330 



LITERARY NOTICES. 



most completely serve to maintain that con- 

 nection witji the past, ^vhicll the onward 

 and restless spirit of such a republic as ours 

 naturally finds it most difficult to establish 

 and keep up. And if the inhabitants of 

 our numerous cities are in the familiar em- 

 ployment of fine monuments to commemo- 

 rate family virtues, and the modest worth of 

 local reputations, we cannot doubt that, at 

 no distant day, there will be patriotism 

 enough to assign the most appropriate spot 

 and the noblest work of the sculptor, to sig- 

 nalize the last resting place of the illustrious 

 dead. .... 



IcoNOGRArHiE DESCRiPTiF DEs Cactees, (m essais 



systcinatiques et raisonncs sur PHistoire naturelle, 



la classification, ct la culture desplantes de cette 



Famille. Par Ch. Lemaire. In folio. Paris. 



H. Cousin. (Illustraied History and Description 



of the CactacecE, Sfc) 



A very excellent French work, now being 



issued in Paris, edited by Lemaire, and de- 



voted to that unique group of plants, some 

 individual or other of which is known to 

 almost every one of our readers, under the 

 name of Cactus. From the well known 

 " Prickly Pear," which grows in our rocky 

 woods, to that superb and almost mysterious 

 vesper queen, the Night-blooming Cereus, 

 C. grandiflora, there are now known to bo- 

 tanists and to cultivators a vast number of 

 species, some strange and grotesque, some 

 positively repulsive, and many very brilliant 

 and attractive — but altogether forming one 

 of the most distinct and interesting natural 

 orders in the Vegetable Kingdom. 



The Avork before us is devoted to a full 

 account of these plants. The plates are 

 large and handsomely colored, and they 

 faithfull}^ portray the species. The text is 

 systematic, and executed with scientific care. 

 It is a work well worth}^ of the attention of 

 the devotee to exotic plants. 



LITERARY NOTICES. 



I. Illustrations OF Medical Botany. A series 

 of upwards of one hundred Medical Plants, afford- 

 ing all the important articles of the Materia Me- 

 dica. By Joseph Carson, M. D., Professor of 

 Materia Medica, Philadelphia. Lloyd P. Smith, 

 Philadelphia. 



We learn that a highly useful and valuable 

 work, bearing this title, has been underta- 

 ken in Philadelphia, by Dr. Carson. It is 

 intended to supply a desideratum experien- 

 ced by medical men and dealers in medi- 

 cines, which, notwithstanding the many bo- 

 tanical and medical works, still exists. Dr. 

 Carson's reputation as a teacher of Materia 

 Medica, gives assurance that this work will 

 be ably performed. 



The illustrations "will be done on stone 

 by an artist of eminence, the same who 

 executed Audubon's Fauna ; and the plates 



will be admirably colored from Nature by 

 European colorists. There can be no doubt, 

 therefore, that the work will be one eagerly 

 sought after by all those interested in Me- 

 dical Bctany. 



We understand only a small edition will 

 be issued, and those who wish to secure the 

 work are recommended to send their names 

 to the publisher, Lloyd P. Smith, Philadel- 

 phia. It will be issued in four n ambers, 

 price for the whole $15, or on large paper, 

 $25. 



II. L'Aet de faire DES BouTUREs — The 

 art of Propagating by Cuttings, is the title 

 of a clever little volume Avith upwards, of 

 thirty engravings, by M. Neumann, the 

 well known French horticulturist, lately 

 published at Paris, price two francs. 



