THURSDAY, AUGUST 24, 1871

COOKE'S HANDBOOK OF BRITISH FUNGI Handbook of British Fungi. By M. C. Cooke, M.A. 8vo., pp. 982, tab., fig. 408. (London: Macmillan and Co, 1871.)

THE

HE study of Fungi in this country has gradually attained an importance which is sufficiently indicated by the appearance of the present much-needed work, comprising as it does the characters of no less than 369 genera and above 2,800 species. The works of Bolton and Sowerby at the latter end of the last and the commencement of the present century had laid a solid foundation for a study which, however, attracted but comparatively few students. There was, however, no genera treatise on fungi, in our own language, to which referencel could be made, till 1821, when Gray's "Natural Arrangement of British Plants" gave the English botanist an opportunity of becoming acquainted with the labours of Nees von Esenbeck and other continental botanists, a very important share of the labour having been undertaken by Dr. J. E. Gray. A storm of opposition was raised against it because of its recommendation of a natural system, a recommendation which was then thought sufficient to justify an exclusion from well-deserved honours; a virulent attack was made in the British Critic, and the work fell in consequence, notwithstanding its merits, almost dead from the press. Some ten or fifteen years later, Sir W. J. Hooker undertook the completion of the English Flora, which had not gone beyond the higher Cryptogams, his own "Scottish Flora,” Greville's "Flora Edinensis," and the "Scottish Cryptogamic Flora" having already done much for fungi, when the preparation of the part of the work relating to those plants was entrusted to the Rev. M. J. Berkeley, who had made an especial study, especially of the higher Fungi, and had already discovered the true structure of the hymenium, which had, however, long before been indicated under Agaricus comatus in the "Flora Danica." From the time of the publication of his volume, continual accessions were made, especially by Mr. C. E Broome and Mr. G. H. K. Thwaites, who has since done so much for this interesting tribe as well as in the higher orders of plants in Ceylon, and which have been incorporated in a series of memoirs in the "Magazine and Annals of Natural History," either singly by Mr. Berkeley or jointly with Mr. Broome; nor must we omit Mr. Currey's very important contribution to the knowledge of our British Sphæriæ, of which it is scarcely possible to overrate the value as regards the characters of the fructification. It was then proposed by Messrs. Reeve to publish Outlines of British Fungology, confining, however, the description to those species which did not require much microscopic aid, but adding a list of all the known species so far as the existing state of information went. Mr. Broome and Mr. Currey, with several others, have persistently carried on the study of these plants, the knowledge of which is every day advancing, and as Mr. Berkeley's work was confessedly imperfect, we have great reason to be thankful to Mr. Cooke for undertaking the very laborious, and, fear, scarcely remunerative labours which he has so successfully accomplished. No student of Fungi can be

VOL. IV.

we

without the two volumes, and they certainly ought to have a place in every botanical library of the slightest pretension. The work has throughout been conducted in the most conscientious way, and infinite pains have been taken to verify the obscurer species, in which the author has had the ready assistance of those botanists in this country who have paid most attention to these difficult plants. Mr. Cooke has very wisely been content to follow the more generally established systems without attempting any new arrangement, which at present would only entail needless obscurity. He has, we think, very judiciously given the characters of all species which, with any degree of justice, have been considered as autonomous; though more than reasonable doubts have been thrown on many of them by the labours of Tulasne, and the real nature of such genera as Cytispora, &c., had been long since previously indicated by Fries. When all the different stages of development have been thoroughly studied, the number of genera will doubtless be much restricted, as it has been already by the elimination of mere mycelia. It would, however, be premature to pass by numbers of Sphæronemei, Mucedines, &c., because some of them have been clearly ascertained to be mere conditions of ascigerous species. We are glad, too, that Saprolegniæ are included; though this very curious set of plants has been less studied in this country than on the Continent. The occurrence of zoospores is now no obstacle to their being considered as conditions of Fungi, since we have distinct zoospores in such genera às Peronospora, and the whole tribe of Myxogastres. It is but justice to state that Mr. Cooke has had some valuable assistance amongst the higher Fungi from Mr. W. G Smith, who is so well known as a botanical artist, and whose communications cannot fail to have materially enriched the work, the execution of which throughout has been beyond all praise, in which should be included the copious index It is not to be supposed that in so extensive and difficult a subject a critical eye could not find a few errors, but they are few in number and of little importance. The gravest to which we might advert is that in the characters of several of the genera proposed by Tulasne, there is no mention of the secondary forms on which several of them are established, though they are not omitted where species are concerned. This is, however, a matter of comparative unimportar.ce, and a few spots on which the finger might be placed do not detract from the general merit of the work, which we cordially recommend on many accounts to our readers, assuring them that the moderate price at which it is published could scarcely be better employed in any other scientific direction.

OUR BOOK SHELF

Matter for Materialists. By Thomas Doubleday. (London: Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer; Newcastleupon-Tyne: Andrew Reid, 1870).

The Beginning: its When and its How. By Mungo Ponton, F.R.S.E. (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1871.)

THIS age is essentially a materialistic one, but few are found who adhere to systems of philosophy based on the assumption that matter has no real existence. - Mr. Doubleday, however, is one of the few, and he has pub

S

mounds were made by Indians of Tupi descent. He thinks, on the other hand, that there are many resemblances between the pottery of Marajó and that of Peru and North America that are well worth study.

SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES

PARIS

Association Scientifique de France July 29.-M. Leverrier in the chair. The meeting took place in the hall of the Society for the Encouragement of National Industry, in the Rue Bonaparte, an 1 was the first meeting since M. Leverrier was Director of the National Observatory. Subsequently to his dismissal an Imperial decree, dated July 13, 1870, had proclaimed the association to be an institution of public interest; but no meeting took place in consequence of the events of the war. The number of members amounts to ten thousand, subscribing eight shillings each, and the funds of the society are to be employed in promoting scientific experiments. The society is governed by a stan·ling committee. M. Glais Bizoin, a member of the delegate government, M. Barral, the celebrated agriculturist, and many other scientific gentlemen, are counsellors. Many of the subscriptions were discontinued during the war, and it is expected that not a few members will resign, owing to the pressure of the times; but an active propagandism is contemplated. The national exchequer being impoverished by the war indemnity, and every scientific expense being curtailed or suppressed, much is to be hoped from private exertions for saving France from scientific degradation. It is rumoured that the laboratories established at the Sorbonne and other public establishments by the Empire during M. Duruy's ministry will be closed for want of money.-M. Sanson, the general secretary, read a report adopted by the council at the meeting of July 18, which was also adopted by the General Assembly. Every member is asked ¡most earnestly to pay at once all the contributions in arrear, and the contributions which become due up to the month of March 1872. In doing so the Association will be enabled to enlarge the field of its opepations, and to start with new life. The Association publishes every month a periodical, which is sent free to all its members, and is sold at the very low price of 2s. 6d. a year. This periodical publishes the account of the monthly meetings, as well as much scientific news of general interest. It was resolved that the immediate attention of the Association should be devoted to the determination of the reports of the amount of rain in France, a subject of the highest importance for all agricultural purposes; and to the observation of falling stars, a subject not less useful for the science of the constitution of the earth. The meteorological correspondents of the Society are instructed to notice the variations in the distribution of rain, which can be attributed to the presence of woods or the'r destruction, for agricultural purposes, as well as any facts relating to the pluviometrical history of the country. A special instruction is to be sent to those who have volunteered for the observation of falling stars, everyone is to be qualified by a previous instruction in the knowledge of the constellations. The society published two or three years ago special maps, similar to the maps published by the British Association for the same purpose, but differing in many important details. M. Pierret, the director of the telegraphic lines, has given strict orders that telegraphic lines could be made use of for the comparison of the chronometers used in the stations. The exchange of telegrams will take place on the 9th, 10th, and 11th August, at four o'clock in the evening, and at eight in the morning, between the different places, where temporary observations are to be made. Paris, Evrecy (Calvados), Mans, Chartres, Rochefort, Poitiers, Bordeaux, Limoges, Toulouse, La Guerche, Montpellier, Marseilles, Tournus, Lyons, Barcelonette, Toulon, Nice, Genoa, Turin, Bayonne, Agde: twenty-one stations and several in Italy or in Spain in connection with the French system. Competent calculators are to reduce and compare observations. If the funds of the Society are sufficient, the labours will be paid for. The watch will be kept during the nights from 9-10, 10-11, 11-12. M. Leverrier will revise the calculations, give the proper directions for observations and draw the general report.-M. Bert, who was formerly a prefect at Lille during the investment of Paris, has resumed his labours at the Jardin des Plantes, and read a very able paper on respiration.-M. Dagrou, a photographer, who escaped from Paris by balloon, read a paper on microscopic photograph, which he organised at Tours and at Bordeaux. The photograph

is executed on a film of collodion, which he calls a pellicle, and which is lighter than paper; it is, besides, perfectly homogenous, and can be submitted to very powerful instruments. M. Dagrou obtained extraordinary effects, which can be judged from the following facts. Each pellicle has a weight of less than of a gramme, and the matter photographised on it is sufficient to fill from twelve to sixteen folio pages of ordinary print. A single pigeon carries 50,000 messages, weighing less than a gramme. During the investment of Paris 115,000 messages were sent in succession, but several of them were sent fifteen times. total number of messages sent, counting each repetition a new one, was 2,500,000; of the carrier-pigeons very few found their way to Paris, and these 'chiefly at the end of the investment. But owing to the repetition system, almost every message was received. Some of them were late, it is true, several carrierpigeons having returned in February only. Observations are asked for a large bolide of the 19th of July, which might possibly have been observed in England.

BOOKS RECEIVED

The

ENGLISH-A Course of Natural Philosophy: R. Wormell (Groombridge and Sons).-An Elementary Course of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics, 2nd edition: R. Wormell (Groombridge and Sons).

AMERICAN.-Twentieth Annual Report of the Regents of the University of the State of New York on the Condition of the State Cabinet of Natural History. Annual Report of the Board of Regen's of the Smithsonian Institution, 1869.- Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture for 1869.-Monthly Reports of the Department of Agriculture for 1870.-Reports on the Diseases of Cattle in the United States.

PAMPHLETS RECEIVED

ENGLISH.-Life and the Equivalence of Force, pt. 11.; Nature of Force and Life: J. Drysdale -On the Undercurrent of the Ocean: Capt. Spratt, -Lisdoonvarna Spas and Sea-side Places of Clare: Dr. Mapother.-Abstract of the Reports of Survey, and of other Geographical Operations in India, 1869-70.-On Recent Investigations and Applications of Explosive Agents: Prof F. A. Abel.-Reply to Prof. Allen Thomson's Address to the British Association (Section D): R. H. Collyer.-Review of the Lancet's article on the History of Anesthetic Discovery: R. H Collyer.-Mysteries of the Vital Element: R. H. Collyer.-John Hampden Triumphant.-A Shilling's Worth of Political Economy: N. A. Nicholson.-Brazilian Republican Address.--Handbook of Devonshire: Exeter.

AMERICAN AND COLONIAL.-On the Evidence of a Glacial Epoch at the Equator: Prof. J Orton.-The Huron Race and its Head-form: D. Wilson. Note on the Spectrum of the Corona: Prof. C. A. Young. -The Western Educational Review, July.-Embryological Studies on Diplax, Perithemis, and the Thysanurous genus Inostoma: A. S. Packard, junr.-Volcanic Manifestations in New England: W. T. Brigham.-Proceedings, Communication, and Bulletin of the Essex Institute; a parcel.-Proceedings of the Albany Institute, vol. 1, pt. 1.-In Memoriam Francis Peabody.-On Insects inhabiting Salt Waters, No. 2: A. S. Packard, jun. -Bristle-tails and Spring-tails: A. S. Packard, jun.-List of Insects collected at Pebas, Equador: A. S. Packard, jun.-Early Stages of Ichneumon Parasites: A S Packard, jun.Morphology and Ancestry of the King Crabs A. S. Packard, jun-Embryology of Limulus Polyphemus: A. S Packard, jun-Catalogue of the Balanide of California :-A. S. Packard, jun.

FOREIGN-Bulletin Mensuel de la Société d'Acclimatation -Sulla influenza delle materie minerali, nei processi nutritivi dell' organismɔ umano: Dr. G. Polli.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 24, 1871

COOKE'S HANDBOOK OF BRITISH FUNGI Handbook of British Fungi. By M. C. Cooke, M.A. 8vo., pp. 982, tab., fig. 408. (London: Macmillan and Co, 1871.)

THE

HE study of Fungi in this country has gradually attained an importance which is sufficiently indicated by the appearance of the present much-needed work, comprising as it does the characters of no less than 369 genera and above 2,800 species. The works of Bolton and Sowerby at the latter end of the last and the commencement of the present century had laid a solid foundation for a study which, however, attracted but comparatively few students. There was, however, no genera treatise on fungi, in our own language, to which referencel could be made, till 1821, when Gray's "Natural Arrangement of British Plants" gave the English botanist an opportunity of becoming acquainted with the labours of Nees von Esenbeck and other continental botanists, a very important share of the labour having been undertaken by Dr. J. E. Gray. A storm of opposition was raised against it because of its recommendation of a natural system, a recommendation which was then thought sufficient to justify an exclusion from well-deserved honours; a virulent attack was made in the British Critic, and the work fell in consequence, notwithstanding its merits, almost dead from the press. Some ten or fifteen years later, Sir W. J. Hooker undertook the completion of the English Flora, which had not gone beyond the higher Cryptogams, his own "Scottish Flora," Greville's "Flora Edinensis," and the "Scottish Cryptogamic Flora" having already done much for fungi, when the preparation of the part of the work relating to those plants was entrusted to the Rev. M. J. Berkeley, who had made an especial study, especially of the higher Fungi, and had already discovered the true structure of the hymenium, which had, however, long before been indicated under Agaricus comatus in the "Flora Danica." From the time of the publication of his volume, continual accessions were made, especially by Mr. C. E Broome and Mr. G. H. K. Thwaites, who has since done so much for this interesting tribe as well as in the higher orders of plants in Ceylon, and which have been incorporated in a series of memoirs in the " Magazine and Annals of Natural History," either singly by Mr. Berkeley or jointly with Mr. Broome; nor must we omit Mr. Currey's very important contribution to the knowledge of our British Sphæriæ, of which it is scarcely possible to overrate the value as regards the characters of the fructification. It was then proposed by Messrs. Reeve to publish Outlines of British Fungology, confining, however, the description. to those species which did not require much microscopic aid, but adding a list of all the known species so far as the existing state of information went. Mr. Broome and Mr. Currey, with several others, have persistently carried on the study of these plants, the knowledge of which is every day advancing, and as Mr. Berkeley's work was confessedly imperfect, we have great reason to be thankful to Mr. Cooke for undertaking the very laborious, and, we fear, scarcely remunerative labours which he has so successfully accomplished. No student of Fungi can be

VOL. IV.

without the two volumes, and they certainly ought to have a place in every botanical library of the slightest pretension. The work has throughout been conducted in the most conscientious way, and infinite pains have been taken to verify the obscurer species, in which the author has had the ready assistance of those botanists in this country who have paid most attention to these difficult plants. Mr. Cooke has very wisely been content to follow the more generally established systems without attempting any new arrangement, which at present would only entail needless obscurity. He has, we think, very judiciously given the characters of all species which, with any degree of justice, have been considered as autonomous; though more than reasonable doubts have been thrown on many of them by the labours of Tulasne, and the real nature of such genera as Cytispora, &c., had been long since previously indicated by Fries. When all the different stages of development have been thoroughly studied, the number of genera will doubtless be much restricted, as it has been already by the elimination of mere mycelia. It would, however, be premature to pass by numbers of Sphæronemei, Mucedines, &c., because some of them have been clearly ascertained to be mere conditions of ascigerous species. We are glad, too, that Saprolegniæ are included; though this very curious set of plants has been less studied in this country than on the Continent. The occurrence of zoospores is now no obstacle to their being considered as conditions of Fungi, since we have distinct zoospores in such genera as Peronospora, and the whole tribe of Myxogastres. It is but justice to state that Mr. Cooke has had some valuable assistance amongst the higher Fungi from Mr. W. G Smith, who is so well known as a botanical artist, and whose communications cannot fail to have materially enriched the work, the execution of which throughout has been beyond all praise, in which should be included the copious index It is not to be supposed that in so extensive and difficult a subject a critical eye could not find a few errors, but they are few in number and of little importance. The gravest to which we might advert is that in the characters of several of the genera proposed by Tulasne, there is no mention of the secondary forms on which several of them are established, though they are not omitted where species are concerned. This is, however, a matter of comparative unimportar.ce, and a few spots on which the finger might be placed do not detract from the general merit of the work, which we cordially recommend on many accounts to our readers, assuring them that the moderate price at which it is published could scarcely be better employed in any other scientific direction.

OUR BOOK SHELF

Matter for Materialists. By Thomas Doubleday. (London : Longmans, Green, Reader, and Dyer ; Newcastleupon-Tyne: Andrew Reid, 1870).

The Beginning: its When and its How. By Mungo Ponton, F.R.S.E. (London: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1871.)

THIS age is essentially a materialistic one, but few are found who adhere to systems of philosophy based on the assumption that matter has no real existence. Mr. Doubleday, however, is one of the few, and he has pub

S

lished "a series of letters in vindication and extension of the principles regarding the nature of existence of the Right Rev. Dr. Berkeley, Lord Bishop of Cloyne." His argument is that our notions of time, motion, and magnitude are merely relative; that the idea of space in the abstract is entirely beyond the grasp of the human mind, and leads to a series of absurdities and contradictions. But without such a conception, our notions as to matter are untenable, and hence we are driven to seek for other principles to explain the nature of existence. These Mr. Doubleday believes are to be found in the system of philosophy which Bishop Berkeley founded, or rather the idea of which he indicated, although he did not live to bring it to perfection. This, the most purely idealistic system ever promulgated, entirely denies the existence of matter, and holds that there are only spirits, thinking beings whose nature consists of conception and voli ion; whose sensations are derived from one superior Spirit in whom they exist. Mr. Doubleday, after endeavouring to show that unless we adopt this view we are led into innumerable contradictions, asserts that materialism is the parent of scepticism, since a mind which finds itself involved in a hopeless struggle to reconcile inconsistencies, takes refuge in believing nothing. All this the author expresses clearly and concisely, so that even those who are i ot inclined to accept his views will read his work with pleasure, and are sure to glean some new ideas from it. At the same time, when opinions almost universally held are attacked, it is necessary that he who assails them should be scrupulously accurate even in matters of little importance. Therefore it is a bad fault that we find in this work chemical formulæ, given at the very outset, in which P is taken as the symbol of Platinum, and Ch as .hat of Chlorine. It is also astonishing to find any one who supports the "emission" theory of heat, and who does so chiefly by quibbling about the expressions used by those who have so conclusively shown that heat is a mode of motion.

"The Beginning," the other book at which we have to glance, is one of those volumes which seem a mere confusion of facts, which, though they may be interesting in themselves, lose their value from having no proper connection or arrangement. Consisting of nearly six hundred pages, this work has in it a little of everything; but to find out what it all leads to, and what is the general drift of the whole, is next to impossible. Just at the end the author devotes a separate and comparatively small space to considering the possibility of reconciling the Hebrew records relating to the Beginning with modern scientific discoveries. In this more method is found than in the body of the work, and the conclusion arrived at, that we must "exclude all other suppositions save that of regarding the creative epochs as periods of indefinite and immense duration," is one to which few will be disposed to object. Yet in this also stray facts seem to lie upon the pages as if scattered indiscriminately from a pepper-box. The plates with which the work is illustrated are certainly very good; but we fear that it is one of those expensive books that find few purchasers.

The author writes with much enthusiasm and hopefulness of the people, the products, and the progress of the country, where he was received with such exuberant hospitality; although, considering the short time he was in the country, and the conditions under which the tour was made, anything like a full and reliable account of the political, social, and commercial condition of the country was not to be looked for. We believe, however, most readers will know much more about the life manners of the Mexicans after than before reading the work. The author has fervid Republican propensities, and we fear writes too often with red ink. He has nothing but little words for the Maximilian episode, and regards the unfortunate would-be Emperor as an unprincipled heartless adventurer. We are glad to see the author has paid considerable attention to the state of education in the country, and if we can at all rely upon his statistics, it is in a much more hopeful state than Europeans are generally inclined to believe. Th re appears to be plenty of funds set apart chiefly by the benevolent for educational and charitable purposes; indeed, according to Colonel Evans, the wealth and resources of Mexico are almost enormous, but, as might be expected in such a chronically revolutionary country, the management of them is wretched. The Colonel is evidently not a scientific man, and al hough he frequently alludes to the products of the country, it is generally either from a commercial or picturesque point of view. We commend the book as an exceedingly interesting and graphically written record of a four months' trip through Mexico, and as a work which affords a very fair notion of the present actual condition of the country and of its interesting antiquities.

Horses: their Rational Treatment and the Causes of their Deterioration and Premature Decry. In Two Par s. By Amateur. (London : Baillière, Tindall, and Co., 1871.)

IN Part 1 of this work the author tries to explain scientifically the errors of the present routine mismanagement (as he calls it), and how it is opposed to the natural system and health of the horse; and in the second part he considers and explains the practical management of the horse under what he calls the Rational System. The author advocates a return to the natural feeding of the horse, such as grass and similar soft food, and an abandonment of the present almost universal system of forcing with an abundance of dry food, on the ground that thus the horse would live to a much greater age, and perform a far greater amount of work. The subject certainlv deserves the serious consideration of all who are interested in horses, and to all such we would recommend the peru al of this little book by one who has evidently given the subject long and serious study. In the second part both sides of the question are well stated in a corespondence between the author and Sir James Yorke Scarlett.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Mexico in 1869-70. Adventure and sight-seeing in the Land of the Aztecs, with Picturesque Descriptions of the Country and People, and Reminiscences of the Empire and its Downfall. By Colonel Albert S. Evans. With Numerous Engravings. (Hartford, Conn. : Columbian Book Company. London: Trübner and Co., 1871.)

THE author of this book accompanied the Hon. W. H. Seward in an apparently semi-official tour through Mexico, lasting from September 1869 to January 1870 The volume before us, in somewhat flowery and very "smart" style, tells what the author saw and a good deal of what he heard during the progress through that American battleground, of which we hear so much and know so little

me.

by his Correspondents. No notice is taken of anonymous communications.]

Mr. Stone and Professor Newcomb

MR. NEWCOMB has reviewed Mr. Proctor's book on the Sun in your number of May 18, and Mr. Proctor has replied in the number for June 1. In each of these articles I find my work and name mentioned in a way that is scarcely satisfactory to Mr. Proctor's reply is, however, of course, only intended to defend his own work, not mine. In Mr. Newcomb's review I find the following very strong passage. Mr. Newcomb says: "We find ligaments, bla k drops, and distortions sometimes seen in interior contacts of the limbs of Mercury or Venus with that of the sun described as if they were regular phenomena of a transit; without any mention of the facts and experiments which indicated that these phenomena are simple products of