•248 



THE FLOEAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



it is still a work of value ; antl, tliougli 

 pastures and fallows are managed on very 

 different principles to those which prevailed 

 ■when Mr. George Sinclair laid out his grass 

 gardens at Woburn and New Cross, the 

 agriculturist may still consult it with ad- 

 vantage. Like Darwin's " Botanic Gar- 

 den," Sinclair's work has a value apart j 

 altogether from the science, to which it 

 added a valuable category of facts : it is one 

 of the landmarks in the progress of British 

 botany, and, if reprinted, would be received 

 acain with favour as a necessity of every 

 liorticultural, botanical, and agricultural 

 library. Tlic same may also be truthfully 

 said of the "Weeds of Agriculture." Grass- 

 ology (if such a term is allowable) received 

 a powerful impetus from the publication 

 of the " Woburn Gramineus" both in this 

 country and on the continent. We have 

 seen a collection of the grasses and sedges 

 of Belgium, beautifully prepared aud 

 mounted, which were published in two 

 folio volumes, in 1826, under the title of 

 « Agrostologie Belgique ou lierbier dcs 

 Graminees des Cyperees et des Joncees que 

 Croissent en BeJguiquc." It would be 

 well if we could have collections of dried 

 grasses from the various countries of 

 Europe, botanically arranged, and placed 

 in some of our public libraries and mu- 

 seums, to afford means of comparing spe- 

 cies and varieties, and also of noting liow 

 far soil and climate influence the growth 

 of grasses as to their productiveness and 

 tendency to seed. True, we have in the 

 British Museum, and at the museum at 

 ICew, some aid of this kind, but the pro- 

 per home for an extensive and well kept 

 collection is the Horticultural Society, 

 which latelv parted with its library for a 

 mere song,*and with it the best sources of 

 information on this and kindred subjects 

 ever got together in the metropolis. One 

 of the most curious of the continental 

 works on grasses is one published at Pesth, 

 in 1826, by J. and M. Haberle, Brofefsors 

 in the University of Hungary, entitled 

 «'De Stipfc Nosa." Tlie object of this 

 curious pamphlet was to treat of certain 

 accidents to which sheep are liable from 

 the seeds of Stipa, or feather-grass. It 

 appears that Stipa pennata and capitata are 

 very common in certain pastures in Hun- 

 gary, near the valley of Berzel ; that the 

 seeds, which are furnished with a p:ippus, 

 are carried about with the wind, and fall- 

 ing upon ditl'ereut objects, stick there, as 

 seeds similarly furnished do, by means ot 

 the sharp point of the seed ; that they 

 fall upon the backs of the sheep, and by 

 tiie hygrometrical action of the pappus, 



and the motion of the sheep, are impelled 

 mechanically through the wool, penetrate 

 the skin, pass through the flesh to the in- 

 testines, and they have even been found in 

 the liver. The morbid effects of this pro- 

 cess is the disease called by these proles- 

 sors Stiptc uoxa. It commences with an 

 inflammation of the skin, then follow want 

 of appetite, fever, want of sleep, great rest- 

 lessness, and finally death, at least where 

 the seeds of the Stipa have penetrated any 

 of the vital organs. 



Those of our readers who have col- 

 lections of grasses would do well to obtain 

 1 Dr. Parnell's "British Grasses, tor t lie 

 I sake of the excellent microscopic inves- 

 tigations with which it abounds. Dr. 

 I Parnell devoted the whole powers ot Ins 

 fine intellect to the task of rescuing irom 

 confusion a subject which still presents 

 ! difllculties to the technologist and phy- 

 siolot^ist ahke, and we may truthfully say 

 that°there was but little known ot the 

 anatomy of gra.sses until he took the task 

 in hand with the help of that powerlul 

 nenetrator of mysteries, the microscope. 

 But for all ordinary purposes of informa- 

 tion aud reference, the works of Sowerby, 

 Lawson, Lowe, and Buckman may be con- 

 sidered suflicient. Mr. Sowerby's name is 

 so well known that it is its own recom- 

 mendation. In the original "British 

 Botany" an entire volume was devoted to 

 the grasses, and this has lately been re- 

 produced with some improvements, and 

 may be considered the leading text-book 

 on the subject. Lawsou's "Agrostogra- 

 phia" is invaluable to the experimental 

 agriculturist, and is the result of expe- 

 rfence acquired during many years ma- 

 nagement of a large seed-growing esta- 

 blishment, which takes the lead in the 

 north of England among large proprietors 

 and scieutific agriculturists. But Pro- 

 fessor Buckman and Mr. E. J. Lowe, ol 

 Nottingham, are favourite authors among 

 amateur students of grasses, and hence 

 their works on the subject demand a few 

 words beyond the mere approbative men- 

 tion of their names. . 



Professor Buckman's work* is ad- 

 dressed to the observant farmer, and its 

 chief value is derived from the relation oi 

 the author's experiments and observations 

 on the growth of grasses. But it is so 

 concise and simple m its treatment ot the 

 subject, that it would be equally useiul in 

 schools and classes, and ou the library 



• "The Natural Historyof British Meadow and 

 Pasture Grasses, with au account of their Economy 

 aud Agricultural ludications." By J. Buckman, 

 F L S F G.S. London: ICamilton, Adams, &Co. 



