Z898.J The Flora of Donegal. 241 



county of its plants, Mr. Hart has used the scheme of partition which is 

 supplied by the baronies, the large barony of Kilmacrenan being divided 

 into two by a north and south line. Eight districts are thus formed, and 

 the distribution of the whole flora in these eight districts has been con- 

 scientiously worked out, and is shown in detail in a table which also 

 gives the type of vegetation (Watson's) to which each species belongs^ 

 and its vertical range in Donegal, indicated by reference to Watson's 

 zones. Indeed, the vertical distribution of the flora has received par- 

 ticular attention, and no part of the work is more thorough than the 

 information given on this important subject. 



To analyse the contents of the book. A large folding map of the 

 county faces the title-page — perhaps rather larger than was necessary for 

 the amount of detail which is shown on it. This map is not quite as 

 accurate or as clear as might be desired. Mulroy Bay, an arm of the sea, 

 appears as a laud-locked lake. The railways from Donegal to Kill3'begs, 

 and from Stranorlar to Glenties, which have been open for some years, 

 are not shown, although other railwaj-s are duly marked. It is difficult 

 to find the many lakes, owing to their being coloured like the land 

 surrounding them ; and the marking of the mountains is such that one 

 might suppose the whole county to be nearly equally hilly, except where 

 the more important elevations are marked in feet. Following the title- 

 page (which is not quite explicit, as "Horsetails, Club-mosses, and 

 Characeie'' ought to be added to "Flowering Plants and Ferns") we 

 have an appropriate dedication to the memory of A. G. More. Then 

 comes a four-page "Introduction," which is what, in works of its 

 kind, is usually styled a preface, and in which the author explains 

 the origin and history of the book, with a grateful acknowledgment 

 of the sympathy and assistance received from More. A full index 

 follows, in which the names of orders and of genera, and English 

 names, are wisely thrown into one alphabetical list. Then come 

 chapters on topography, geology, flowering season of plants, geographical 

 distribution, and table of descending order of plants, occupying 

 89 pages. These subjects are all well worked out. But here we first 

 encounter a looseness of editing and also a carelessness of proof-reading, 

 both of which become more apparent as one dips deeper into the book, 

 and which mar certain portions of it. "Quartzose" for " quartzite," 

 repeated several times, is not an improvement, and "glaciated striae" 

 sounds peculiar. On p. 5, in the list of " plants occurring only in this 

 district" [South Inishowen], Leontodon hispidtis^ Calaniintha Clinopodium, and 

 Poa cornpressa are included without comment, though from the body of 

 the book we learn that the occurrence of the first in the county is " very 

 doubtful," while the others, though searched for, have not been seen in 

 their only station for over half a century. To take another instance, 

 Linaria repens and Euphorbia amygdaloides are included (p. 7) in the list of 

 " undoubted natives found only in District III." whereas in the detailed 

 enumeration of the flora both are marked with a dagger (= " possibly 

 introduced"). Eleocharis paucijiortcs, Thrincia Sindi Apargia in this portion 

 of the book develop into Scirpus and Leontodon later on. These are small 

 things, but they militate against the symmetry of the work. 



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