Bibliographical Notices. 417 



BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTICES. 



Voyage dans VAm^rique M4ridionale execuU dans le cours des Annies 

 1826 — 1833. Par M. Alcide D. D'Orbigny. Botanique — Cryp- 

 togamie, par Camille Montagne. 



This is a portion of one of those splendid works which appear from 

 time to time under the auspices of the French government. The ex- 

 tent of the work and the beauty of the execution necessarily make 

 its price such as to confine it to the libraries of public institutions or 

 wealthy individuals ; we think, therefore, that it will not be uninter- 

 esting to our readers if we extract the characters of such new spe- 

 cies as are described in it, omitting however those which have al- 

 ready appeared in * Ann. d. Sc. Nat.' These are disposed under two 

 heads, the first of which is entitled ' Sertum Patagonicum ;' the latter, 

 which is far the larger of the two, ' Florulse Boliviensis stirpes novae 

 vel minus cognitae.' The reason for this arrangement is thus stated 

 in the introduction by M. Brongniart : — 



" The botanical collections made by M. D'Orbigny during his long 

 voyage belong to two regions so different, that it has been thought 

 preferable to make them the subject of two local floras, rather than to 

 confound species belonging to these two regions in one and the same 

 scientific series. The plants of Southern America, from Monte Video 

 and the environs of Buenos Ayres to the centre of Patagonia on the 

 banks of the Rio Negro, growing under the influence of a temperate 

 climate, have nothing in common with those of Corrientes, at the 

 banks of the Parana, while these last have the strongest analogy with 

 the tropical plants of Brazil and the lower and meridional provinces of 

 Bolivia visited by D'Orbigny ; we have therefore thought it right to 

 publish them under two distinct heads, the first entitled ' Sertum 

 Patagonicum,' comprising the plants of the banks of Rio Negro in 

 Patagonia, to which are added those from the neighbourhood of 

 Buenos Ayres and Monte Video ; the other, under the title of 'Florulse 

 Boliviensis stirpes novae vel minus cognitae,' will contain those of 

 Bolivia, whether of the low parts which have a vegetation purely 

 tropical or of the elevated regions of the Andes, which, though dif- 

 fering greatly in the vegetation, cannot be separated from the others, 

 because of the gradual transition from one region to the other, and 

 the impossibility of fixing any precise line of demarcation ; to this 

 tropical flora we shall join the plants of the Parana near Corrientes, 

 which, notwithstanding their extra- tropical origin, partake of the 

 characters of the low parts of Bolivia, and even some new plants from 

 the neighbourhood of Rio Janeiro, collected by D'Orbigny while so- 

 journing there. 



'• A third part will contain the history of the Palms observed in the 

 difi^erent regions visited, of which D'Orbigny has brought figures 

 made on the spot, which, in addition to notes and specimens, will 

 enable us to throw some light on the species of this part of America. 



" The wish to make the publication more perfect and speedy has 

 induced me to request some botanists well known by their labours to 



