Botany. 163 



trated by 10 plates, containing together 250 figures, chiefly of 

 very early stages in the development of flowers and floral axes. 

 It is worthy of mention that Dr. Schumann in his capacity of 

 Curator of the Botanical Museum of Berlin has had unlimited 

 access to the excellent botanic garden of that city, and has thus 

 been enabled to examine much rare material, never before inves- 

 tigated from the present point of view. b. l. r. 



2. Plantce European, Enumeratio systematica et synonymica 

 plant w -urn phanerogamicarum in Europ>a sponte crescentium vel 

 mere inquilinarum ; by De. K. Richtee. Leipzig, 1890. (Wm. 

 Engelmann). — Volume I of this complete index of European 

 flowering plants forms an octavo of nearly 400 pages, and in- 

 cludes the gymnosperms and monocotyledons. In the arrange- 

 ment of the orders and genera, it follows, without exception, 

 Engler and Prantl's Naturliche Pflanzenfamilien; while the 

 species are systematically arranged according to the best mono- 

 graphs. It scarcely need be said, that the only satisfactory test 

 of such an index is long and frequent reference to it, in connec- 

 tion with systematic botanical work. In this way only does its 

 accuracy or defects become apparent. So far, however, as it is 

 possible to judge. Dr. Richter's work is in every way excellent. 

 It certainly possesses many features, which will render it a most 

 convenient work of reference not only for European botanists, 

 but in botanical institutions, especially the larger herbaria, in all 

 parts of the world. The value of the index is much increased 

 by the fact, that the species within the genera are arranged ac- 

 cording to their natural affinities, the subgenera being briefly 

 indicated. To obviate any inconvenience from this arrangement 

 an alphabetic list of all the species is appended at the close of 

 the volume. The synonymy is given with much detail, the date 

 and place of publication accompanying every name. The habitat 

 of each species and variety is also indicated, and a full list of 

 known hybrids is given at the end of each genus in which they 

 occur. B. L. E. 



3. Xotes on Corticium Oakesii, B. <£ C. and Michenera 

 Artocreas, B. & C; by Geoege James Peirce. (Bull, of Torr. 

 Bot. Club, vol. xvii, No. 12, Dec. 1890). — In a paper of ten pages 

 Mr. Peirce describes the noteworthy peculiarities in the life- 

 history of the two fungi above named. His very interesting 

 observations upon the Corticium show that the basidia arise by 

 a late modification in the development of some of the much- 

 branched structures, which are called paraphyses. At other 

 stages in the development of the fungus, some of these so-called 

 paraphyses bear abundant conidial spores. The simple but more 

 or less moniliform threads, which are occasionally found rising 

 from the hymenium among the branched structures, are desig- 

 nated as the " true paraphyses." It is to be regretted that the 

 statement of these facts lacks a certain clearness, which it might 

 have possessed, if Mr. Peirce had defined at the outset the par- 



Am. Jour. Sci. — Third Series, Yol. XLI, No. 242. — February, 1891. 

 11 



