By Edward Hackel. Translated from Die Naturlichen Pflansenfamilien, by F. Lamson-Scribner and Effie A. Southworth. Illustrated. Pp. 228. Henry Holt & Co. This translation presents to English readers the first concise and methodical account of the grasses of the world. Dr. Hackel is known as one of the best living agrostologists, and Professor Scribner is well known in the same field in this country. The work is a systematic synopsis of the order Gramineae, with a chapter upon structure, morphology and physiology. Those who are not familiar with recent agrostological literature will find a host of new generic names and great numbers of important changes in methods of classification ; and many of the dispositions are peculiar to the volume. Zizania miliacea is placed in a comparatively new genus, Zizaniopsis, leaving the common Zizania aquatica, or wild rice, alone in its genus, with an important varietal modification in Asia.

We are naturally interested in the treatment of the cereals. The common oat is supposed to have come from Avena falua or some related species of southern Europe or western Asia. Rye is said to have come from Secale montanum, a perennial species of Mediterranean countries. This has a jointed rachis or head, and this and its perennial character have been lost through cultivation. But "rye stubble, if it stands a long time in the field, will sprout again, a thing that never happens with wheat and barley, because their original forms are annual." Wheat is said to fall into three races or groups, although only two are given : the rachis or head jointed at maturity, and the rachis not jointed. Many varieties are designated, and several plants which are regarded as distinct species by many botanists are thought to be forms of wheat, Triti-cum sativum. The aboriginal form of wheat is unknown. Barley " undoubtedly originated from Hordeum sponia-neum, which grows wild from Asia Minor and Caucasian countries to Persia," etc. The two-rowed and six-rowed barleys, held to be distinct species by some, are considered cultural forms of barley, to which the name Hordeum sativum is applied. Maize is the only species of its genus, and its aboriginal form is unknown.

Six varieties or groups are specified : common, pearl (popcorn ?), horse-tooth, sugar, Cuzco, and husk. This classification is much inferior to that published sometime since by Dr. E. Lewis Sturtevant (5th Rep. N. Y. Exp. Sta. 58).

But it is in its general features that a work of this kind finds its greatest value. It enables the student to grasp the whole subject and to arrive at comparative knowledge, while at the same time its keys and details are ample enough to give a somewhat particular view of each genus. The chapter upon bamboos, contributed by Dr. Brandis, is one of the best presentations of this interesting groups yet written.

Notable Grass Book.

Cereals.