28 The I? isli Naturalist . [February, 



&c., would be of immense interest and form a large and 

 valuable philological (as well as botanical) stud}-. I have 

 mj^self collected v;ithout difficult}^ though at a considerable 

 expense of time and travel, a large number of Celtic plant- 

 names in Donegal which do not appear in the Cybele. Many 

 will be found in an appendix to my Flora of DoneoaL In 

 most cases the people, whether Irish-speaking or not, know 

 no English name for the plants. 



It seems to me, however, that the method of excessive 

 syllabication adopted here is a mistaken one. It gives the 

 words an invertebrate, un harmonious appearance, and tends 

 to induce one to pronounce them disjointedl}^ ver}^ much at 

 variance wuth the euphonious glibness of the native. Irish 

 words as usuall}^ spelt in Threlkeld, O'Reill}^ Cameron, Jo3'ce> 

 or Stokes, seem to me much easier to master. 



I will now make some remarks on passages in this volume, 

 in the order in which they occur. 



On page xxvi. is omitted '' Donegal Plants," y(??^;7^. of Dot., 

 1896, p. 399, under *' Hart, H.C.," a paper which is referred to 

 subsequently several times. 



At page xl. it is contended that the rainfall in Kerry is at a 

 maximum, Valentia being quoted in proof for six j^ears (1890- 

 1895), an insufiicient period, with a mean of 53*6 inches. 

 Dunmanway, in Cork, has a wetter mean, 66*23 inches. But 

 what I wish to observe is that Connemara is, so far as our 

 knowledge goes, far and away wetter than the south-west 

 (unless at altitudes unsuitable for comparison). K3'lemore, 

 in Connemara, has a mean of 8179 inches for 16 j^ears. 

 Symons' British Rainfall is of course the authority on such 

 subjects. No doubt there are valleys in the Kerry Reeks, 

 that would perhaps eclipse Connemara, but we have not got 

 the proof. Indeed the mean at Killj'begs, in Donegal, for 

 nine years, exceeds the Valentia record quoted above by 

 about four inches. 



On the following page (xli.) the first British type plant 

 quoted as absent from Ireland is Helia7itheniu7n viilgare. This 

 I believe to be a misstatement. I will refer to the question 

 later on. 



In enumerating the Highland type plants (p. xliv.), it seems 

 a pity to exclude such thoroughly representative plants, sub- 



