February 3, 1905.] 



SCIENCE. 



185 



G. S. West is well known as a contributor 

 to journals upon algological subjects, notably 

 the Conjugates, and for many reasons the 

 author of ' British Freshwater Algaj' is par- 

 ticularly well qualified to write such a book. 

 One can not but regret, however, that he saw 

 fit to confine himself to British species. A 

 treatise of this kind, so long waited for, should 

 be as complete as possible, and when one looks 

 in vain for Pleodorina, Platydorina and many 

 other important genera which fit in so per- 

 fectly with the forms previously described, it 

 leaves this treatise upon the fresh-water alga? 

 in an unsatisfactory condition that hardly 

 seems necessary. The fact that none of the 

 Temnogametaceaj or Pyxisporeae have been 

 found in Great Britain seems a poor reason 

 for excluding a discussion of these important 

 groups in a book by West. Perhaps it is un- 

 grateful to criticize a book which contains so 

 much more than any previous one of its kind, 

 for not containing all upon the subject, but 

 the satisfactory way in which the included 

 forms have been discussed makes it the greater 

 pity that the plan of publication or other con- 

 siderations made it necessary to confine the 

 scope of the book to the British forms alone. 



A good general discussion of the methods 

 of multiplication and reproduction in algs, 

 together with a reference to the question of 

 polymorphism and a rather full exposition of 

 the particular theories of the author regarding 

 phylogeny, precedes the specific treatment of 

 the six classes, Rhodophycea^, Phaeophycea', 

 Chlorophycese, Heterokontese, Bacillariese and 

 Myxophycese. These classes, with their in- 

 cluded genera, constitute an arrangement very 

 difi^erent from that found in the average text- 

 book or even in more pretentious publications, 

 and offers a wide field for discussion. While 

 in the main following the suggestions of Borzi, 

 Blackman, Bohlin and others, there are certain 

 divergences for which there does not always 

 seem to be justification. On the other hand, 

 long experience with certain groups has en- 

 abled Professor West to adopt what seems to 

 be a more natural and satisfactory disposition 

 of some forms than that followed by either 

 Bohlin or Blackman and Tansley. On the 

 whole, the classification is based upon the re- 



sults of careful observations of the plants 

 themselves, rather than a mere theoretical ar- 

 rangement. Whether the author is justified, 

 by the evidence at hand, in including the 

 rather heterogeneous Syngeneticaj under the 

 Phaeophyceae, or whether the Conjugateos may 

 not after all be regarded as a unicellular order 

 which has come from the Volvocacese, with 

 other disputed points, will probably require 

 more facts before they can hope to be defi- 

 nitely settled. Nevertheless, i1» would be dlfii- 

 cult to produce a system of classification which 

 in the present state of our knowledge would be 

 more satisfactory to a large number and at 

 the same time recognize at least most of the 

 investigations of recent years calculated to 

 throw light upon the subject. 



Attempts to revise the nomenclature for the 

 pvirjjose of ])utting the names of the principal 

 gcneia upon a more stable and satisfactory 

 basis have been made, not always, however, 

 with success. That is, the rules adopted at 

 one place seem to have been disregarded in 

 another, resulting in a lack of consistency 

 which can not but weaken any attempt to 

 modify the names of well-established genera 

 and species. 



The book is fully illustrated and too much 

 can not be said for the successful effort to 

 secure new and accurate drawings of not only 

 the more recently described genera, but for 

 the older forms as well. It certainly is re- 

 freshing to be able to look through a book of 

 this kind without seeing all of the old cuts of 

 algse that have done service since there began 

 to be any literature upon the subject. 



The need for a treatise upon the fresh- 

 water algae has been referred to; that tliis 

 book will come as near to filling such a need 

 as one of its scope, written by one man, could 

 possibly be expected, is all that is necessary 

 to say regarding its worth. 



George T. Moohk. 



Bt reai- of Plant Industry. 



SCIENTIFIC JOUIiXALS AND ARTICLES. 



The December number (volume 11, numlier 

 3) of the Bullelin of the American Mathe- 

 matical Society contains the following ar- 

 ticles: Report of the October Meeting of the 



