62 
BRITISH UREDINEM AND USTILAGINEM* 
The promised “ Monograph of the Uredines ” has now been pub- 
lished in a handsome volume, against the “get-up” and appear- 
ance of which nothing can be urged of more importance than the 
colour of the binding, which may be eccentric, but it is not “nice.” 
Fortunately neither a good man nor a good book depends on the 
colour of the coat in an estimate of value. It is generally enough 
known, amongst readers of this journal, that we do not accept the 
hypothesis advanced by Mr. Plowright as sufficient or as proven. 
Apart from this, and with a reservation to that extent, we proceed 
to an unprejudiced examination of the work in question. The first 
hundred pages are biological. The remaining two hundred are 
systematic. The former portion includes — Mycelium of the Uredinese, 
Spermogonia, iEcidiospores, Uredospores, Teleutospores, Heterm- 
cism, Mycelium of the Ustilaginem, Germination of Teleutospores, 
Infection of Host Plants, Spore Culture, and Artificial Infection 
of Plants. The latter portion contains descriptions of the British 
Uredinem, Imperfect forms, Descriptions of British Ustilaginem, 
Allied and associated species, The Barberry law of Massachusetts, 
Glossary, List of authors quoted, Index of Host plants, Biological 
Index, and Index of species, the whole illustrated with 13 woodcuts 
and 8 plates. The type employed is new and clear, the pages free 
from all crowding, the paper good, so that altogether it is a book 
agreeable to handle and read. 
The author appears to have done his work as carefully and con- 
scientiously as the printer. The biological portion is forcibly and 
lucidly explained, and the peculiar views are urged with modera- 
tion, but with unflinching perseverance. It is no small praise to 
add that throughout the whole work there is an entire absence of 
those disagreeable personalities, which serve no useful purpose, and 
are petty in themselves, but which have sadly disfigured some 
scientific books. This is, we presume, the first time that Mr. C. 
B. Plowright has made his appearance as the author of a whole 
volume, entirely to himself. We congratulate him most heartily 
on the result, for the slight criticisms we shall hereafter make are 
insufficient to affect the general character of the work. 
There appear to be some few botanists who love to banish old 
and well-established specific names in favour of others, which they 
are ready to suppose have a still older and prior claim. It is not 
too much to say that, even in cases where priority could be claimed, 
it is seldom advisable to increase synonymy by such unnecessary 
alterations. Whenever the alteration is made, it should be made, 
* “A Monograph of the British Uredinem and Ustilaginem,” by C. B. 
Plowright, with woodcuts and eight plates. London : Kegan Paul, Trench, 
and Co., 1889. 
