No. 377.] REVIEWS OF RECENT LITERATURE. 363 
Dr. Franz Werner, in Verhand/. zool. bot. Gesell. Wien, xlviii, 1, 
gives an interesting summary of our knowledge regarding the breed- 
ing habits of amphibians. The author calls attention to the fact 
that most of the forms inhabit tropical America. A bibliography is 
appended. 
It appears from a recent number of the Mededeelingen van het Proef- 
station Oost-Java that in that part of the world tailor birds are found 
to be injurious to the fields of sugar cane. 
The recent discovery by Mr. James P. Hill, that the marsupial 
genus Perameles has a true allantoic placenta, is one of the most 
important in regard to the mammals in recent years, possibly since 
the discovery of the oviparous nature of the monotremes, pointing, 
as it does, to the idea that the marsupials have descended from a 
placental stock. 
BOTANY. 
The Floral Plan of the Cruciferee. — When the great number, 
wide distribution, and habital diversity of the Crucifer are con- 
sidered, it is remarkable that the floral structure is well-nigh constant 
throughout the whole family. So uniform, in fact, are the flowers 
that the systematist has always been puzzled to find in them clear 
or satisfactory distinctions for tribal subdivision. Within a four- 
membered calyx are four petals, alternating with the sepals, then two 
short lateral stamens, two pairs of longer, somewhat approximated 
stamens approaching the median line, and, finally, a two-celle 
gynoecium with lateral valves and median “false” septum. Depar- 
tures from this well-known plan are chiefly of the nature of simpli- 
fication through reduction or abortion of parts. 
On a casual inspection, the typical cruciferous flower would seem 
to be simple enough except in its hexandrous andreecium, but its 
plan, even after exhaustive research and prolonged discussion, is still 
a matter of doubt, and each whorl of floral organs has been subject to 
widely divergent interpretation. Among the numerous investigators, 
who have published upon the cruciferous flower, may be mentioned 
A. P. De Candolle, Kunth, Bernhardi, Steinheil, Hochstetter, Krause, 
Wydler, Payer, Chatin, Godron, Eichler, Duchartre, Wretschko, 
Fournier, Engler, Klein, Celakowski, Chodat, and Lignier. Of these 
1 Quar. Journ. Micros. Sci., vol. xl, p. 385. 
