672 The American Naturalist. [ August, 
It is with great pleasure that we observe the great reluctance of 
the author to establish new species; on the contrary she has refrained 
from giving names where most monographers would certainly have 
done so. Thus on page 96, after a description which might have been 
considered adequate, (at least by those who are fond of seeing their 
names cited in connection with specific names) the author says: “ To 
avoid further confusion in nomenclature I refrain from giving a 
name to this plant until it is possible to obtain further data.” We 
would commend this sentence to the careful consideration of a certain 
class of botanists who are apparently more anxious for their own 
“ credit” than for the progress of the science. 
Thirty eight plates, many of them half-tone reproductions of photog- 
raphs, accompany this useful paper. If space permitted we should be 
glad to quote from the author’s introductory discussion, which is full 
of interesting facts and suggestions ; thus a case is cited in which the 
flower-stalk grew for twenty days at the average rate of two and three- 
fourths inches per day !—CHARLES E. Bessey. 
i ZOOLOGY. 
Sense of Sight in Spiders.—A detailed account of the experi- 
ments conducted by G. W. and E. G. Peckham for testing (1) the 
range of vision and (2) the color sense of spiders is published in a late 
volume of the Trans. Wisconsin Academy. The evidence offered by 
the authors is based upon a study of twenty species of Attide. This 
study has extended over eight successive summers, during which notes 
were made of many hundreds of observations. The movements and 
attitudes of the spiders of the group chosen are wonderfully vivid and 
expressive. The males, in the mating season, throw themselves into 
one position when they catch sight of a female, and into quite another 
at the appearance of another male. This power of expression through 
different attitudes and movements is of great assistance in determining 
not only its range of sight, but also its power of distinct vision. 
The spiders were confined in boxes, the sides of which were marked 
off into inches. The bottom was of cotton cloth, the top of glass. Notes 
were taken of the distances at which prey was noticed, followed and 
captured. During their mating season the evidence was conclusive that 
these spiders not only see, but see clearly at considerable distance, The 
