BOOK-NOTES, NEWS, ETC. 101 



Congo and its tributary the Ubangi, the southern portion of 

 which is the country of the Bangala and the northern that of the 

 Ubangi ; both are bounded on the east by the district of the Uele. 

 An excellent map, based on M. Thonner's observations, shows the 

 general geographical characters and relations of these areas. 



Dr. de Wildeman devotes the first part of the subject-matter 

 to a description of the vegetation of the area, based largely on 

 information supplied by M. Thonner. This is considered under 

 two heads, namely, the central forest zone or the damp equatorial 

 forest region, and the northern zone or the North Congo 

 "brousse." A list of the plants known from each district is given, 

 and this is followed by an elaborate comparative table of the 

 floras of the Central African province (the zone of the Ubangi and 

 the Uele) and of the Bangala district. Apart from the value of 

 the comparative survey, this list forms a useful sweeping together 

 of the plants from the whole area. This section of the book closes 

 with a discussion of the distribution of various seed plants and 

 the part played by these formations in the building up of the 

 Congo flora. 



The second section comprises an enumeration of the plants 

 collected on the second expedition (1909) ; the new species are 

 illustrated by plates. It concludes with separate lists of the 

 plants collected on the two expeditions. The third and last 

 section is a flora of the political districts of the Bangala and 

 Ubangi, compiled from available sources of information, including 

 besides Thonner's plants those collected by the Laurents, Dew^vre, 

 Pynaert, Malchair, and others. 



The review of the volume suggests a somewhat bewildering 

 multiplicity of lists which in practice has involved a good deal of 

 repetition, and which somewhat discounts the value of the book 

 to the botanist who is working at this portion of the West African 

 flora. Dr. de Wildeman has brought together a great deal of 

 useful matter and has made a valuable addition to our knowledge 

 of the botany of the Congo region ; but some condensation and 

 rearrangement would have made the book a better working tool 

 for the systematic botanist. An important feature is the series 

 of plates, most of which are double-page, illustrating the novelties 

 described in the text. If all descriptive works involving new 

 species were as freely and as clearly illustrated, the task of the 

 systematist would be much lightened. 



A. B. E. 



BOOK-NOTES, NEWS, cOc. 



At the meeting of the Linnean Society on Jan. 18, Dr. A. 

 Anstruther Lawson gave a lantern lecture entitled " Some 

 features of the Marine Flora at St. Andrews," showing the wealth 

 of algal vegetation at that part of the coast, and its special 

 characteristics, including the habit of the plants when growing 

 in their natural position under water. Illustrations of the 



