rhus Toxicodendron), “Poisons and see of plants and animals,” 
“The simplest living things,” ‘The origin of opium,” besides general biological 
topics that pertain to both animals and plants.—J. M. C. 
ahedoepy FOR STUDENTS 
Anatomy GWYNNE-VAUGHAN™ has found the course 
of development of the stele in Osmunda regalis, O. palustris, and a species of 
Todea to correspond very closely to that already described for Osmunda cinna- 
momea. While the details in different individuals are variable, in general it 
may be said of all that the juvenile stage is long drawn out, and that at least the 
first pith formed is “stelar,” that is, of intrastelar origin. The nodal pockets 
or parenchymatous pits in the medullary rays, characteristic of the Osmun- 
daceae, are regarded as rather primitive organs and as having arisen independ- 
ently of the pith. Perhaps the most interesting observation is the fact that 
some of the earlier leaf traces in O. regalis are mesarch. The main part of the 
paper is devoted to a discussion of the nature of the pith in the Osmundaceae. 
The author rightly hesitates to draw any far-reaching phylogenetic deductions 
from the phenomena observed in the sporeling, but prefers to rest his case, n 
favor of the view that the osmundaceous pith is stelar, on the fossils described 
by Kipston and GwyNNE-VAUGHAN. These fossils include protostelic ferns, 
in some of which the central tracheids are shorter than the outer ones, and 
1 LANKESTER, Sir Ray, Science from an easy chair. 8vo. pp. xiii+423- pls. 2- 
figs. 82. New York: Macmillan. 1911. $1.75. 
 GWYNNE-VAUGHAN, D. T., Some remarks on the anatomy of the Osmundaceae. 
Ann. Botany 25:525-530. pl. 44. figs. 5. 191. 
