BahinofoiUs Flm^a Bathonensis, 191 



*t> 



Bahington, Charles C, M.A. F.L.S., &c.: Flora Batho- 

 nensis : or, A Catalogue of the Plants indigenous to the 

 Vicinity of Bath. 8vo, 70 pages. Collins, Bath ; Trem- 

 lett, Bristol; Longman, London; 1834. 



It is stated, in the preface, that the writer " has been 

 induced to submit it to the public, in the hope of rendering 

 some assistance to such of the inhabitants and numerous 

 visiters of our city [Bath] as take interest in the delightful 

 study of botany. It may also, perhaps, be serviceable, 

 although in a very slight degree, by contributing to our know- 

 ledge of the geographical distribution of British plants. Some 

 notices of the geology of the district are then added. The 

 plants are arranged in the natural orders ; the habitat or 

 habitats are given under the name of each species. Besides 

 the habitats, a few original remarks on the habits and bota- 

 nical characters of certain species occur in the manual. This 

 practice we think excellent : it was Ilelham*s, in every edition 

 of his Flora Cantabrigiensis ; it has been applied more amply 

 by Gerarde Edwards Smith, in his Flora of South Kent, than 

 by any one else that we know of. 



Bhind, Wm., M.R.C.S., &c. : — A Catechism of Botany; or 

 Natural History of the Vegetable Kingdom. 12mo, 76 

 pages, 7 woodcuts. Edinburgh. 9d. and 1^. 



It is far better than Pinnock's Catechism ofBofani/, pub- 

 lished some half score years ago, but yet is devoid of that 

 clearness and simplicity which such a book should have. It 

 is as a man in child's petticoats. Query, Is colloquy the fittest 

 mode in which to communicate a knowledge of a science ? 

 We should desire not to have the understanding of a child 

 insulted with such questions as these : — " Are vegetables 

 ornamental?" " Are there many different kinds of plants ?" 

 It is true that these, and such as these, are followed by answers 

 profound enough and eloquent enough for an adolescent 

 mind ; but such a mind would not wish them, nor like them 

 better because they came, " in such a questionable shape." 

 In p. 4-3., a cut ot" the banana tree or of the plantain tree, 

 seems given for one of the cabbage palm. The book, how- 

 ever, with all its faults, if it have more than these we have hit 

 upon, contains the best and richest stock of botanical know- 

 ledge ever offered for nine-pence. 



Lijcll, Charles, Esq. F.R.S., &c. : Principles of Geology; 

 being an Attempt to explain the former Changes of the 

 Earth's Sin-face, by reference to Causes now in operation. 



