134 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



Bute, and on Lithothamnion glaciale (Kjellm.) found at Port 

 Bannatyne, Bute, by Mrs. David Robertson, an addition to the 

 British list of Algae. 



METEOROLOGICAL NOTES AND REMARKS UPON THE WEATHER 

 DURING THE YEAR IQOI, WITH ITS GENERAL EFFECTS UPON 

 VEGETATION. By James Whitton. Trans. Nat. Hist. Soc. Glasg., 

 I.e., pp. 313-329. Compiled from records kept at Queen's Park, 

 Glasgow, with notes on effects of the weather on plant life. 



REPORT ON THE STATE OF THE ALPINE FLORA IN BREADAL- 

 BANE DURING THE LAST WEEK OF JULY 1902. By Peter Ewing, 

 F.L.S. Trans. Nat. Hist. Soc. Glasg., I.e., pp. 330-332. Record 

 of an extremely backward season. 



BOTANICAL EXCURSIONS MADE BY PROFESSOR JOHN HUTTON 



BALFOUR IN THE YEARS FROM 1846 TO 1878 INCLUSIVELY. Notes 



from the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, vol. ii., 1902, pp. 21- 



497- 



ON POA LAXA AND POA STRICTA OF OUR BRITISH FLORAS. By 



G. Claridge Druce, M.A., F.L.S. Journ. Linn. Soc. Bot., xxxvi. 

 pp. 421-429. See p. 131 of this issue. 



BOOK NOTICES. 



THE LIFE -HISTORY OF BRITISH LIZARDS AND THEIR LOCAL 

 DISTRIBUTION IN THE BRITISH ISLES. By Gerald R. Leighton, 

 M.D., F.R.S.E. (Edinburgh : George A. Morton. London : 

 Simpkin, Marshall and Co., 1903.) 



This is a companion volume to the one on British serpents 

 which we have already noticed, and it seems to us that it would 

 have been better to have published a single work on British 

 reptiles and amphibians to occupy the place so long held by 

 Bell's admirable volume. The book before us, though full of 

 interesting notes and observations, includes much irrelevant matter 

 which should properly be given in a general work, and the in- 

 formation afforded is very diffusely treated and not particularly 

 well arranged. The illustrations are not by any means up to the 

 level of those in the volume on serpents, and raise doubts as to the 

 value of the half-tone process for illustrating such species as these. 

 The author, though an enthusiastic field -observer, has his limita- 

 tions, which tell on the usefulness of his book to scientific students. 

 He gives no synonymy and no bibliography, and, strange to say, 

 so little notice has been taken of what has been written on the 

 subject that Bell's classic work on the British reptiles is never once 

 alluded to. 



