94 



THE FERN BULLETIN 



doubt sell well, as would a crested form of the lady 

 fern or the Dicksonia. There is a satisfaction in giv^ 

 ing to the world a more beautiful form of anything 

 than it now possesses, quite aside from any monetary 

 consideration, but when art, beauty and commerce join 

 forces, the student of ferns has cause to rejoice. 

 * * * 



Publication of the fern floras of the States has not 

 been given up, and several new ones are being pre- 

 pared. The issuing of the floras for the States at the 

 extremes of our range, such as California, Washing- 

 ton, Maine, Florida, Vermont, Texas and Louisiana, 

 have shown us a great deal regarding the distribution 

 of species as regards the country as a whole, but there 

 are various minor problems of distribution which the 

 forthcoming floras may be expected to elucidate. This 

 is especially true of the States in the Mississippi Valley 

 where the Eastern and Western floras meet, and of 

 those on the borderland where Northern and Southern 

 species intermingle. In time all these will appear, but 

 in many the observers are so few that considerable 

 work will have to be done before anything like com- 

 pleteness in the list can be attained. 



BOOK NEWS. 



In "Contributions from the United States National 

 Herbarium" Volume X part 7, issued March 30, 1908, 

 appears the first of a series of "Studies of Tropical 

 American Ferns" by William R. Maxon. Mr. Maxon 

 has spent more time collecting in the tropics than any 

 other American student of ferns and it is very fitting 

 that he should take up the work of making the species 

 better known. The initial study, however, has a con- 

 siderable tinge of the book work that always results in 



