188 



FOREIGN NOTICES. 



lieve " the curvature of a stem" to be an expres- 

 sion as wortliy of adoption as the grand word 

 Stelec horrhiphy sia. 



An example or two will illustrate our meaning 

 better than general allusions. In a work just hot 

 from the press, and a good work too, we read that 

 some moUusks are " zoophagous ; and these fur- 

 ther evidence their resiliuncy from the phytivorous 

 families by the character of their egg-repositories. 

 It is true these cannot well be reduced to any of 

 M. L.'s classes, but they are concamerated nidi 

 of a peculiar character.'' We are not sure that 

 we ourselves understand the learned author's 

 meaning; but nevertheless we may venture to as- 

 sert that the words in italics are wholly unneces- 

 sary, and that the sentence if put tlms would have 

 been more intelligible, without the loss of such 

 precision as it can pretend to. '• Some mollusks 

 feed on other animals, and these further show 

 their distinction from the families which feed on 

 plants, by the character of their egg repositories 

 (qu. nests.) It is true these cannot well be re- 

 duced to any of M. L.'s classes; but they are 

 chambered nests of a peculiar character." We 

 .see no merit in such words as zoophagous, resili- 

 aney, phytivorous, and concamerated nidi. 



Our next illustration exemplifies the style of a 

 popular work on Botany, professing to give Eng- 

 lish descriptions of plants. " A glabrous shrub. 

 Branches terete. Leaves distichous , on short pe- 

 tioles, almost coriaceous, obtuse at the base, ru- 

 gose, dentate, with a prominent costa. Flowers 

 secund. Calyx with subulate segments, saccate 

 at the base. Corolla in/undibuliform, plicate, 

 calcarate, irregular, ciliated, with the segments 

 caudate. Stamens exserted, heteromorphous, the 

 anterior barbate, the intermediate arcuate and 

 sericeous, the posterior complanate, clavate, fim- 

 briated, with setaceous processes," and so on. If 

 the reader still doubts whether technicality may I 

 not after all be the soul of science, as some will 

 have it, let us beg him to compare the foregoing 

 jargon with the following translation of it into 

 plain English: " A smooth shrub. Branches ta- 

 per. Leaves in two rows on short stalks, almost 

 leathery, blunt at the base, wrinkled, toothed, 

 with a prominent midrib. Flowers all turned to 

 one side. Calyx with awl-shaped segments, bag- 

 ged at the base. Corolla funnel-shaped, plaited, 

 spurred, irregular, fringed, with the segments 

 extended into tails. Stamens projecting, of dif- 

 ferent forms; those in front bearded, in the mid- 

 dle curved and silky, at the back flattened, club- 

 shaped, fringed with bristly processes." 



Let us intreat the lovers of hard words to ex- 

 plain in what consisted the necessity of intro- 

 ducing into this description such words as terete, 

 distichous, coriaceous, rugose, dentate, costa, sac- 

 cate, subulate, arcuate, barbate, complanate, hete- 

 romorphous, and so forth. These words are. in 

 truth, Latin and Greek, and it is as absurd for 

 English writers to employ them in translations as 



it would be for English people to talk Latin and 

 Greek in conversation. 



With such examples as the foregoing, we think 

 it not unreasonable to assert that some most im- 

 portant branches of science are svt'amped by a 

 technical jargon, uncalled for by anv exigency, 

 and alike repulsive to good taste and common 

 sense. That a perseverance in its use is fatal to 

 the progress of natural history, wc hold to be in- 

 disputable, and we earnestly hope that in future 

 those English writers who undertake the task of 

 public instruction, will endeavor to put their ideas 

 into a language to which reason offers no objec- 

 tion, and by which the little educated may profit, 

 as well as the highly educated; for thus alone 

 will it be possible to bring natural science within 

 the reach of all classes. Br. Lindley, in Gar- 

 deners' Chronicle. 



Forcing Straavberries. — It is an important 

 point with almost every one who cultivates straw- 

 berries, to have them early. Early forced straw- 

 berries are highly esteemed; and though the 

 means of producing them may be but limited, still 

 most people who possess a garden, and a little 

 glass, make an attempt at forcing them. For 

 very early work, the first runners should be se- 

 cured. These may be pegged down on small 3-inch 

 pots, and, when fully established, removeil from 

 the parent plants and re-potted into 6-inch pots, 

 using rich loamy soil. Instead of the common 

 practice of placing these pots behind a wall or 

 hedge, on a north aspect, let them be plunged in 

 the full sunshine up to their rims in coal-ashes or 

 old tan. All runners which arc made during the 

 current autumn should be removed on their first 

 appearance, and let the plants be watered once 

 every week with liquid manure. Under such 

 treatment they will have attained a highly ma- 

 tured condition by the approach of winter, and 

 will be capable of producing an early spring crop. 



As soon as the growing season is over, the pots 

 should be taken out of the material in which they 

 were plunged, and placed on their sides, to pre- 

 vent the access of water. In order the more per- 

 fectly to effect this end, a quantity of old tan, 

 sand, sawdust, or coal ashes should be provided 

 for stacking them in. A dry situation should be 

 selected for the purpose; the pots should then be 

 placed upon their sides in two rows, the bottom 

 of the pots facing each other, and the rims placed 

 at the outer edge of the stacking material. The 

 space between the pots should be filled up level 

 with the tops, and another tier of pots added, 

 until the ridge is 3 feet high. To throw off the 

 wet, a covering of straw should be secured on the 

 apex of the ridge. In severe weather the whole 

 ridge may with facility be protected, and this will 

 be the more desirable where a succession of 

 forced strawberries is required, as a portion will 

 require to be put in the forcing-house or pit every 

 fortnight; and this could not be done, under fa- 



