264 THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY 



giving a full list of fungi and Mycetozoa found on those occasions ; 

 lists of new and rare fungi, the mioro-fungi by Miss Lorrain Smith 

 and the larger ones by Mr. Carleton Eea ; and the Presidential 

 Address, which this year was delivered by Prof. E. S. Salmon, on 

 " Economic Mycology and some of its Problems." Another 

 paper, read by Mr. H. Wager at the British Association Meeting 

 last year on " The Study of Fungi by local Natural History 

 Societies," is included. The veteran French mycologist, Boudier, 

 writes a note on Pseudophacidmm Smitkianum. Miss A. L. 

 Smith writes on Xylohotryum and Mr. A. D. Cotton on the struc- 

 ture and systematic position of Simrassis. There is an amusingly 

 pathetic paper by T. Petch, making havoc of the tropical records 

 of European fungi. Prof. Buller gives an account of his work on 

 the production and liberation of spores in the genus Coprinus, and 

 Mr. J. Eamsbottom gives an account of work published during 

 1911 on the cytology of fungus reproduction. The editor, Mr. 

 Carleton Eea, has a useful paper on "British Geasters," which 

 is illustrated by three excellent coloured plates by Mrs. Eea, who 

 also contributes another coloured plate, illustrating the fungi new 

 to science and some of the more interesting of the year's records. 

 As evidence of the progress made by the Society, it is interesting 

 to note that the present volume contains as many pages as the 

 first two volumes combined, and that the number of active 

 members now exceeds one hundred. 



Mr. E. T. GuNTHER has published, through Messrs. Parker & 

 Son, of Oxford, a pretty volume (price 6s.) on Oxford Gardens, 

 " based upon Daubeny's popular guide to the Physick Garden of 

 Oxford, with notes on the Gardens of the Colleges and on the 

 University Park." It is a little disappointing to learn at the 

 outset that there are no old official records in the possession of 

 the Professor of Botany, but Mr. Giinther in his introduction has 

 brought together a very interesting and complete account of the 

 Garden, some of it drawn from unfamiliar sources. The main 

 part of the book is occupied by a description of the Garden at the 

 present time, with copious notes on its more remarkable features. 

 Some of Mr. Giinther's observations seem rather uncalled for: e.g. 

 " there is no end to the confusion introduced into scientific 

 nomenclature by the ignorance or jealousy of ' scientists' over 

 the water" (p. 35). The note under Oxalis Acetosella on the 

 Shamrock is curious : it runs thus — " The Wood-sorrel is stated 

 to be the original of the Irish Shamrock, but owing to the fact 

 that it is not available as early as St. Patrick's Day, Medicago 

 lupulina is worn instead in Dublin." Now the tradition which 

 connects St. Patrick with the Shamrock has no relation to St. 

 Patrick's Day ; and the plant almost universally worn on that 

 festival in Ireland is not M. lupuUna but Trifolmm minus, as Mr. 

 Colgan has conclusively shown. The notices of the college gardens 

 contain much of interest — e. g. the records extracted from the 

 accounts of Magdalen College, which begin with its enclosure in 

 1466. The book is prettily printed and nicely illustrated, and is 

 thoroughly well done. 



