BOOK-NOTES, NEWS, ETC. 205 



of 400 pages. It is divisible into three equal sections — the histo- 

 logy of angiosperms, physiology, and the life-histories of typical 

 cryptogams and gymnosperms. That this, no less and no more, is 

 its scope is obviously not explained by its title. The execution of the 

 whole work is excellent, at once intelligible, fully detailed, accurate, 

 and thorough. It is not a book to be crammed, nor does it lend 

 itself to hurried, makeshift and slip-shod methods. It will, in fact, 

 be the despair of teachers without proper laboratories and of those 

 who are able to devote but a very few hours weekly to botanical 

 teaching. Dr. Cavers, in his preface, expresses the opinion that 

 " no candidate should be allowed to pass in Botany at such 

 examinations as the Intermediate Science and Arts of London 

 University unless able to produce satisfactory proof of having 

 worked through a practical course in Organic Chemistry." As a 

 substitute for such a course, after an excellent chapter on micro- 

 scopic work, the author (in one dealing with cell-contents and 

 cell-wall) describes a series of test-tube reactions for the chief 

 classes of vegetable organic bodies. 



In the chapter on histology we are given a full series of types, 

 the stems, for example, of Marrow, Sunflower, Aristolochia, Elodea, 

 Hzpjmris, Lilac, Lime and Elder being employed to illustrate 

 Dicotyledons ; and the aerial roots of epiphytic orchids, the 

 haustorium of Cuscuta, mycorhizse, and hydathodes are all 

 included. 



In the chapters on physiology the chief pieces of Ganong's 

 "Normal" set of apparatus are figured and their use insisted 

 upon. The need for expenditure on such apparatus in connection 

 with botanical teaching is, perhaps, not yet generally recognized. 



The series of life-histories is a full one, Cycas and the Yew 

 being included, as well as Pinus. They are illustrated by an 

 admirable series of original diagrams, some of which, such as the 

 whole pages devoted to sections of Pine-wood, to the sporangium 

 of Pellia, or to Puccinia, seem to us unnecessarily large. 



Dr. Cavers should not have allowed his printers to bestow 

 initial capitals upon the specific names of Saccharomyces cerevisice, 

 Agaricus campestris, Puccinia graminis, Xanthoria imrietina, and 

 Taxiis baccata. n o -d 



G. S. BOULGER. 



BOOK-NOTES, NEWS, dc. 



At the meeting of the Linnean Society on May 2nd the General 

 Secretary placed before the meeting a summary of his recent in- 

 vestigation of the Linnean Herbarium. He stated that a full 

 catalogue of its contents had long been desired, but difficulties 

 have stood in the way of a complete catalogue. The present list 

 was on a modest scale, and only aimed at indicating which of the 

 Linnean types are represented in the Herbarium verified by him- 

 self, and these will be shown in the list by special type. This will 

 probably obviate much correspondence, and many useless refer- 

 ences in search of species not contained in the Herbarium. It is 



