45 



Geographie Botanique raisonee ou Exposition des faits principaux et 

 des lois concernant la distribution geographique des plantes dk 

 l'epoque actuelle. Par M. Alphonse De Candolle. 2 Vols. Paris. 

 1855. 



The illustrious name of De Candolle has long stood among' the first in the 

 first rank of philosophical botanists. The elder De Candolle, father of our 

 present author, and universally known to every working botanist through 

 the indispensable " Prodromus" contributed upwards of 140 treatises to 

 botanical science, many of them works of considerable extent, and all of 

 them marked with abundant proofs of the original research and ability of 

 the writer. The publication of these works extended over a space of forty- 

 four years — a long and glorious career of mental activity. They include 

 essays or treatises on every department of Botany — the structural, physio- 

 logical, systematic, economic, and geographical — and have deservedly ac- 

 quired for their author a fame imperishable, while Botany shall exist as a 

 science. It is no light matter to inherit the name of such a father. It is 

 no easy task for a son, standing at the base of such a pyramid, to prove 

 himself equal to his position ; aud we cannot speak in higher praise of 

 M. Alphonse de Candolle than by saying that he has proved himself not 

 unworthy of such parentage. His works, indeed, have been few and re- 

 stricted in subject, in comparison to those put forth by his father ; but they 

 are sufficient to prove his ability as a botanist, and to establish the fame of 

 any ordinary person. 



The work now before us is, perhaps, his most important contribution to 

 Botanical science, and is obviously the fruit of many years' thoughtful study 

 and laborious research. It treats in detail, and at great length, of the 

 general and particular relations of plants to climate and soil, and their dis- 

 persion over continents and islands. The subject is divided into twenty- 

 six chapters, grouped under four books, and fills 1334 closely printed 

 octavo pages. We can only attempt to give a very brief account of an 

 essay which branches out into innumerable subjects, the discussion of any 

 one of which would be sufficient for an article. 



The first book discusses with some detail, but in a general way, the 

 effects of temperature, light, and humidity on the development of vegeta- 

 tion. The author commences by exposing the false views popularly en- 

 tertained with respect to the relationship between plants and the climate in 

 which they live. Many persons suppose that the presence or absence of 

 such-and-such forms of vegetation is a certain indication of a precise cli- 



