ure of the hinge. This is not known living. Mya truncata, Ensatella Americana, and the genuine Cyprina are also common, together with a large Natica, a Cyclocardia (or Venericardia) allied to C. borealis (Con.), but with smaller ribs, Cardium Islandicum, and also various other less common forms. These fragments came from various parts of the bank, including the central part, in depths varying from 35 to 70 fathoms, or more. From Banquereau, N. S., we received one specimen of similar rock, containing abundant fragments of a large bivalve, and about a dozen other species, among which are Fusus (Chrysodomus) decemcostatus, Latirus albus Jeff. (?), unknown species of Turritella, etc. From the Grand Bank two similar specimens were received. One of these, from thirty-five fathoms, lat. 44° 30', long. 50° 15', contained numerous specimens of Cyprina Islandica in good preservation. In gathering these specimens from the fishermen and working out the specimens, Mr. W. Upham has been very active. It will probably be possible hereafter, when these specimens shall have been more fully examined, and more obtained, to give a pretty long list of species, especially from George's Bank. At present it appears probable that these fragments have been detached from a very extensive submerged Tertiary formation, at least several hundreds of miles in length, extending along the outer banks, from off Newfoundland nearly to Cape Cod, and perhaps constituting, in large part, the solid foundations of these remarkable submarine elevations. 2. On Liquid Carbonic acid in Syenite; by Mr. G. W. HAWES. (From Mr. Hawes' New Hampshire Geological Report.)-The presence of liquid carbonic acid in the microscopic cavities that exist in the quartz of granites having been often observed, I carefully searched for it in the sections of the New Hampshire rocks. Although the number of sections was large, yet in no case was I able to find it in any of the granitic rocks, except in a syenite from Columbia, and here it occurred in the greatest abundance, and under circumstances that render its occurrence interesting. The syenite referred to is white in color, spotted with black, and macroscopically only orthoclase and hornblende are recog nizable. In thin sections, however, plagioclase, biotite, quartz and apatite are seen, and moreover calcite is found; a mineral which rarely occurs in granitic rocks. The quartz is present only in small amount, occupying angular corners between the other constituents, but every grain of it is filled with cavities, which are quite large, and many of them contain liquid carbonic acid. Its presence in connection with the calcite may indicate that calcium carbonate was a constituent of the sedimentary material from which this rock was made, and that at the temperature at which crystallization took place, a reaction occurred between the silica and the carbonate resulting in the liberation of carbonic acid. III. BOTANY AND ZOOLOGY. 1. Monographic Phanerogamarum Prodromi nunc continuatio, nunc revisio, auctoribus ALPHONSO et CASIMIR DECANDOLLE, aliisque Botanicis ultra memoratis. Vol. I, Smilaceæ, Restiaceæ, Meliacea, cum tabulis ix. Paris, Masson. June, 1878. pp. 779, roy. 8vo. In this form and way we may hope to see the Monocotyledonous orders elaborated, and some of the earlier Dicotyledonous ones re-elaborated. The middle of this volume is filled by the monograph of Restiaceae, by Dr. Masters. This is an order allied on the one hand to Juncaceae, on the other to Cyperaceae, of twenty genera and two hundred and thirty-four species, wholly of the southern hemisphere, divided between South Africa (which has much the larger share) and Australia with New Zealand, and a single species in Chili. It is not a prepossessing family, and presents peculiar difficulties to the systematist, on account of the diœcious character of most of them, and a striking difference between the plants of the two sexes, which in collections are hard to match. Much praise is due to Dr. Masters for his great labor, patience and skill. The latter half of the volume is occupied by Casimir DeCandolle with his neat revision of the Meliacea, chiefly a tropical order. The stamineal tube in the monadelphous Meliacea is concluded to be a staminiferous disk. The Smilacea by Alphonse DeCandolle form the smaller but to us the most interesting part of the volume. We are This order is restricted to three genera; two of them diœcious, Heterosmilax with united sepals, no petals, and three monadelphous stamens (East Asiatic), Smilax with separate sepals, petals, and (6-15) stamens; the third, Rhipogonum (of New Zealand and Australia), with hermaphrodite flowers. Of Smilax one hundred and eighty-six species are characterized, and a dozen or two more are obscure or doubtful. There are thirty-eight pages of prefatory generalia, in DeCandolle's best manner. pleased to find that he keeps up the specific phrase, and with true Linnæan curtness, relegating all particulars, not truly diagnostic under the sections and other divisions, to the description. In discussing the nature and characters of the leaf (which in its general sense is called "récentement et assez inutilement phyllome") the morphology of the petiolar tendrils has to be considered; the conclusion is that these answer rather to leaflets than to stipules, and the articulation, in some species well marked, between the blade and the petiole, or in the petiole, is noted as supplying good specific characters, which have been overlooked. The umbels are centrifugal or cymose. To distinguish, as is here done, the perianth into sepals and petals and to use these names when practicable, is most proper; but it hardly follows that the term perianth or perigone will then have no raison d'être. Whatever the number and position of the stamens, the carpels are superposed to the sepals, as indeed is the case in most Monocotyledons. It is perti nently noted that in Smilax, always dioecious, and with dullcolored perianth, the pollen is papillose as in most entomophilous flowers; but that Rhipogonum, the only hermaphrodite genus, has a smoothish pollen, more like that transportable by the winds. Most have odorous blossoms, some pleasantly, some the reverse. DeCandolle asks whether in our Coprosmanthus (the name of which indicates the ill odor) this is common to both sexes and the same in both. Can any of our readers speak to this? An exposition of the geographical distribution of the order, and of what is known of it in a fossil state, is followed by a statement that all the four natural sections of Smilax and the two other generai. e. all the types of the order-co-exist in the comparatively small area comprised between the north of New Holland, the Figi Islands, the Sandwich Islands, and Japan; that India has four of these six types, New Holland three, North America two, all Europe and Africa one; South America only one, but is rich in species. The speculative inference is, that, anterior to the eocene formations of Europe, the ancestors of the family occupied a continent situated in the region above indicated, of which the most ancient form was probably monoecious, gamosepalous, apetalous, monadelphous, and with more or less volatile pollen,-in short was like Heterosmilux,-that this ancestor was in that region diversified, giving origin to the five other groups, beginning with Eusmilax, the widest diffused and most numerous in species, and finishing with Rhipogonum, which with Heterosmilax has clung to its birthplace. The sole Californian Smilax is referred, as a variety, to S. rotundifolia, but is nearer S. hispida, although distinct from both. A. G. 2. The Flora of British India, by Sir J. D. HOOKER, K. C.S.I., President R. S., etc., assisted by various botanists, makes fair progress. Part V, the second part of the second volume (pp. 241 -496) is before us, undated. In it the Leguminosa by Baker are finished, the Rosacea elaborated by Dr. Hooker himself, the Saxifragacea and succeeding orders up to Halorageæ by C. B. Clarke, the Rhizophored by the Rev. G. Henslow, Combretacea by Mr. Clarke, and finally the Myrtacea by a new hand, J. F. Duthie, F.L.S. For the section of Potentilla of which P. fruticosa is the type, the name Trichothalamus is coined, a better one than Comocarpa in Torr. & Gray, Flora. Eriobotrya is kept up as a genus, as are Decaisne's Docynia and Pourthica. A. G. 3. Blüthendiagramme [Flower-diagrams] construirt und erläutert, von Dr. A. W. EICHLER, Professor Bot. Univ. Kiel.-The first part, of 348 pages, 8vo, and 176 wood-cuts, was published in 1875, (Leipzig, W. Engelmann). It was devoted to the Gymnosperms, Monocotyledons, and the Sympetalous* (Gamopetalous) Dicotyledons. The second was issued in the spring of the present year, on the eve of the author's removal to Berlin, to occupy the botanical chair vacated by the death of Braun. It deals with the Apetalous and Choripetalous [Polypetalous] Dicotyledons, *We take a fancy to this name Sympetala; but Gamopetalæ is older and in common use. intercalated into one class; it fills 575 pages and is illustrated by 237 wood-cuts. We had deferred notice of this admirable work until it should be completed. This has now happily been done; but we are unable at the present moment to prepare the detailed review which such a useful, conscientious, and able contribution to morphological botany should have. Being a work specially adapted to instruction, it ought to be translated into English; but we fear this may not just now be done, as morphology is not sufficiently appreciated. The brief introduction first explains Flower-diagrams, the mode of constructing them, and the purpose they subserve; then, some general remarks on the nature or definition of the flower, its development, and its parts, precede a brief discussion of the arrangement of the floral organs, the relation of the blossom as a whole and of its outer members to bract and bractlets; and finally inflorescence is considered, with principal reference to the terminology and classification of the cymose type. Some notes succeed on the morphology of ovula, placenta, stamina, etc. And in the preface to the second part a few pages are devoted to similar topics;-to the spiral theory of the flower-organs and the nature of placenta and ovula (the author frankly modifying his former views in consequence of the later researches of others), to Obdiplostemony (the production of the first rank of stamens opposed to petals), which is in some sort a re-discussion of outgrowths and intercalary leaves, as treated in notes to the first volume. These discussions, and the presentations by diagrams and otherwise of the particular morphology of the natural orders in systematic sequence, mark this work as one of the first impor tance. A. G. 4. Repertorium Annuum Literatura Periodica, cur. G. ВонNENSIEG et W. BURCK. Tom. iv, for 1875. Harlaem, 1878. 283 pp. 8vo. Having noticed the preceding volumes, we would renew the expression of admiration for the careful and thorough manner in which this work is planned and executed. The classification of topics is very detailed and special; and there is a full index of names of genera and orders, and another of authors. A. G. 5. Synopsis of the Genus Aquilegia, by J. G. BAKER.-A contribution to the Gardener's Chronicle, London, concluded in the number for August 17, 1878; intended specially for horticultural use, but also of botanical consequence, arranging under artificial groups and describing in a plain way twenty-seven species. A northern Rocky Mountain Columbine, A. Jonesii of Dr. Parry, appears not to be known to the writer. It is rather strange that A. chrysantha and A. cærulea (of which Mr. Baker seems to know only the almost white form) should fall under different sections, even when these are founded on size of flower; but this comes from the sepals only giving the measure. A. truncata, the Californian species, is quite distinct from A. formosa (which grows farther north and east), and is handsomer in cultivation. When the characters are once apprehended, either in live or dried specimens, there will be no need of again confusing them. AM. JOUR. SCI.-THIRD SERIES, VOL. XVI, No. 94.-Oct., 1878. A. G. 6. Note on the Reëstablishment of Forests in Iowa now in progress; by Prof. C. A. WHITE. (Communicated.)--In the admirable lecture on Forest Geography and Archæology by Professor Asa Gray, published in the August and September numbers of this Journal there is a single passing allusion or hypothetical statement which I think involves an error. I refer to the two closing sentences on page 94 of the August number which read thus: "The difficulty of re-foresting bleak New England coasts, which were originally well wooded, is well known. It is equally, but probably not more difficult to establish forest on an Iowa prairie with proper selection of trees." It is plain that Professor Gray intended in those sentences to state the difficulty of re-foresting only hypothetically in order to meet the question, "Why have the trees not grown where they might have done, and grown again where they have been destroyed ?"; and in the preceding paragraph on the same page he had given a correct and concise statement of the true arboreal status of Iowa. In view of the grand facts and generalizations presented in that lecture the objection here raised is very insignificant, but the statement referred to involves a question which to the people of Iowa is of the greatest economic importance, and this is my only reason for calling attention to it. In vol. i, pp. 129-132 I have given a statement of the results of many years observations in Iowa and adjoining States of which the following is the substance. All varieties of forest trees that are indigenous to that region will grow thriftily upon all varieties of its soil, when transplanted or propagated from the seed. Wherever the annual fires have been prevented, and no effort has been made to prevent the growth of forest trees, they have rapidly taken possession of originally prairie surfaces and changed them to dense forests. The forest area of Iowa has been increasing ever since its first settlement by white men, even beyond the amount consumed, and it is rapidly increasing to-day, both by natural growth and artificial propagation. The latter may be so readily accomplished that an Iowa farmer grows his forest with the same certainty and facility that he does his corn and wheat. I do not intend to discuss the question why these facts exist; I only state them as I know them; but the following words by Professor Gray upon this point strike me as not only sagacious, but strictly true. "I am disposed, on general considerations, to think that the line of demarkation between our woods and our plains is not where it was drawn by nature. I suspect that the irregular border line may have. been rendered more irregular, and have been carried further eastward wherever nature of soil or circumstances of exposure predisposed to it." 7. Entomological Contributions, No. IV; by J. A. LINTNER. (Printed in advance from the Thirtieth Annual Report on the New York State Museum.) 144 pp. 8vo. Albany, June, 1878.— A series of twenty-seven separate papers, of which the first three are upon a "hair-worm" (Mermis acuminata) parasitic on the apple-worm larva, the new carpet-bug, and the grape-seed fly. |