24. 



HARDWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIF. 



"splitter" than a "lumper." For books, then, the 

 student cannot have a better general manual of 

 British Botany than Professor Babington's. For 

 many groups, however, he will do well to use special 

 monographs ; and it must also be clearly understood 

 that varieties are hardly to be recognized by mere 

 "book-characters," but must be studied in the living 

 state. 



In conclusion let me take as an example the first 

 group which requires critical study in the first of the 

 natural orders, viz., the genus Thalictrum (Meadow- 

 rue), among the Ranunculaces. Whilst the order 

 Ranunculacere, which contains some thirty genera 

 and some five hundred species, is almost universally 

 distributed, but is especially abundant in temperate 

 and cold regions, the genus Thalictrum is confined to 

 the northern hemisphere. Like the order to which it 

 belongs, this genus is essentially European, occurring 

 comparatively rarely in North America, North Africa, 

 and Asia, in which continent it is only known in the 

 north and west, to the Himalayas. The order is 

 what is termed a very "natural" one, being, in spite 

 of many anomalous genera, clearly defined and sepa- 

 rated from its nearest allies. It is also readily 

 and naturally divisible into the five tribes, originally 

 framed by De Candolle; viz.,Clematidere, Anemones, 

 Ranuncules, Hellebores, and Psonies. The last 

 two of these agree in having the fruit "dehiscent," 

 i.e. splitting when ripe, and all except Clematides 

 have the sepals overlapping, or "imbricate." Ane- 

 mones and Ranuncules differ in having the single 

 ovule in each "achene," or indehiscent carpel or 

 fruitlet, pendulous in the former, ascending in the 

 latter. The genus Thalictrum, along with Anemone, 

 Knowltonia, Adonis, Callianthemum, and Myosurus, 

 constitute the tribe Anemones. Knowltonia curi- 

 ously occurs in South Africa, and Myosurus in 

 Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. 

 Thalictrum and Anemone differ from the other genera 

 of the tribe in having no petals, and Thalictrum is 

 distinguished from Anemone by the absence of the 

 involucre of three leaf-like bracts characteristic of 

 the flower-stalk of the latter. The Meadow-rues are 

 herbs with a perennial rootstock and erect habit ; 

 leaves bi- or tri-pinnatisect and stipulate ; inflores- 

 cence panicled or in a raceme, without any involucre, 

 often polygamous ; sepals four or five, imbricate, 

 petaloid, and dull green, yellow, purple, or whitish 

 in colour, usually small ; petals absent ; stamens 

 numerous ; carpels on a narrow receptacle, with 

 short styles, which are persistent or deciduous, and 

 with one pendulous ovule in each, afterwards forming 

 a fruit of achenes, which are often stalked, and are 

 variously ribbed, nerved, or winged. There are 

 about fifty species, some three to six of which 

 only, accordingly as one "lumps" with Hooker or 

 "splits" with Babington, are British. 



G. S. Boulger. 

 ( To be continued. ) 



NATURAL HISTORY IN THE 

 SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 

 By F. Kitton, Hon. F.R.M.S., &c. 

 Part II. 



' | "HE ignorance of natural history displayed in the 

 J- description of animals living in distant lands, 

 may be excused on the ground of the difficulty of 

 obtaining any accurate knowledge of their habits, or 

 even form, from those who had seen them in their 

 native wilds. The principal authorities were sailors, 

 who, with that love of the marvellous usually ac- 

 companying ignorance, allowed their imaginations to 

 run riot in describing the animals or plants of foreign 

 countries. 



This excuse will not, however, apply to the 

 author's descriptions of our domestic animals, as the 

 following extracts from the chapter on dogs will 

 show : — 



"OF THE DOGGE 



IN GENERALL. 



" A Dogge is called in hebrew Keleb, and Lamas 

 according to Munster, in Caldee Kalba, in Arabique 

 Kalbe, in Persia Sag; the Saracens Kep or Kolph ; 

 the Grecians Kuon, because of his love to man, and 

 vulgarly at this day Skilos and Skirle ; the Medians 

 Spaco, the Germans Hitnd, the Italians Cane, the 

 French C/iien, the Spaniards Perro or cavendo, be- 

 cause his barking is as loud as an Artificiall song ; 

 also Catellus; the Illyrians Pes or Pas, and the 

 Lsrtins Cam's. 



'There is no region or countrey in the world 

 where these are not bred in some store, as shall be 

 declared afterwarde, in the particular discourse of 

 every kind of Dogges. For as shall be manifested 

 more at large, there are Dogges very great, some for 

 hunting, some for Warre and defence, some for the 

 Bull or Bear, some for the Hare, Cony, or Hedge- 

 hog ; againe, some are smaller, which are called 

 Hounds, Braches,* Beagles, Shepheardes Dogges, 

 House-curres, Spagnels, both for Water and Land ; 

 and some foysting Dogges, f for the pleasure of the 

 rich. 



"In the first-place there are to be handled the 

 nature of Dogges in generall, wherein they agree, 

 and their common properties of nature, such as are 

 not destroyed in the destinction of kindes, but re- 

 maine like infallible and invariable truths in every 

 kinde and country in the world. . . . The outward 

 proportion of the head altereth as the kind altereth, 

 being sometime like a Lyon, sometime like a Hedge- 

 hog ; some long with a broad snout, and some with 



* These dogs are supposed to be dogs of scent. No very 

 definite meaning seems to have been attached to the name by 

 early English writers. The word is apparently synonymous 

 with the old French word lirache (German Brack), translated 

 ckien. Shakespeare seems to have considered them as pet 

 dogs. "Truth's a dog that must to kennel when Lady the brach. 

 may stand by the fire and stink." — Lear. 



t Lapdogs ; see fysting, in Nares' Glossary. 



