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NOTICES OF BOOKS. 95 
pedata, J. Sm,—Pteris geraniifolia, Raddi. 
pinnata, Kaulf. En. Fil. 917.— Brazil.—Spr. 118: Pr. 155: Hk. ii. 119: Kee. 
Anal. Pter. 37, t. 24. 
pteroides, Pres].—Adiantopsis pteroides. 
triphylla, Kav/f. En. Fil. 216.—Buenos Ayres: Brazil.—Sw. 120; W. 428: Spr. 
118: Pr. 155: Hk.ii.118: Fée 119. Hook. Gen. Fil. t. 66 A.—Adiantum 
triphyllum, Smith Ic. ined. t. 74: Sw. 120. 
Vicrorta Rzara, or the Great Water-Lily of America; with a brief 
Account of its Discovery, Introduction, and Cultivation: with Illustra- 
lions by WILLIAM SHARP, from specimens grown at Salem, Massa- 
chusetis, U.S.4.; by Joun FisH ALLEN. Elephant folio, with 6 
coloured plates. 
We have already in the pages of our Journal recorded the particulars 
of the introduction and first flowering of this royal aquatic in the United 
States, in the garden of Caleb Cope, Esq., to whom the present work 
is with great propriety dedicated. We believe the bright suns and 
warm summers of a Pennsylvanian climate, combined with good culti- 
vation, have been the means of occasioning the plant to yield larger 
flowers, if not larger leaves, than have been produced in England. No 
wonder, then, that a talented artist and a zealous horticulturist should 
desire to record with pen and pencil the beauties of this flower: and — 
this is accomplished on a plan and size worthy of the subject. The di- . 
mensions of the book are those of the largest elephant folio (twenty-five — 
inches long, and twenty broad), the plates executed in lithography by —— 
Mr. William Sharp, and coloured true to life: no attempt to outdo 
nature. The first plate represents the germination of the plant; the 
second, the opening of the flower in its pure white state, floating on 
the water, accompanied by leaves and buds; the third exhibits the 
highly curious structure of the back of a single leaf, with its massy pro- - 
jecting and anastomosing ribs; the fourth, the intermediate stages of - 
bloom and flowers; the fifth, the fully expanded flower, in all its glory; - 
the sixth and last plate, a peculiar state of the flower, described at p. M. 
of the text. 
The descriptive part comprises, the history of the joan, os = 
names, the cultivation, details of the entire plant, in which the author - 
is aided by the Rev. J. Russell: then follows an elaborate account of 
its cultivation in the United States: this is succeeded by the special 
