66 JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



that this subject has not been as carefully thought out in many places 

 as it should have been, and manures have been used that have had the 

 effect of covering the greens with clover. Mr. Sutton says " the applica- 

 tion of farm-yard manure as a top-dressing cannot be tolerated for a 

 moment. It is both offensive and unsightly." Another reason may be 

 added : it is liable to cause a quantity of noxious weeds to spring up, and 

 result in no end of trouble to eradicate them. A great deal of other 

 valuable advice is given of the most practical character, that will be most 

 serviceable to golf players, and to those who have lawns. 



" Studies in Fossil Botany." By D. H. Scott, M.A., LL.D., F.R.S. 

 Ed. 2. Vol i. Pteridophyta. 8vo., 363 pp. (Black, London, 1908.) 6s. net. 



This work is one which no advanced student of botany or geology can 

 afford to neglect. The first edition of Dr. Scott's " Studies in Fossil Botany " 

 published in 1904, was based on a course of lectures given at University 

 College, London, in 1896. The matter contained in these lectures was 

 brought up to date in 1904, and the book then published at once took 

 first place among works dealing with Fossil Botany. The style, at once 

 simple and lucid, without being merely " popular " in the less reputable 

 sense of that term, made the book one which could be read and enjoyed, 

 as few books can be which deal so thoroughly with any branch of know- 

 ledge. But, as the author stated in 1904, " happily Fossil Botany is an 

 eminently progressive branch of science and thus the mere lapse of time 

 has necessitated the introduction of much new matter and of many new 

 points of view." This is still more true at the present time. The pro- 

 gress of the science has necessitated remodelling and almost completely 

 rewriting the book. 



The discoveries of Oliver, Kidston and others, including the author 

 himself, have brought to our notice the great Paleozoic group of fern-like 

 seed-bearing plants the Pteridosperms. Fossils, formerly thought to 

 belong to the ferns proper, have been (metaphorically) " pieced together " 

 with wonderful skill and industry to form seed-bearing types of the new 

 group. But the ferns proper have not been neglected. The ancient 

 synthetic group, the Botryopterideae, have been more fully investigated 

 and must, of necessity, be considered in any scheme dealing with the 

 phylogeny of Pteridophytes. In America Dr. Wieland has published the 

 results of many years' labour on American fossil Cycads and his discovery 

 of the hermaphrodite strobilus of Cycadoidea ingens has stimulated 

 research and speculation concerning the origin of the Angiosperms. Such 

 discoveries as these could best be described and collated by the author of 

 " Studies in Fossil Botany," and Dr. Scott has decided to bring out the 

 new edition in two volumes. 



The first volume, dealing with Pteridophyta, contains less that is new 

 than will be given in Part II. ; hence its earlier publication. The chief 

 additions to Part I. include work by Mr. Hickling on Paleostachya and 

 M. Halle's researches on Mesozoic Equisetales, Dr. Scott's own work on 

 Sphenophyllum fertile and Prof. Nathorst's discovery of the Pseudo- 

 borniales are described. The probable connection between the Spheno- 

 phy Hales and the Equisetales is clearly and critically discussed as well as 

 the connection between the Psilotaceae and the Sphenophyllaceae. In the 



