J9o8. Notes. 



20 



/ 



Whiskered Bat in Co. Wexford. 



This Bat {Myotis iiiystacimis), although probably of wide distribution s 

 rarelv distinguished from the Pipistrelle, and seldom recorded. Ifmay 

 be well, therefore, to mention that one flew into a window of this house 

 on the 8th August. It was a young one of the year, but fully grown. 

 Mr. C. B. Moffat had previously found this Bat in this county, where we 

 now know of the existence of at least four Bats, viz.:-Leisler's, Pipistrelle, 

 Ivong-eared, and Whiskered, to which Dauben ton's, although never cap- 

 tured, may almost certainly be added. 



G. E. H. BARRI5TT-HAMII.TON. 



Kilnianock House, Waterford. 



REVIEWS. 



FIELD BOTANY FOR BEGINNERS. 



The Young Botanist. By W. Percivai. Westei.Iv, F.I^.S., M.B.O.U. 

 and C. S. Cooper, F.R.H.S., Headmaster, Dewhurst School, Ches- 

 hunt. With eight coloured, and sixty-three black and white plates, 

 drawn from nature, by C F. Newai,!,. Pp. 40 + 200. Methuen & 

 Co., 1908. Price y. 6d. net. 



This book is intended to meet the wants of a beginner in field 

 botany— quite a beginner, in fact, since the plants dealt with in the 

 volume consist of 202 of our most familiar wild- flowers. While some 

 may find the arrangement and illustrations as here displayed more to 

 their individual taste than those which obtain in similar books already 

 on the market, the volume cannot claim, like so many recent books to 

 supply a "long-felt want," nor to possess much originality of treatment. 

 A short practical introduction leads to a chapter on classification and ex- 

 ternal structure, from which we pass to the brief descriptions of selected 

 species which make up the remainder of the volume. These descriptions 

 are arranged each under nine heads — habitat, time of flowering, and des- 

 cription in brief of the characters of the various parts of the plant : and 

 as each of these, consisting of from one to ten words on the average, is 

 allowed a separate paragraph, the result is a profuse spinning out of the 

 paging. The English name is given the place of honour in each species, 

 but the attempt to place the substantival before the adjectival portion 

 of the name is not always happy, as in the case of " Parsnip, Cow," and 

 " Violet, Water," The illustrations are irregular in quality, and while 

 some are excellent, others, such as that of Angelica (p. 74) and the Corn 

 Mint (p. 128) cannot be commended. The drawing of Scentless May- 

 weed (p. 105) recalls rather Antheniis Cotida^ and that of the White Goose- 

 foot (p. 147) represents an Atriplex. In a " Colour Index " at the end of 

 the book some confusion has occurred, by which Gorse figures among 

 the white flowers, and Carline Thistle among the purple. But these are 

 minor blemishes in an attractively got-up book, which will probably 

 help many a child to take his first steps in field botany. 



R. 1,1, P. 



