962 THE AMERICAN NATURALIST. {Nou XXXII. 
The Cryptogams of the River Elbe. — An interesting subject 
is treated by Dr. B. Schorler,' in his paper on the cryptogams of the 
river Elbe, and their effect on the impurities which the river receives 
from the city of Dresden. The subject is certainly not a threadbare 
one, and it is considered with German thoroughness ; it seems prob- 
able that in many cases the relatively low alge and the non-chloro- 
phyllaceous Schizophytes may have a decided influence on the 
self-purifying of contaminated waters. Fse 
Rockery and Aquarium Plants. — Attractively gotten-up hand- 
books for the amateur gardener, who wishes to diversify his col- 
lection, are Wocke’s A/pen-Pfanzen*® and Mönkemeyer’s Sumpf- und 
Wasserpflanzen? Both are pleasantly written and well illustrated. 
If a comparison were to be made between them, the first-named 
= would be characterized as the better done. T, 
Nomenclature in Horticulture. — Prof. F. A. Waugh, in a little 
brochure recently issued,* calls attention to the need of general adop- 
tion of a consistent system of nomenclature for plants cultivated by 
the gardener and orchardist. His meaning is made clear by the 
citation in full of several examples of correct nomenclature and syno- 
nymic citation, taken from recent publications on fruits and garden 
vegetables. T. 
Botanical Notes. — “ The Red Desert of Wyoming and its Forage 
Resources ” is the title of a bulletin by Prof. Aven Nelson, recently 
published by the Division of Agrostology of the U. S. Department of 
Agriculture. The paper is illustrated by several reproductions of 
photographs showing the character of the desert growth, and by a 
number of figures of grasses and other plants. 
Under the title “ Studies in the Herbarium and the Field, No. 2,” 
Miss Alice Eastwood, the active curator of the herbarium of the Cal- 
1 Schorler, A. Gutachten über die Vegetation der Elbe und ihre Bedeutung 
für die Selbstreinigung derselben. Dresden, 1897. 
2 Wocke, Erich. Die Alpen-Pflanzen in der Garten-Kultur der Tiefländer. 
Ein Leitfaden für Gärtner und Gartenfreunde. - Berlin, Gustav Schmidt, 1898. 
8vo, xii + 257 pp- 
3 Mönkemeyer, Wilh. Die Sumpf- und Wasserpflanzen. Ihre Beschreibung, 
Kultur und Verwendung. Berlin, Gustav Schmidt, 1897. 8vo, iv + 189 pp» 
t Waugh, F. A. Notes on Horticultural Nomenclature. New York, American 
Gardening, 1898. 26 pp. 
