THE EVOLUTION OF PLANT LIFE. 27 



attention. The controversy between Saporta and Nathorst as to 

 the value of the surface markings which have been described as 

 Algae is clearly stated, and the views of the Swedish botanist are 

 generally accepted. The author considers Nematophyciis an Alga of 

 doubtful position ; he summarily dismisses the notion that Pachytheca 

 could be its fruit — indeed, he doubts the vegetable nature of these 

 small spherical bodies. 



Gymnosperms — somewhat out of their order — are next dealt 

 with. The structure of the Cycadea, especially of the abnormal 

 forms, are investigated, and the remarkable group of Cordaites is 

 expounded at length, Renault's work being fully stated, while 



ure 



m 



oo - - ~ — — — *~- ^ o — 



referred to this group. 



The greater part of the volume is devoted to Vascular Crypto- 

 gams, and especially to the arborescent Lycopodincea and Equi- 

 setacecB of the Carboniferous period. The importance of our English 

 fossils, and the extent and value of our English collections, are 

 obvious in perusing this portion of the volume. 



It is a matter of regret that more care was not exercised in the 

 translation. We have already taken exception to the title-page ; it 

 bears the date of 1891, yet describes the author as Professor in the 

 University of Gottingen. And this disregard of dates is apparent 

 elsewhere in the volume, as on page 97, where we read, " the 

 sketch here given of Bennettites, which I hope to make more com- 

 plete at some future time." This was 1 

 1891, seeing that before the end of 1890 the promised sketch was 

 published in the Botanische Zeituny, occupying 84 columns, with 

 illustrations filling two double quarto plates. Through a very 

 trifling omission on the same page Count Solms is credited with 

 performing lapidary work for the British Museum ! And the 

 selection of "cone" as the equivalent of "kolben," which we notice 

 on the page still open before us, neither conveys a correct rendering 

 of the German word nor suggests a true idea of the fleshy structure 

 in which the fruits of Bennettites are buried. 



Though such oversights disfigure some of the pages of the trans- 

 lation, the work is a great boon to English palaeontologists. It is a 

 clear and concise review of our present knowledge of the great 

 sections of the vegetable kingdom with which it deals. If for 

 nothing else, it is an immense gain to students that they have got 



uni 



terminology. 



ILLIAM CaRRUTHERS 



The Evolution of Plant Life : Lower Forms. By G. Massee. 



London: Methuen & Co, 1891. Pp. viii. 242, 38 figs. 

 Price 2s. 6d. 



This book is one of a University Extension Series, and has been 

 written by a lecturer of experience in University Extension work. 

 It is hardly possible to imagine a task of greater difficulty than to 

 write a book on the evolution of the lower forms of plant life, llie 



our 



