The Rev. Dr. Hincks on the Flora of Ireland. I 



interesting article, which proves the information and ability 

 of the writer, except that he knew little of the past state of 

 Ireland, renews the complaint of the neglect of the natural 

 history of Ireland, speaks of everything relating to it as only 

 just beginning, and compares this with the state of things in 

 Bavaria and Sweden, and then with America. He speaks of 

 the demand for general treatises and the publication of local 

 Floras in England ; adding, that " no local Flora has ever been 

 attempted in Ireland." Speaking of the progress of the sci- 

 ence, he adds, * the valuable result of all is had in England ; 

 and among the Scotch almost every town of any magnitude 

 has its museum or botanic garden, or both, and it is but a few 

 years since the only similar establishments in Ireland were 

 those of Dublin — recently the spirited people of Belfast has 

 established both a museum and botanic garden. When Cork 

 or Limerick will choose to follow, where they did not know 

 how to take the lead, we know not." There are not many who 

 are able to detect the errors here fallen into, and which have 

 been of late often repeated, because the greater part of the 

 readers are, like the writer, ignorant of the past ; and of what 

 great consequence is it, some may think, if the efforts of earlier 

 times be forgotten ? Now as science is progressive, every 

 succeeding period derives advantage from that going before. 

 cc No effort is lost," and it becomes those who are now making 

 rapid advances, to acknowledge the advantages they derive 

 from what their predecessors have done ; and such is the ge- 

 neral feeling, though we occasionally meet with departures 

 from it, arising perhaps more from the ignorance of the writer 

 than from any desire to deprive the dead of any credit to which 

 they were entitled. According to the reviewer no previous 

 publication existed from which Mr. Mackay could obtain any 

 great amount of information respecting our indigenous plants. 

 " The only original work to which he could refer was that of 

 Threlkeld, published more than a century ago, and which is 

 unfortunately merely a catalogue of the more common plants 

 alphabetically arranged, with brief indication of their real or 

 supposed medical virtues. The work of K^Eogh is scarcely de- 

 serving of notice, and with one or two exceptions no botanical 

 information was to be obtained from the statistical surveys of 

 the different counties. The task of ascertaining the habitats 

 of rare plants and of discovering new ones, rested almost en- 

 tirely with the author and his contemporaries." Now some- 

 what depends on the meaning annexed to contemporaries ; 

 and if it includes all who were living at the same time, even 

 those who were going off the stage when Mr. M. came on it, 

 it would include a great many whose principal services to bo- 



b 2 



