68 BOTANICAL GAZETTE [JULY 
known, in America at least, by the devoted attention he has given to the cause 
of a better international agreement on the controversial subject of nomen- 
with great self-sacrifice, he brought to bear upon an exceedingly intricate, 
se coumrinie ng, and unremunerative task. 
It has been generally known that Briquet for the last ten years or more 
has been engaged, notwithstanding the serious interruptions to which we have 
alluded, in an intensive study of the Corsican flora. In order to gain ample 
oastees and a first-hand familiarity with the floristic conditions, no less than 
ix expeditions to Corsica were made by him and his associates. Not only 
were the more accessible parts of the island repeatedly visited, but the wilder 
portions of the interior, including primitive woodlands, still infested by brig- 
ands, were traversed and examined. 
The publication now at hand is the first volume of what has been modestly 
styled a Prodrome. It is an imperial octavo of something over 650 pages, 
and contains, besides prefatory matter and bibliography, a critical catalogue 
of the vascular plants of Corsica from the Hymenophyllaceae to the Lauraceae, 
including 722 species and many varieties. Under each, the citation of litera- 
ture, synonymy, and exsiccatae is exhaustive. ere notes and comments 
on ctive ae racters, distribution, environment, etc., abound, and at 
points keys are introduced to elucidate distinctions beeen plants of the Cor- 
sican flora and their nearest relatives found elsewher 
Without the slightest depreciation of its other oa more scientific merits, 
national rules of nomenclature by one cated trained in all their shades of 
meaning and intricate details —B. L. RoBINSON 
MOTES FOR STUDENTS 
Genetic studies in Oenothera——The important deductions made by 
DeVries, from the results of a twenty-years’ study of Oenothera Lamarckiana 
and its derivatives, have created an unusual interest in this species and its 
relatives. Numerous investigations have been made by many students, 
without any apparent exhaustion of the wealth of interesting phenomena 
presented. The oenotheras seem destined to yield results of great value for 
a long time to come, for the interest in the group grows greater rather than 
less with further study. The validity of some of DEVRtiEs’s conclusions rests 
upon the correctness of the assumption that O. Lamarckiana is a native species. 
Many diligent searches have been made in the effort to discover it in a natural 
habitat in America, but so far without success. 
