MARCH. 75 



allowed her way, would produce. A mass of shrubs, the boughs of 

 which gracefully sweep the lawn, compared with a similar one bordered 

 with bare earth or weedy abominations, do not admit of comparison. 



L. 



FRANCIS'S BRITISH FERNS. 



Last year I ordered from London your Florist, with which I am 

 greatly pleased, and shall continue to take it in. In the volume for 

 1851 is a critique on my A nalysis of British Ferns, edit. iv. I beg 

 to say, that I had nothing to do with that work after the second 

 edition, neither have I seen a copy of any later edition ; hence the 

 errors you point out, and the not keeping pace with the improved 

 knowledge of the time, which you complain of. My last edition, the 

 second, was published in 1842, I believe soon after the venation 

 as a characteristic of genera was first promulgated by my friend, 

 Mr. Smith. On that matter I have much modified my views ; 

 I think it much more valuable as a diagnosis than at that distant 

 time. Your other censurable remarks certainly have much founda- 

 tion, as far as I can judge of them without seeing the edition referred 

 to. I do not even know if the same plates are continued, so that 

 I must beg to be exonerated from all blame on this matter ; and, even 

 at this distance of time (seven years) I trust you will find room in 

 your Florist for this note, written from the Antipodes, as I am now 

 Director of the Botanic Garden, Adelaide, South Australia. In your 

 volume for 1851 is a letter, entitled, " News from Mount Barker." 

 The writer I am not acquainted with, but his letter is very correct 

 altogether, and applies almost as well to the present day as then. 

 When I have time, I will send you a paper or two on Australian 

 Gardens. George W. Francis, F.H.S. 



Adelaide, December 8, 1858. 



[We very readily give insertion to the above letter from Mr. 

 Francis, as affording an explanation of his views at the present time 

 on the question commented on by the reviewer in the Florist so long 

 ago as 1851. Mr. Francis was among the very first British botanists 

 who directed attention to the Ferns and their allies ; and, as such, is 

 entitled to our respect ; and doubtless the errors complained of would 

 long since have been rectified had Mr. Francis continued his labours 

 in this country. The letter shows rather curiously how booksellers 

 make up new editions, with improvements, &c, and affords a hint to 

 authors to see that their names are not made use of without their 

 consent, or their having the chance of correcting their first impressions. 

 We shall be very pleased to hear again from Mr. Francis. — Ed. Fl.] 



