NOTICES OF BOOKS. 255 
on account of the numerous coatings with which the wood is covered. 
This wood is principally used to make ramrods; it possesses both 
strength and flexibility. Can you tell me what it is? 
NOTICES OF BOOKS. 
Hooxzn, J. D., and Tuomas THOMSON: FLORA [NDICA; being a sys- 
tematic Account of the Plants of British India, together with Obser- 
vations on the Structure and Affinities of their Natural Orders and 
Genera. Vol. I. RANUNCULACEE to FUMARIACEE, with an In- 
troductory Essay and two Maps. London. 8vo. 1855. 
There are few botanists or students of botany, whether in India or 
in Europe, who will not hail the appearance of this volume, as a fore- 
runner of a complete Flora of the vast possessions of the British Em- 
pire in India, traversed by mountains the loftiest of any in the world, 
and consequently including in its areaa vegetation the most varied, ex- 
hibiting all the gradations from that of the tropics to that of the most 
alpine character, and of every degree of humidity to that of the most 
dry character, where scarcely any rain falls throughout the entire year. 
Nor are the authors unknown to science or to fame: they have them- 
selves explored the botanical treasures of no small extent of the regions 
just mentioned, especially the least known portions of the great range of 
the Himalaya. 
Dr. Thomson has published his travels in Western Himalaya and 
Tibet, and Dr. Hooker his in Bengal, the Sikkim and Nepal Hima- 
layas, the Khasia Mountains, ete. During the latter part of Dr. 
Hooker's travels also, Dr. Thomson was his companion; and since 
their return to Europe in 1851, their time has been mainly devoted to — 
the preparation of the volume now before us, compiled from their own 
materials and the vast collections of Indian plants in the Hookerian - 
and other herbaria. ii 
Of this work 280 pages are devoted to an Introductory Essay of 
great value and interest, the contents of which will be best understood 
by a mention of the heads into which it is divided ; viz.—1. Object, 
Scope, and Design of the ‘Flora Indica.’ 2. General Considerations 
connected with the study of Systematic Botany. 3. Subjects of Varia- 
tion, Origin of Species, Specific Centres, Hybridization, and Geographical 
