294 THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY 



to work out every detail for himself, so adding to his permanent 

 knowledge and stimulating him to research. 



To students in England, where systematic botany is so apt 

 to take a subordinate place in the curriculum, this concise and 

 pleasing handbook should be especially welcome. Warming's 

 system may be a little unfamiUar at first, but in too many cases 

 systematic botany will be virtually a new subject, so that the use 

 of Warming's text-book, which Professor Mobius (who is respon- 

 sible for the latest German edition) recommends, will not involve 

 any radical change. The type, the paper, and the binding are all 

 in keeping with the excellence of the contents. The cover, of 

 stiff, coarse, brown canvas, readily commends itself for use in the 

 laboratory. Indeed, our only objection to the book is that it is 



not written in English. -_r ^ ^, 



^ H. F. Weenham. 



BOOK-NOTES, NEWS, dc. 



We are indebted to Mr. J. A. Wheldon for a copy of the 

 Eeport for 1911 of the Botanical Exchange Club, of which he is 

 the editor. There is a delightfully old-fashioned appearance 

 about it — a return to the style of Eeport that was issued before 

 the Club became a " Society of the British Isles " and its publica- 

 tion a repertory of miscellaneous botanical information. We 

 note, however, a change of publisher — it bears the name of 

 B. H. Blackwell, Broad Street, Oxford, and is priced at 3s. 6^. 

 The Eeport as usual contains many valuable notes on individual 

 species, as well as much information bearing upon distribution. 

 Should space permit, we hope to quote some portions in a future 

 number ; meanwhile we reprint the note by the Messrs. Groves 

 on the collecting of Batrachian Banunculi ; those who have seen 

 their specimens of those troublesome plants will know that they 

 are entitled to speak with authority on the subject : — 



" Most of the water Banunc^di sent this year are either poor 

 specimens or the plants are not in a satisfactory condition for 

 determination. With such extremely variable plants it is essen- 

 tial that mature and complete specimens should be collected. In 

 the young stages they are often not characteristic, and, with the 

 exception of B. hederaceus, Lenormandi, lutarius, and tripartitus, 

 they are not, in a normal season, really in good condition until 

 late in May or the beginning of June. Specimens should have at 

 least three fruiting heads on a stem, so as to show the direction 

 and length of the peduncle and the fully-formed fruit. When 

 flowers cannot be dried entire, loose petals should be preserved. 

 Sub-terrestrial forms are by themselves unsatisfactory, and normal 

 aquatic specimens can usually be collected in the neighbourhood. 

 In the case of plants from swiftly-running streams or rivers it is 

 desirable, if possible, to also collect them in the still or slow- 

 flowing water of a pool or backwater. Floating leaves can 

 frequently be found on a river form where the plant is in the 

 densest masses, though absent elsewhere. There are few plants 

 that will make more beautiful herbarium specimens than water 



