306 JOUENAL OF THE EOYAL HOETICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 



months. The best winter- berried trees and shrubs are mentioned first, 

 and well described, followed by winter-flowering trees and shrubs, and 

 those with coloured stems have not been forgotten. Owners of small 

 gardens with no glass-houses will find much to interest them in the 

 above, and those with large places will find it equally as valuable for the 

 information given by which they may enhance the ornamental parts of 

 the park or garden in winter. There are many other notes on herbaceous 

 and hard- wooded plants, winter bedding, &c., all of interest, followed by 

 plants under glass, bulbs, forced plants, &c., proving how a good supply 

 of flowers may be had all winter, providing there is the necessary 

 accommodation. The printing and style of the book are excellent, and we 

 can confidently recommend this book to all lovers of gardening. 



" Flowers and Fruit for the Home." By J. L. Richmond, F.R.H.S. 

 8vo. 247 pp. (Morton, Edinburgh ; Simpkin, London.) 5s. net. 



Another excellent book, the major part of which is devoted to 

 flowers and the remainder to fruit. The printing and illustrations are 

 very good, and out of the mass of information it is difficult to individualise 

 in any one feature ; but the chapter on water-gardens is very useful, as so 

 many are now taking up this fascinating form of gardening ; and, though 

 by no means are all the plants mentioned that can be used for this 

 purpose, most of the best are recommended. Flowers, both under glass 

 and in the open, are dealt with in a pleasing and concise manner. And 

 fruits also are treated on in the same able practical style. 



"Variation, Heredity, and Evolution." By R. H. Lock, M.A. 

 8vo. 299 pp. (John Murray, London.) Cloth, 7s. Qd. net. 



So rapid has been the progress in our knowledge of the transmission 

 of characters from parent to offspring since Mendel's laws were redis- 

 covered, and his paper unearthed, that it is well now and then to pause 

 and pass in review the theories of evolution which have been brought 

 forward in the past in the light of present-day researches. The present 

 volume is such a review, written by one of that active school of experi- 

 menters who have made their home at Cambridge, and whose aim is to 

 investigate the laws of inheritance ; and an interesting and lucid account 

 of " Recent Progress in the Study of Variation, Heredity, and Evolution," 

 as the title-page has it, has been produced. The observation of the 

 variations that occur among living organisms led to the development of 

 the theory of evolution ; but, as the author points out, much ink has 

 been spilt since the publication of Darwin's "Origin of Species" on 

 theoretical considerations and matters of opinion. Experimental methods 

 of investigations, on which Darwin set great store, were laid aside in 

 order that lengthy controversies might be entered upon, and only recently 

 has the question been lifted out of the groping darkness of abstruse 

 theorising into the fierce light of careful experiment. Quoting Bateson, 

 the author says the problem to be faced is : " How have . . . species 

 been brought into existence, and how is it they are adapted" to fit the 

 places they have to live in ? He then passes in review the various 

 theories that have been brought forward to account for the method of 



