88 



JOUENAL OF THE ROYAL HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



The author is doubtful as to the " Inheritance of acquired 

 characters " (pp. 24, 25, 32); but this has been proved by ecologists, 

 as Warming, Hen slow, and others, to be the case. 



The author regards natural selection as the "deciding factor"; 

 but as far as the origin of species is concerned, there is no selection, 

 but only ''fortuitous destruction," as Darwin calls it. In a patch of 

 seedlings, if they vary at all in growing up they all vary alike, and 

 those which die do so by being crowded out. When plants are adult 

 and struggle together, it is the better adapted under the circumstances \ 

 which live. 



He regards the green freshwater Algae as the ancestors of the land 

 plants. If so, how is it they do not set to work and make some more? i 

 They may be degradations and not primitive : while the true ancestors j 

 probably died out myriads of years ago. I 



Nothing is said of the origin of Monocotyledons from Dicotyledonous ! 

 aquatic plants, as suggested by Henslow. The former show an abund- ! 

 ance of degradations from the influence of water. Dealing with 

 pollination, the author does not realize the superior advantages of self- \ 

 fertilization; for the only ends " of plant-life are a healthy existence | 

 and abundance of seed. j 



With regard to antiquity, he suggests that Angiosperms " probably ' 

 appeared rather suddenly." He means they have only been discovered 

 in the lower Cretaceous beds ; but the reason is that the land surfaces | 

 and estuaries, etc., are exceedingly rare in the secondary strata; they | 

 are mostly marine. i 



Apart from the above criticism, the book is mainly composed of : 

 short accounts of the principal groups of plants, from the lower | 

 Cryptograms to the Angiosperms; but while the author thus deals \ 

 fairly with plant-lffe, the reader will not gather much about evolu- 

 tionary processes, and how they brought about the existing types of 

 vegetable life. 1 



'' The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne, in the County 

 of Southampton." By Gilbert W^hite. With Illustrations in colour 

 by G. E. Collins, E.B.A. la. Bvo. 476 pp. (Macmillan, London, 

 1911.) 10s. M. net. 



This is a handsome edition, 10 inches by 7 inches, bound in green 

 cloth. There are twenty-four illustrations in colours of various scenes 

 in the neighbourhood of a very picturesque character. 



" Saturday in My Garden." By F. Hadfield Farthing. Svo. 

 484 pp. (Grant Eichards, London, 1911.) 3s. Q>d. net. j 



This book is a reproduction of articles and diagrams first published 

 in the Daily Express, with the addition of many new chapters, photo- 

 graphs, &c., which make the book more interesting than it perhaps 

 might have been without them. It is specially written for amateurs, . 

 and the author has succeeded admirably in doing what he intended. 



