Geology and Natural History. 227 



features of which are the description of "pans " in the dolerite 

 area, vertebrate fossils in the Beaufort Series, and the extremely 

 interesting Nieuweveld deposits (pp. 25-32) where coal occurs 

 not as strata but after the manner of igneous dikes or quartz 

 veins. Dolerite sheets and dikes, cut by dikes and pipes of mica 

 peridotite, grorudites (?) (new to the Cape), saxonite, etc., are 

 described petrographically. 



(2) Survey of the Maclear and Portions of Engcabo, Mt. 

 Fletcher, Qumbu and Mount Frere, by Alex. L. du Toit. An 

 areal study of the Beaufort and Molteno formations, and espe- 

 cially of the Qnbnexa coal and Cave sandstone, was made. This 

 latter formation is intimately connected with volcanic activity, 

 and replaced in some areas by 1000-1500 feet of ash. 



(3) Survey of Copper- Nickel Deposits of Insizwa, Mount 

 Ayliff, East Griqualand, by A. L. du Toit. This is a petrographic 

 study of a group of intrusives ranging from gabbro and norite to 

 picrite, which with their contact phenomena have not been pre- 

 viously described. Copper and nickel of economic importance 

 occur at the contact of the Insizwa intrusions and the Beaufort 

 Beds. h. e. g. 



7. A Monograph of the British Desmidiacew ; by W. West 

 and G. S. West. Vol. IV, pp. xiv, 194 ; 33 colored plates. 

 London, 1912 .(printed for the Ray Society). — The scope and pur- 

 pose ot this valuable work are briefly outlined in a review of the 

 first volume, which appeared in this Journal several years ago 

 (see vol xviii, 473 ; also xxi, 477). In the present volume the 

 treatment of the large genus Cosmarium is brought to a con- 

 clusion, 26 species being described. The genera Xanthidium 

 with 15 species and Arthrodesmus with 13 species are then taken 

 up, and the discussion of the genus Staurastrum is begun, 41 spe- 

 cies being considered. Of the 95 species included in the volume, 

 47 are already known from the United States, so that the impor- 

 tance of the work from the standpoint of the American student 

 may again be emphasized. All of the species are figured on the 

 accompanying plates. a. w. e. . 



8. Elementary Plant Biology ; by J. E. Peabody and A. E. 

 Hunt. Pp. xv'i, 207 ; 91 text figures. New York, 1912 (The 

 Macmillan Company). — In the teaching of botany in the second- 

 ary schools there is a strong tendency to lay stress on the physi- 

 ological aspect of the subject. This tendency is well exemplified 

 by the present text-book. The laboratory exercises are so arranged 

 that the functions of plants are well brought out, while the mor- 

 phology of the plant organs receives relatively less attention. 

 Various topics dealing with agriculture and other branches of 

 applied botany are likewise taken up. The illustrations are 

 largely selected from other works. a. w. e. 



9. Illustrated Key to the wild and commonly cultivated Trees 

 of the northeastern United States and. adjacent parts of Canada, 

 based primarily upon leaf characters / by J. F. Collins and 

 H. W. Preston. Pp. ix, 184 ; 279 text-figures. New York, 

 1912 (Henry Holt and Company). — This little volume is intended 



