THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



249 



shelf of all who couut botany among the 

 number of tlicii- recreations. There is an 

 escjllent plate of the Poa pi-atensis to 

 show the structural economy of a com- 

 plete plant of the grass tribe, and explain 

 the te3hnicalitie3 used in the descriptions 

 of grasses. Tne first and second parts are 

 those which will most interest the amateur, 

 for they contain tables of the relative 

 growth of grasses in different situations; 

 the effects of irrigation on the growth 

 of grasses ; the admixture of weeds with 

 grasses in pastures ; an account of the 

 diseases of grasses, and a succinct analysis 

 of the anatomy and classification of grasses. I 

 The third part is devoted to an account of I 

 Professor Buckman's cultured experiments, I 

 and is essentially agricultural. We have j 

 no space here to make extracts, nor is it 

 desirable that we should do more than 

 thus indicate its nature and merits, and | 

 most heartily recommend it as the best 

 maimal of the subject. i 



Mr. Lowe's work is of higher pre- 

 tensions, and is altogether a drawing-room I 

 as well as a library book. In a grand I 

 octavo, containing Vl* coloured plates, 

 and 210 pages of descriptive letter-press, 

 Mr. Lowe gives detailed particulars and 

 figures of above 400 species and varieties. 

 A great merit of Mr. Lowe's book, beside 

 the beauty of the illustrations, is that it 

 is essentially original. Every one of the' 

 grasses has been figured and described 

 from specimens grown or collected for the 

 express purpose. Of all tlie rarer kinds 

 the localities are given, and such typo- 

 graphical, botanical, and agricultural notes 

 added as the methodical mode of treat- 

 ment would admit. If the botanical ex- 

 plorer vvdl turn to it with delight, and 

 find it invaluable as an aid to the naming 

 and arranging of his 8p2cimens, the 

 reader who has not become an explorer 

 will be fired with botanical enthusiasm 

 after an inspection of the beautifully- 

 executed and accurate portraits of grasses 

 here presented in the semblance of life. 

 Many who have good collections of dried 

 grasses would find in Mr. Lowe's work 

 very useful hints as to localities where 

 rare species and varieties may be obtained, 

 and also derive much help, in the naming 

 of gatherings and collections, from the 

 figni-es and descriptions. To Mr. Lowe 

 we are indebted for a valuable series of 

 books on special departments of botanical 

 study. His " British and Exotic Ferns" 

 is a superb production, in which the 



oi'der Filices passes in grand procession 

 before us ; his elaborate descriptive hst of 

 " Beautiful Leaved Plants," coloured after 

 the life, will shortly be completed, to add 

 to our obligations ; and his " British 

 Grasses" stands alone among works of its 

 class for accuracy, copiousness, and per- 

 spicuity of arrangement, and must be 

 entered on the list of necessary adjuncts 

 to the study of this important tribe of 

 plants. 



For other works on the study of 

 grasses, we cannot do better than quote 

 from Mr. Lowe's Introduction. He says, 

 "For works treating on the British 

 Grasses, we are indebted to Sir James 

 Edward Smith, who has, in his " English 

 Flora," devoted many pages to this sub- 

 ject ; to Sir William Jackson Hooker, 

 and Dr. Arnott, who have also devoted 

 much space to the grasses in their " British 

 Flora ;" to Mr. Sowerby, who, in his 

 I " English Botany," has a whole volume on 

 ' the Grasses. Other works published on 

 I this subject are " Gramina Britannica," 

 1 by J. L. Ivnapp, published in 1804 ; Hud- 

 son's " Flora Anglica," published in 1778 ; 

 Curtis's " British Grasses," published in 

 1790 ; Schreber'g " Beschreibung der 

 Graser," published in 1709 ; De CandoUe's 

 " Flora Francois," published in 1805-15 ; 

 Deering's " Catalogue of Plants round 

 Nottingham ;" the works of Ehrhart, pub- 

 lished about 1790 ; Grave's " Monograpli 

 ! on the British Grasses," published in 

 1822 ; Jussieu's Works ; Leer's " Flora 

 ! Herbornensis ;" LiunsGus, various works ; 

 Martyn's " Flora Rustica," 1791 ; Peti- 

 ver's"^ "Graminum," etc., published in 

 1717 ; Schrader's Works ; Sinclair's 

 " Hortus Gramineus Woburnensis," pub- 

 Ushed in 1816 ; Wildcnow's works ; 

 Gouan's "Hortus Regius Monspeliensis," 

 published in 1762; Ocder's "Flora 

 Danica," published in 176G ; Plukcnefs 

 various works ; Morison's " Historia 

 Plantarnm Universalis," published in 

 1680 ; Scheuchzer's v;ovks ; Haller's "His- 

 toria Stirpium Indigenarum Helvetia?," 

 published in 1768 ; Hoffman's " Deutsch- 

 land's Flora;" Sibthorp's "Flora Oxo- 

 niensis," published in 1794 ; Roth's " Tan- 

 tamcn Florte GermaniciT," published in 

 1778; Lightfoot's "Flora Scotica ;" Ge- 

 rarde's " Herball," published in ^1636 ; 

 Relhan's "Flora Cantabrigiensis," pub- 

 lished in 1802 ; Ray's Synopsis " Metho- 

 dica Stirpium Britanniearum," published 

 in 1724, and a host of other botanists." H. 



