‘published since the appearance of the original work, or even 
while the English edition has been going through the press. ¢ 
_ The statement (p. 75, foot-note), found in most Text-books, 
that the roots of Monocotyledons are always adventitious, 
must, according to the recent observations of Falkenberg, 
be considerably modified. The seed of many Endogens, : 
especially Grasses, put out on germination a true normal 
root, which, however, soon disappears. 
In his account of the relative importance of the different 
chemical elements to the life of the plant (p. 162); the 
author has, in the main, followed Sachs. Professor Cugini 
; has recently published an elaborate series of researches on © 
the nutrition of cellular plants, which appears to throw addi-- ; 
tional light on the functional value of some of the elements, 
especially potassium, the relation of which to the carbo- 
hydrates he compares to that of phosphorus to the albu- 
-minoids. : 
In the section on Lycopodiacez (p. 332) no allusion 
Preface: * ee 
/ 
- 
iat 
~ 
is made to the researches of Fankhauser, who describes the 
hitherto unknown prothallium of Lycopodium annotinum. 
He finds it furnished with antheridia and archegonia, 
the latter being fertilised directly by the antherozoids pro- 
duced in the former. If these observations are confirmed, 
the mode of reproduction will remove Lycopodium altogether ? 
from alliance with the heterosporous Selaginellez, and bring 
it nearest to Ophioglossum. 
AS WB 
6 PARK VILLAGE EAST, REGENT’S PARK : 
Fanuary 1877. 
