Mr. Harbord Lewis sent a plant several years since from Allerton Road, near Liverpool, which I doubtfully named R. imbricatus; I now believe that it is really one of the Corylifolii.

(To be continued.)

NOTE ON THE GENUS PYGEUM, Gaertn.

BY H. F. HANCE, Ph.D., &c.

WHEN describing, seven years ago, a supposed new species of Pygeum, I failed to perceive its identity, of which there can be no doubt, with Prunus macrophylla, S. & Z., although I possessed a good flowering specimen of the Japanese plant. This and P. spinulosa, S. & Z., seem to me just as much allied to Pygeum as to Prunus, particularly by their thin cartilaginous putamen, though they have not the "drupa transversim latior, in medio utrinque leniter compressa " of the typical species, which suggested to Gaertner his somewhat unpoetical name. They technically belong to the section Laurocerasus, which, although combined with Padus by DeCandolle, Koch, and many other writers, is, when properly limited, a truly natural group, as long ago well insisted on by Torrey and Gray. I do not hesitate to express a decided conviction that Pygeum must be merged in this, which differs from all other sections of Prunus by its coriaceous evergreen foliage, frequently almost a quite juiceless fruit, § and thin putamen. || The remodelled group can either be retained in Prunus, or, I think preferably, and more naturally,-taking into consideration that "est propria quaedam Lauroceraso facies,"-be distinguished generically, under Tournefort's original name. A comparison of two such plants as Pygeum acuminatum, Colebr. and Prunus acuminata, Wall., will, I think, show the justice of my opinion. Mr. Kurz has recently established, under the name of Pygeopsis, a section of Prunus, distinguished only by the character "Evergreen trees; flowers racemose ;" and he remarks:-"The genus Pygeum is so closely allied to the section Pygeopsis of Prunus as to make it difficult to keep it distinct. Indeed, Pygeopsis and Prunus combined stand pretty much in the same relation to Prunus as Eriobotrya does to Pirus."** This section appears altogether

6

* Seem. Journ. Bot.,' viii., 243; where see my remarks on its extreme affinity to Prunus.

+ Gaertner, ' De fruct. et sem. Plant.,' i., 218.

§ In some species rather an achenium in its character than a drupe.

Certainly in P. macrophylla, S. & Z.; P. javanica, Miq.; P. spinulosa,

S. & Z.; and P. Junghuhniana, Miq.

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Tournefort, Inst. rei herb.,' ed. 3, curante Jussiaeo, i., 628.

**Journ. As. Soc. Bengal,' xiv., 303. Eriobotrya Photinia, Bth. & Hook., f.

identical with Miquel's previously founded Nothocerasus ;* nor can I see that it is in any way distinguishable from Laurocerasus.

SHORT NOTES.

FLORA OF LAKE LANCASHIRE (Journ. Bot. 1870, pp. 268-296). --In Miss Hodgson's herbarium, now incorporated with the general British collection in the British Museum, are some plants which are not included in her published list. Cochlearia danica (named by Mr. Baker), from Walney Island, was placed on the sheet with Arenaria serpyllifolia, and was thus overlooked. Parnassia palustris and Crepis virens were no doubt accidentally omitted. Miss Hodgson's specimens of the former are from Gillbanks, Ulverston; Plumpton Moss; and top of Hawkshead Hill. The Melilotus vulgaris of the list seems to me rather M. parviflora, Desf.; and the Daucus maritimus is not the true plant. The only specimen in Miss Hodgson's herbarium representing the Galium Mollugo of her list is G. Aparine. We have a type-specimen from Ulverston of Rosa bractescens, Woods, which is not in the list. The Erythræa littoralis of the list, so far as the Humphrey Head plant is concerned, is E. pulchella; the plants from "Plumpton salt marshes' are of both species. The names Atriplex angustifolia and A. hastata have been transposed; and Polyyonum Hydropiper, as regards the specimens from "plantations," is represented by a Rumex, apparently a young state of R. nemorosus, a species not included in the list.-JAMES BRITTEN.

SCOTCH LOCATITIES.-Rosa involuta, Sm. (R. Smithii of Baker), River Almond, near Ratho, Linlithgowshire, June 23rd, 1868, several plants.-Malaxis paludosa, Sw., on the west side of Ben Lomond, near Rowardennan, Stirlingshire, August 22nd, 1877.— On looking over some of my old gatherings, I find Carduus arvensis, Curt., B. setosus near Currie, Edinburghshire, September, 1865.A. CRAIG CHRISTIE.

*Fl. Ind. Batav.,' i. 1, 364. The only distinctions on which Miquel relies are the shape of the fruit, and the leaves, generally quite entire in Nothocerasus, and serrate in Laurocerasus. The first character is obviously inadequate to sectional distinction; and, as to the latter, P. (Nothocerasus) macrophylla, S. & Z., P. (Nothocerasus) spinulosa, S. & Z., and P. (Nothocerasus) undulata, Ham., have serrate leaves; whilst they are usually quite entire in P. (Laurocerasus) caroliniana, Ait., and invariably so in the Caribbean P. (Laurocerasus) occidentalis, Sw., and its allies.

Notices of Books and Memoirs.

Libellus de re Herbaria Novus. By WILLIAM TURNER. Originally published in 1588; reprinted in facsimile with notes, modern names, and a Life of the Author, by BENJAMIN DAYDON JACKSON, F.L.S. Privately printed. London. 1877.

MR. B. D. JACKSON has followed up his admirable reprint of Gerard's Catalogue, which has been duly noticed in these pages, with "a facsimile reprint of a still earlier work-the first publication in this country of a true botanical cast;" and he has this time availed himself of the heliotype process, the result being an absolutely perfect reproduction, in every detail, of the British Museum copy of Turner's 'Libellus.' By this means, a very rare, if not unique, book is rendered available to an enlarged circle of readers, although, as the reprint is limited to a hundred copies, it cannot be said to have become common. It is impossible to speak too highly of the mechanical portion of the work; and Mr. Jackson has enhanced its value by the sketch of Turner's life which he has prefixed to it. We do not, indeed, find many striking facts regarding this interesting man which had not previously been brought forward in the Appendix to the Flora of Middlesex;' but a copy of Turner's Will is added, and the list of his works is by far the most complete ever published.

Following the reprint is a list of the modern scientific names of the plants enumerated, some of which are, we think, open to question. This criticism is based on the fact that the English names, of which a large number are given by Turner, sometimes point to identifications other than those given by Mr. Jackson; Turner's English names are almost certainly in every case genuine, while his Latin equivalents for them, upon which Mr. Jackson has too exclusively relied, were necessarily often merely tentative. An index of these English names would be a valuable addition to the work; and we are glad to learn that it is Mr. Jackson's intention to draw up such a list for distribution to subscribers. Some of the identifications will probably at the same time come under revision; so that it is unnecessary to offer any suggestions or criticisms upon those at present given. J. B.

Vergrünungsgeschichte der Eichen von Trifolium repens. Von Dr. LAD. CELAKOVSKY. (Bot. Zeit.,' March, 1877.)

THE author maintains his position with regard to the foliar nature of the ovule. He looks upon the nucleus as an emergence from the ovulary leaf,' and combats the recently-published conclusion of Peyritsch on the shoot' nature of ovules. We venture to think that it would be far better were an evolutional teratologist

N

like Dr. Celakovsky to endeavour to find some basis for the estimation of the phylogenetic value of teratology. While engaged on this task, he would see that none of the facts with which he deals can throw any light on ovular homology, which is a problem restricted to the comparative morphology of the sexual organs. S. M.

Der Einfluss der Luftfeuchtigkeit (Influence of Moisture on Vegetation). Von PAUL SORAUER. (Botanische Zeitung,' January, 1878).

CAREFULLY conducted experiments with spring-barley yielded the following results:-In dry air branching was greater than in moist, the mean figures standing at 2.77 and 2.37 respectively; length of leaves was greater in moist air in the ratio of 21.37 to 21.07, but the breadth was less (6.74 to 7.33); a moist atmosphere is more favourable to length of leaf-sheath in the proportion of 9.26 to 8.18, to growth of the principal stem (13·5 to 11·5), and to root-development (26.8 to 23.9). It was found that the epidermal cells of the leaves were more numerous and broader, the cells between the stomates shorter, and the stomates themselves shorter in dry air. Also, that leaves developing in a moist atmosphere have comparatively fewer stomates per millimetre of length. The question is worth further working out à propos of the relation between the minute structure of organs and their environment.

S. M.

A Catalogue of the Collections in the Museum of the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. Compiled by E. M. HOLMES, F.L.S., Curator of the Museum. London. 1878.

A

THE execution of this catalogue reflects credit on the energetic compiler, who has succeeded in producing a volume which, apart from its primary object as a guide to the rich Museum of the Pharmaceutical Society, contains a large amount of useful information, in a very short form, on the drugs themselves. More than half the volume is occupied by the vegetable Materia Medica, the substances being arranged under the plants producing them alphabetically under the Natural Orders in the usual sequence. few botanical slips should be corrected in a new edition. Irvingia is a member of the Simarubacea, not of the Anacardiacea as here placed. There are two, not three, seeds in the fruit of Rhamnus Frangula. The alteration of Eucalyptus Globulus to E. globula is founded on a misconception; the author of the species intentionally used the substantive word Globulus in allusion to the button-shaped form of the fruit. Latakia tobacco has been proved to be produced by N. Tabacum, not N. rustica; the ovules in the common Juniper are alternate with the three fleshy scales, not "at the base of each;" and the leaves of the Savin are surely much less, not more," spreading than those of the former plant. But, on the whole, the

66

catalogue is very free from errors, and is enriched with numerous references to other works, and with a comprehensive index. It does not include the valuable collections bequeathed to the Society by the lamented Hanbury; these it is intended to catalogue along with his herbarium-which is very rich in some particulars e.g., Zingiberacea,—in a supplementary Catalogue.

H. T.

Fascicle 74 of the Flora Brasiliensis' contains the Humiriacea and Linea by Urban, and the Oxalidea, Geraniacea, and Vivianiacea by Progel.

Dr. Ernst, of Caracas, has published an account of a littleknown botanist, Senor J. M. Vargas, which was read before the Society of Sciences, at Caracas, on the occasion of the deposition last year, in the National Pantheon there, of the remains of the botanist. J. M. Vargas was born at La Guayra, the sea-port of Caracas, on the 2nd of March, 1786. After having concluded his medical studies in Caracas, he took his degree as M.D. in 1808, and went some years afterwards (in 1814) to Edinburgh, where he remained till 1817. He then resided in Porto Rico till 1827, when he returned to his native country, taking up his residence at Caracas, where he was named Professor of Anatomy and Surgery. He died in New York in 1854, and his remains were brought, in 1877, to Caracas. The memoir contains, as an appendix, several letters between Vargas and other botanists, especially A. P. DeCandolle, to whom he sent many plants. A list of those mentioned in the Prodromus' is here given, of which over thirty were new to science, and there first described. Dr. Ernst concludes his memoir by proposing Vargasia as a new genus of Marcgravica, founded on two species growing in Venezuela, and differing from Ruyschia in the number and arrangement of the stamens, the bilocular ovary, and the bi-convex bracts on the flower pedicels.

The lately-published History of Harting,' by the Rev. H. D. Gordon, contains a notice of the flora of that West Sussex parish, by J. Weaver.

We are glad to call attention to a new monthly journal devoted to Natural History, the Midland Naturalist (Birmingham), which, to judge from the first three numbers, will be a very useful medium of inter-communication for the members of the numerous societies in the midland counties. All branches of science are included. In botany, there are papers on Abnormal Ferns, by E. J. Lowe; the Relations of Chlorophyll and Starch, by Dr. Hinds; the Distribution of the Genus Rosa through Warwickshire, by J. E. Bagnall, &c. The editors are Messrs. Badger and Harrison, and the London agents Messrs. Hardwicke and Bogue. The Magazine is very well and neatly printed, and the price sixpence.