REVIEWS. 203 



Botany,' owing to the difficulty of procuring recent specimens of some of 

 the rarer species, will, in this work, be rectified. 



"The object of the Publisher will be to present to the observer of nature 

 a book in which he may find with ease a delineation and description of 

 every fern he is likely to meet with within the four seas. He hopes that, 

 in so doing, he may induce many to study the natural history of these 

 elegant plants, who have hitherto shrunk from the apparent difficulty at- 

 tending its investigation ; and, at the same time, to furnish with a com- 

 plete, yet concise compendium on the subject, the more advanced student of 

 these most graceful of Nature's vegetable productions." 



We refrain from making any comments at present ; but when the volume, 

 which is to consist of eight parts, is complete, we shall bring it again before 

 our readers' notice, merely saying, as to the colouring and drawing 

 of the plates, that the engravings of the six ferns that accompany this 

 part — viz., Polypodium (Ctenopteris) vulgare, P. (Gymnocarpium) Phegop- 

 teris, P. (G.) dryopteris, P. (G.) calcareum, Woodsia ilvensis, and W. 

 hyperborea (Alpina) — are really beautiful ; and that, if future numbers keep 

 up to the promise of this first one, we shall have no hesitation in giving 

 the advice which we now tender — viz., that no one who cares for the 

 graceful ferns but should subscribe at once to these numbers. 



Insecta Maderensia ; being an Account of the Insects of the Islands of 

 the Madeiran Group. By T. Vernon Wollaston, M.A., F.L.S. Lon- 

 don: John Van Voorst. 1854. Large 4to. With Thirteen Coloured 

 Plates. Price 22s. 



" Men," says Gilbert White, the well-known naturalist, of Selborne, 

 " that undertake only one district, are much more likely to advance na- 

 tural knowledge, than those that grasp at more than they can possibly be 

 acquainted with. Every kingdom, every province, should have its own 

 monographer." With these sentiments we, in common with the gene- 

 rality of men of science, entirely agree ; and we, therefore, feel much 

 pleasure in noticing the volume which now lies before us, being a " History 

 of the Coleoptera of Madeira." 



Mr. T. V. Wollaston, having been advised by his physicians, in October, 

 1847, to leave England for the benefit of his health, employed a seven 

 months' residence in Funchal in collecting such insects (and desultory 

 information concerning them) as came beneath his notice ; but without any 

 ulterior design than that of a mere temporary amusement, and to relieve 



