REVIEWS AND BOOK NOTICES. 



We have received the Fifty-fifth Annual Report and Transactions for 

 1906-7 of the Nottingham Naturalists Society, issued April i8th, 

 1908. 73 pp. 



It is a very valuable record. Mr. A. T. INIetcalfe's presidential address 

 on ' The Geology and Scenery of the Derbyshire Dales ' is an excellent 

 chapter in local geography and geology. Mr. A. R. Horwood, of the 

 Leicester IMuseum, contributes an exhaustive list and bibliography in his 

 ' Contribution to the Palaeontology of the North Derbyshire and Notts. 

 Coalfield.' This is illustrated by two very good plates of typical fossil 

 plants from the Middle Coal-Measures of Derbyshire. Prof. J. W. Carr 



contributes ' The Herbarium Nottinghamiense of Thomas Jowett ' a 



collection of plants made nearly a centur}^ ago, and now cared for in 

 Nottingham. Some of the species enumerated are not now represented 

 in the county flora. There is also a page devoted to ' The Microscopical 

 Section ' of the Society. We are kindly permitted to reproduce the 

 illustrations of the Derbyshire Coal-Measure fossils for the benefit of our 

 readers (see Plate XXVIII.). 



Mosses and Liverworts, by T. H. Russel, F.L.S. London : 

 Sampson Low, Marston, pp. ix. and 200, eleven plates, one coloured. 

 Price 4/6 net. 



This book has been written by one who loves the mosses, and delights 

 to chat about them. He tells pleasantly the life stories of the more common 

 forms, has much of interest to say about their habitats, form and structure, 

 in simple and clear language, which makes the book enjoyable reading.' 

 He avoids, where possible, technical terms, and when any' are used, ex- 

 plains them clearly, aided by well-drawn figures on the plates, one of which 

 we are permitted to reproduce, the explanation of which shows the 

 author's use of the term 'Flower.' One or two points, however, call for 

 criticism. Attempts to avoid technical terms are very liable to fail, and 

 here we find the author describing the antheridia as ' fertilising flowers,' 

 and saying that they ' correspond broadly with the stamens of an ordinary 

 flower.' He fails to point out that these structures are not homologous, 

 and belong to different generations in the life cycle. Similarly, archegonia 

 are called ' fruit-bearing flowers,' and this leads to many crude statements 

 re fertilisation of which the author does not seem very familar. Nothing 

 is said about alternation of generations,, and its significance in the life 

 cycle of mosses, and he fails to indicate the true relationship between 

 the ■ fruit ' and the leafy plant. These essential and elementary points 

 ought not to be omitted in a book of this character. There is room for a 

 chatty work on mosses, but in a future edition the author should clear up 

 the ambiguities and mis-statements of the present one. We are permitted 

 to reproduce one of the plates (Plate XXIX.), of which the following is 

 the explanation : — i. First growth irom Spore — Chiloscyphus polyanthos ; 

 I a, Germ plant — Pellia epiphylla ; 2. Flower-bud — Jungermania sphcero- 

 carpa ; 3. Flower cup (Colesule) — Fnillania dilatata ; 4. Veil (Calyptra) — 

 Metzgeria furcata ; 5. Flower-cup and Fertilised Flower — Radula Com- 

 planata ; 6. Flowers (Antheridia) — Diplophyllum albicans ; 7. Flower 

 (Archegonium) — DiplophyUum aibicans ; 8. Flowers (Archegonia, young) 

 — Diplophyllum aibicans ; 9. Veil — Frullania dilatata; 10. Flower-cup and 

 ripe Capsule — Cephalozia bicuspidata ; 11. Flower-cup, ruptured Veil and 

 Capsule — Radula complanata ; 12. Capsules — Lophocolea cuspidata ; 13. 

 Gemmae on leaf — Jungermania sphcerocarpa ; 14. Head of Gemmae — Junger- 

 mania sphoerocarpa ; 15. Spores and Elaters — Fosscnibronia cristata : 16. 

 Elaters — Frullania germana ; 17. Elaters adhering to empty Capsule — 

 Frullania dilatata; 18. Receptacle for Gemmae on frondose plant — 

 Marchantia polymorpha ; 19. Gemmae — Marchantia polymotpha ; 20. (a) 

 Antheridium of Liverwort {Diplophyllum albicans) and (b) of Moss 

 iSphagnuni cymbi- folium). 



Naturalist, 



