51 
development of sporangia to asci, and of the conidia through Jlie sim¬ 
pler basidia forms to the more complex forms involved in the Basidiomy- 
cetes. The transition forms between the Phycomycetes on the one side 
and the Ascomycetes and Basidiomycetes on the other he uses to form 
a new class, the Mesomycetes, and divides it into the two parts Herni- 
asci and Hemibasidii. The fourth division is devoted to the former of 
these and treats Ascoidea rubescens , Protomyces pachydermus , and Thelo- 
bolus stercoreus in detail. 
The Ascomycetes are further divided into the Exoasci and Carpoasci, 
and the fifth division takes up four species of the former. The Carpo¬ 
asci are treated in part x. 
The prospectus for these two parts also announces the subject matter 
for three more, one of which, the eleventh, is now nearly completed and 
will form a continuation of part v on the Ustilaginem, which Brefeld 
ranks with the Hemibasidii. 
Part xii will give his culture methods in detail, and xiii will begin the 
supplement to his earlier researches on the higher fungi.—E. A. South- 
worth. 
Comes, Dr. O. Crittogamia Agraria. Naples, 1891. Pp. 600, pi. xvii. 
This work, which has just been issued by Dr. Comes, will be of great 
value to American workers, especially as it brings together in conven¬ 
ient form the latest information on the plant diseases of a number of 
countries where the literature is scattered and hard to obtain. The 
first 15 pages of the book are devoted to a discussion of the effects of. 
soil, air, temperature, etc., on vegetation. This is done, so the author 
states, to render what is said upon parasitic fungi more readily under¬ 
stood. After discussing the nature of parasitic fungi, polymorphism, 
germination of spores, classification, etc., the diseases of plants caused 
by the Peronosporem are taken up. Under this head a number of well 
known parasites, such as Phytophthorainfestans, Peronosporaparasitica, 
Plasmopara viticola , etc., are discussed. Following this are nearly 400 
pages of observations on a long list of fungous diseases. 
Chapter xxx, which opens on the 493d page, deals with the bacterial 
diseases of plants. Beginning with pear blight, the author discusses a 
bacterial disease of corn, mulberry, sorghum, potato, onion, hyacinth, 
pelargonium, pine, olive, and grape (stem). The tubercles found on 
legumes also receive considerable attention in this chapter. The vol¬ 
ume concludes with a chapter on Myxomycetes and a good index.—B. 
T. Galloway. 
Morgenthaler, J. Per Falsche Mehltau , sein Wesen und seme Be 
bampfung. Zurich, 1891. Pp. 73, figs. 5. 
German viticulturists have not as yet been obliged to combat the 
black rot fungus $ but since 1880, when the downy mildew was first found 
in Switzerland, this latter fungus has gradually forced itself upon their 
