1915] CURRENT LITERATURE 411 
Naturally, the floristics and plant ecology of the area receive the major 
portion of attention. S.B.Parisusketches the history of its botanical explora- 
tion, from a botanical paper by Dr. C. C. Parry in Emory’s Report of the 
Survey of the boundary between the United States and Mexico, made in 1856. 
He presents an annotated list of indigenous and introduced species, the former 
including 8 trees, 23 shrubs, 10 suffrutescent plants, 30 perennial herbs, and 
51 annuals. Only 7 species are endemic. A grouping is made into formations 
and associations, the halophytic and xerophytic naturally being the most prom- 
inent. Detailed sketches of some of the outskirts of the area have already 
appeared. 2 This analysis of the composition of the vegetation is continued 
in MacDovueav’s inquiry into its genesis, as shown by its re-establishment upon 
areas sterilized by submergence. He considers both the re-occupation of the 
strand left bare by the receding lake and that of sterilized islands emerging 
from the lowering waters. The changes as the aridity of the strand increases, 
the agencies effective in carrying seeds, and the invasion of new species are 
among the topics receiving attention, while a detailed history is given of 
various portions of the strands emerging from the waters. Among the pioneer 
forms, species of Atriplex, Heliotropium, Sesuvium, Pluchea, Distichlis, and. 
Suaeda, together with Prosopis pubescens, P. glaudulosa, and Salix nigra, are 
found, but their abundance and survival differ at different points along the 
shore, and this could be to some extent related to the slope and character of 
the soil. The fact that 4 out of 60 species found upon the strand showed 
modifications of structure not observed elsewhere suggests the possibility that 
the changing conditions are resulting in the production of new species, and that 
similar series of changes in the past have been similarly productive. 
The exactness of the present report and the abundance of its data also 
combine to make it a most valuable record for the futuré study of these as well 
as of other problems which may arise with the continual subsidence of the sea 
and the further development of the surrounding vegetation.—Gero. D. FULLER. 
MINOR NOTICES 
Flora of the Dutch West Indian Islands.—BoLpINcH? has published 
a second volume under the foregoing title, which deals with the islands of 
Curacao, Aruba, and Bonaire. The present volume is divided into three parts, 
first Systematical, second Historical, and third Phytogeographical. The last 
Part is subdivided into the following sections: (A) Orological, Geological, and 
Meteorological, (B) Distribution of the wild plants enumerated in the first part, 
C) The vegetation of Curacao, Aruba, and Bonaire. To this is added an 
?Parisu, S. B., Sketches of the Colorado Desert. Plant World 17:122-130. 
1914. : 
3 Botprneu, I., The flora of the Dutch West Indian Islands. Second Volume. 
Curacao, Aruba, ead Bonaire. 8vo. xiv+197. pls. 9. map t. Leyden: E. J. Brill. 
IQr4. ‘ 
