THE ANNALS 



AND 



MAGAZINE OF NATURAL HISTORY 



[SECOND SERIES.] 

 No. 96. DECEMBER 1855. 



XXXIII. — On the Batrachian Ranunculi of Britain. 

 By Charles C. Babington, M.A., F.R.S. &c.* 



It is with mucli diffidence that I venture to attempt the eluci- 

 dation of the Batrachian Ranunculi of Britain, for the great 

 difficulty of the subject necessarily presses heavily upon the 

 mind. Also, it cannot be otherwise than disheartening to feci, 

 that however successful I may be in my own estimation and 

 even in that of my friends, and, that although my endeavours 

 may result in a close approach to the acquaintance with the 

 plants that has been attained in Sweden and France, it is certain 

 that several of the most eminent of the botanists of Britain will 

 consider that I have been wasting my time and retarding rather 

 than advancing science. Had the views of those learned men 

 been generally held by persons of equal scientific rank in othe;* 

 countries, I should have thought it my duty to adopt them ; but 

 as several of the most distinguished botanists of continental 

 Europe do not think that they are *' idling away their time by 

 catching at shadows,^' when they expend it upon an earnest 

 endeavour to attain the most accurate possible knowledge of the 

 plants inhabiting their respective countries, I am led to the 

 belief that I am really doing well when trying distantly to follow 

 their example. 



It has been justly remarked, that we have no good definition 

 of a species amongst plants, and that it is hard or even impossible 

 to apply those which we possess. Until species can be defined, 

 each botanist is left to judge as best he can of what ought or 

 ought not to be so considered. In the case which is about to be 



* Read to the Botanical Society of Edinburgh, Nov. 8, 1855. 

 Ann. ^ Mag. N. Hist. Ser. 2. Vol. xvi. 26 



