BOOK-NOTES, NEWS, ETC. 141 



forks at the space between adjacent lobes, a branch of the fork 

 passing into each. Van Tieghem has suggested that the five 

 bundles of the latter set which alternate with the median systems 

 of the corolla-lobes represent the conducting systems of an 

 ancestral whorl of antesepalous stamens. The main object of 

 Dr. Thenen's research is to refute this suggestion, and the bulk of 

 the book is devoted to the records of detailed observations upon 

 the course of the bundles in question in the case of nearly every 

 genus of PrimulacecB. The figures, which are diagrammatic and 

 clear, are distributed over nine plates. The author concludes not 

 unconvincingly that Van Tieghem's hypothesis was erroneous, 

 and by so doing adds another warning against the pitfalls of 

 apparent evidence (staminodes, monstrosities, &c.) for the exist- 

 ence of ancestral members now completely suppressed. 



There is interesting matter relating to the effect of environ- 

 ment upon the structures under examination, and the details have 

 been investigated with evident care, but the book cannot be 

 regarded as a serious addition to the literature of plant-phyletics 

 as its first title might seem to imply ; it is better characterized 



by its second name. xt -ci wt 



^ H. F. Ween HAM. 



BOOK-NOTES, NEWS, dx. 



Sussex loses an enthusiastic working botanist in the death, 

 on Feb. 10th last, of Thomas Hilton, of Brighton. He was born 

 in 1833 in that town, and resided there all his life. Making but 

 few excursions into other parts of England, but very thoroughly 

 exploring his native county, a trip taken to Switzerland and a visit 

 to Normandy (in company with the Eev. E. Ellman) were red- 

 letter events in his life and long remembered for the wealth of 

 fresh material they added to his knowledge and herbarium. As 

 Hon. Curator to the Brighton Museum, the herbarium there (con- 

 taining, amongst others, the collections of F. C. S. Koper) was 

 under his care, and, in 1894, he initiated at the Museum the 

 exhibition of living wild flowers to encourage others to investigate 

 the local flora and for instructive purposes. This exhibition was 

 always most attractive to visitors, and was continued throughout 

 the summer months. Hilton's name will be remembered in con- 

 nection with an interesting Water Eanunculus of hybrid origin, 

 B. Lenormandi x loeltatus, to which the name B. Ililtoni was 

 given by the Messrs. Groves in this Journal for 1901, 121, plate 

 420. Amongst other interesting discoveries made in Sussex may 

 be mentioned Peucedanum palustre in 1899 (with Mr. G. C. Druce), 

 Silene duhia (Journ. Bot. 1905, 127), Sagina BeiUeri, and Prunella 

 laciniata (in 1904). His herbarium, containing a large proportion 

 of the plants occurring in Sussex, has been presented to the British 

 Museum (South Kensington). Mr. Hilton was a member of the 

 Society of Friends.— C. E. S. 



