796 The Journal of Forestry. 



Transactions and Procmlint/s of the Botanical Sociciij of Etlinhimjh, 



Vol. XIII., Part I. 



Edinburgh : Printed for tlie Botanical Society. 



This annual report of the sayings and doings of one of the most 

 industrious scientific societies of the day contains much concerning 

 vegetable economy and plant life that is of great interest and value 

 to foresters, as Avell as to all others whose daily avocations require them 

 to study and note the wondrous ways and workings of nature. To possess 

 a botanical knowledge of plants is of the first importance to all who aspire 

 to cultivate them with success — not only to be able to distinguish one 

 species of plants from another, Imt also to discover and understand their 

 nature, habits, and uses, and to l)e able to apply such invaluable knowledge 

 with skill and scientific accuracy in the manipulation and cultivation of 

 the vegetable kingdom, so as to supply in the most economic and best 

 possible manner all the necessary wants of man, and to adorn his home 

 with all the glorious beauties of nature in their loveliest form. Under 

 the guidance of a numerous array of able and talented men the Edinburgh 

 Botanical Society has for nearly half a century held a leading position 

 amongst the learned societies of the world, and is probably the most 

 successful of them all at the present day in inculcating a perfect knowledge 

 of botany and vegetable economy to young aspirants, and a true taste for 

 the appreciation and scientific investigation of the marvellous and beautiful 

 intricacies of nature as displayed in the plant world. The annals of the 

 society are a complete epitome of the progress and advancement of 

 botanical science, and contain besides many records of facts and data of 

 the utmost importance to forestry and to all other branches of rural 

 economy. 



The part of its annals now before us contains a full average of well- 

 reasoned and deeply interesting articles, botli in a scientific and practical 

 sense, as well as a large store of notes and comments upon current topics 

 and events relative to the vegetable kingdom during the past season. The 

 Transactions, which occupy the first 114 pages, begin with some able 

 remarks upon " The Influence of the Sea on the Distribution of Plants," 

 by Vice-President Alexander Buchan, M.A., F.R.S.E., being an address 

 delivered at the opening meeting of the session in November, in which he 

 forcibly points out the great value of such an inquiry, not only for the 

 light it would cast on the distribution of important classes of plants, but 

 also the indirect light which it is likely to throw on the influence of the 

 sea on man himself. The same eminent meteorologist has another most 

 instructive paper in this part on " Low Night Temperatures in Relation 

 to Slight Inequalities of Surface," in which he describes in the clearest 

 manner the great difference, in special instances, of the night temperature 

 on hillocks and in hollows adjacent to each other, with the practical 

 deduction, which we quote for the benefit of our readers, that " to secure 

 the best protection for tender plants in spring, when a night's frost may 

 be productive of ruinous loss, a gently sloping surface should, if possible, 



