BOOK REVIEWS. 



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peculiarities of the leaves of the hornbeam and bark of the Sweet or 

 Spanish Chestnut could not have been more distinct or truthful in 

 delineation. 



"Ancient Plants." By Marie 0. Stopes, D.Sc, Ph.D. 8\t>., 

 198 pp. (Blackie, London, 1910.) 4s. 6^^. net. - 



Fossil plants receive much less attention than fossil animals from 

 tho"se who take only a general interest in the past history of our planet. 

 A gigantic saurian or huge ammonite naturally arrests attention. It is 

 obviously " something new and strange " to the observer. It is other- 

 wise with fossil plants. It requires definite botanical knowledge to see 

 the significance of a Lycopod as tall as an oak. Moreover, the main 

 results of the study of fossil plants are achieved by the aid of micro- 

 scopic investigation of thin sections of petrified " material. All this 

 is beyond the reach of the general reading public. But of late years 

 indifference has given place to interest. Most students of botany and 

 geology now realize the immense importance of fossil botany, while 

 many who are not seriously working at these subjects are sufficiently 

 interested in the story of the earth's past to desire to know all that can 

 be taught in a clear, well- written account of the subject, which shall 

 be -accurate but not too technical. Such an account is given in the 

 volume before us. Dr. Stopes thinks, and we agree with her, that her 

 book will also be useful to university students who may wish to take a 

 general survey of the whole field of fossil botany before proceeding to 

 Scott's " Studies " or Seward's "Fossil Plants," to name two out 

 of many excellent works for advanced students. Miss Stopes writes in 

 an "Bttractive style, while the work is well illustrated by diagrams and 

 photographs. An account is first given of the various ways in which 

 |)lants, become fossils. Coal and "coal-balls" (the greatest of all 

 trea^res to a fossil botanist) next receive attention. After chapters 

 on the " seven (geological) ages of plants," and on the " stages of plant 

 evolution, " , the writet* proceeds to deal with the miriute structure of 

 fossil .plants, on \yhich so much depends. The book then proceeds to 

 give Past Histories' of Plant Families, " begirinirig with the highest 

 flovv^ering plants,^ and working back through Gymnosperms (including 

 Cordaitales and Ginkgo), Cycads, and Pteridosperms to Ferns. Miss 

 Stopes Qarefully points out that while Bennettites certainly possessed 

 hermaphrodite " flowers," yet it is quite unlikely that such a " flower " 

 ever gave rise to the; flower of the Angiosperms. Bennettites is highly 

 specialized in its own' way, but lies off the main line of descent. Taking 

 then a different group, the book describes the past history of Lycopods, 

 Horsetails, and of the Sphenophyllales. The lower plants receive 

 some attention, and a chapter is devoted to " Fossil Plants as Eecords 

 of Ancient Countries." Useful hints are given to amateur collectors. 

 The work is very carefully written, and the student who uses it as an 

 introduction to the study of ancient plants will have nothing to unlearri 

 at a later stage. 



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