Bibliographical Notices. 49 



nitens, parce hirtiim : caput transversum, breve, thoracis latitudlne; vertex 

 latus ; frons convexa, abrupte declivis : oculi picei, mediocres, non extantes: 

 antennae clavatSB, nigraa, corpore breviores; articulus 1"' sublinearis, validus; 

 2"^ longicyathiformis ; 3'" ct 4"* angusti ; .')""' et sequentes latiores, clavam 

 fingentes longam fusilbrmem : thorax ovatus : prothorax bvevissimus, supra 

 non conspicuus : mesothoracis scutum magnum, longitudine latins; parap- 

 sidum suturse non conspicuas ; scutelhun mediocre, brevi obconicum : meta- 

 thorax transversus, brevissimus : petiokis vix ullus : abdomen subovatum, 

 scite rugulosum, t.horace non longius; segmenta basi sulcata, 1'"" magnum, 

 2""' et sequentia brevia : pedes picei, simplices, subsequales ; trochanteres 

 fulvi ; genua fulva ; tibial basi fulvo3 ; tarsi fulvi, apice fusci : ala) albo- 

 limpidae ; squamulse fuscae ; nervi fulvi ; nervus humeralis nullus, ulnaris 

 costte dimidio brevior, cubitalis longus radiali pauUo brevior ; stigma mini- 

 mum. (Corp. long. lin. 4 ; alar. lin. 1.) 

 Reared from the eggs of an insect. 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



Manual of British Botany, containing the Flowering Plants and Ferns ^ 

 arranged according to the Natural Orders. By Chas. C. Babington, 

 M.A., F.L.S., F.G.S., &c. &c. London : J. Van Voorst, 1843. 

 The present work is modelled after the well-known ' Synopsis 

 Florae Germanicse ' of the learned Koch, and is the result of a critical 

 examination of our native plants, by a careful comparison of indige- 

 nous specimens with the works of eminent continental authors and 

 with plants obtained from other parts of Europe, whereby a deside- 

 ratum long wanted has been attained, viz. the assimilation of the 

 nomenclature of British and continental writers. To effect this, our 

 flora has undergone a general and scrutinizing revision, so as to de- 

 termine what plants are really deserving of the rank of distinct spe- 

 cies, and what must be regarded only as varieties ; and those names 

 have been adopted which possess the claims of priority by a careful 

 examination of all the best European floras, comparing our plants 

 with the descriptions contained in them, and in very many cases 

 with foreign specimens of undoubted authenticity. In the adoption 

 of genera and species an endeavour has been made, by the examina- 

 tion of the plants themselves, to determine which are truly distinct, 

 thus taking nature as a guide, and not depending upon the authority 

 of any name, however distinguished. As the volume is intended as 

 a field-book, or travelling companion for botanists, the characters 

 have been admirably and ably contrasted, and condensed as much as 

 possible consistent with their accurate discrimination. Synonyms have 

 been wholly omitted, except quotations of one British and one Ger- 

 man figure to each plant. Localities are only given for new or pe- 

 culiarly rare plants, though the general distribution through the 

 British Isles, or in the several main portions thereof, and their cha- 

 racter in that distribution, have been noted. The arrangement is 

 that of the Natural System, but to render it generally available, a 

 succinct synopsis of the Linnaean genera is added. To detail its 

 many excellences would exceed our due limits, for fully to appreciate 

 the scientific and critical accuracy and discrimination with which the 

 Ann, ^ Mag, N Hist. Vol, xii. E 



