Johnston* s Fiora of Berwick upon Twf^ed. 179 



pose of polishing wood and ivory. If the rush be burnt care- 

 fully, a residuum of unconsumable matter will be left, and 

 this held up to the light will show a series of little points, 

 arranged spirally and symmetrically, which are the portions of 

 silex the fire had not dissipated ; and it is this serrated edge 

 which seems to render the plant so efficient in attrition. 

 Wheaten and oaten straw are also found by the experience 

 of our good housewives to be good polishers of their brass 

 milk vessels, without its being at all suspected by them that it 

 is the flint deposited in the culms which makes it so useful. 



The author has taken great pains to make out those scep- 

 tical species of ferns, passing under the names of Aspidium 

 aculeatum, vulgare, and lobatum, and has given a plate to 

 illustrate the subject. Those who are curious in such distinc- 

 tions will do well to refer to him ; but " de minimis noii 

 est disputandum." In the ferns and lycopodiums, the 

 author has followed the nomenclature of Sir J. E. Smith, 

 "dignissimus Linnaei haeres " [ " the worthy successor of Lin- 

 naeus" ], as Sprengel designates him : and, at parting with his 

 candid and erudite guide, passes a just eulogium on his merits, 

 which will be appreciated by all who delight in the calm pur- 

 suit of his favourite science. 



Dr. Johnston's list of mosses is very small, and we suspect 

 might be much increased by those who devote themselves 

 more particularly to this family. He has followed, in his 

 arrangement, Drs. Hooker and Taylor. The Jungi and the' 

 ^'Igae have engaged more of his attention ; and the reader can- 

 not fail to be gratified, nay charmed, with the manner in 

 which he treats his subject. We profess not to be learned in 

 this department of Nature's secrets ; but we see enough to^ 

 justify us in recommending the author as a judicious and safe 

 authority ; and if the noviciate has any touch of poetry in his 

 composition, and can read the Eternal Author in the glorious 

 book of Nature, he will find Dr. Johnston's second volume, ■ 

 as well as the first, a delightful companion of his musings, 

 and which will convert many an otherwise blank page into 

 one rife with instruction, rouse his dull and dormant admir- 

 ation, and lead him from the joys without to those within. 



" To sit on rocks, to muse o'er flood and fell. 



To slowly trace the forest's shady scene. 



Where things that own not man's dominion dwell. 



And mortal foot hath ne'er, or rarely, been ; 



To climb the trackless mountain all unseen. 



With the wild flock that never needs a fold ; 



Alone o'er steeps and foaming falls to lean ; 



This is not solitude : 'tis but to hold 

 Converse with Nature's charms, and view her stores unroll'd." 



Rt/ron. 

 N 2 



