Dr. Ph. Fr. de Siebold Flora Japonica. Sectio prima, plantcB ornatui vel Usui 

 inservientes. Bigessit Br. J. G. Zuccarini, Fasc. I.-VIII. 1835-1839. 4to. 



Of this beautiful work eight parts only have appeared in 

 four years, from which it is to be inferred that the encourage- 

 ment it meets with from the public is not of a very substan- 

 tial nature. I may therefore be permitted to state somewhat 

 at length what manner of book this is, the subscribers to 

 which are so few, that it can hardly draw its slow length 

 along. 



In all respects it is an ouvrage de luxe, printed in large 

 4to. in Latin and French, on fine paper, with a bold hand- 

 some type, and broad margin, and illustrated with coloured 

 plates of plants, remarkable either for their use or beauty. 

 The figures are drawn by artists of taste and skill, are beau- 

 tifully engi^aved on stone, and are coloured in a manner that 

 leaves nothing to desire as works of art ; they are accom- 

 panied in all cases by elaborate dissections of the parts of 

 fructification, which renders them of great value as works of 

 science. The title-page is richly embellished with a view of 

 the tomb, erected in the island of Dezima, to the memory of 

 Ktempfer and Thunberg, and the dedication to the Grand 

 Duchess of Russia is enriched with graceful arabesque tracery. 

 It is therefore obvious that no care or cost have been with- 

 held from the work by the publishers. 



The editorial part, by Professor Zuccarini of Munich, is 

 performed in a manner worthy of the state of modern science. 

 In addition to the information as to synonymes, &c. usually 

 found in works of systematical botany, there is an elaborate 

 technical description in Latin of each species, and an account 

 in French of its habits and uses, together with such scientific 

 discussion as the subject calls for. The best illustration that 

 can be given of this is by way of extract, for which purpose 

 I give the account of the Sii Noki or Quercus cuspidata, a 

 kind of oak with eatable acorns. 



" The Sii Noki is found in all the islands of Japan ; it 

 grows in thickets mixed with other kinds of Oaks, Chesnuts, 

 Laurels, Wild Camellias, Viburnums, and Ilex, especially about 

 cottages and solitary farm-houses, on the hills and mountains, 

 as high as a thousand feet above the level of the sea. In gar- 

 dens it serves as an ornament, and its fruits, which taste like 

 chesnuts, are eaten raw, or roasted, and are also employed as 

 a remedy in dropsical cases. The wood is fine grained, hard^ 



