BOOK-XOTES, NRWS, ETC. 27 



diirino^ or since tlie ineoming- of ti southern temperate flora lias to be 

 considered. Sixty species confined to Scotland represent, ])r()l)al)ly, 

 the oldest portion of our Flora. Whether they survived the Ice Age 

 on " nunataks " or reached their present stations after the retreat of 

 tlie ice, they are best regarded as relics of that old pala?arctic Mora 

 which girdles the globe within the Arctic Circle, but which, during 

 the period of niaxinuim glaciation, was driven southwards in every 

 longitude. It is to be hoped that these mass-results will be further 

 analysed, as the method appears capable of giving conclusive evidence 

 on some of the old (questions of distribution. 



At the meeting of the Linnean Society on Nov. 17, Capt. A. W. 

 Hill gave an account of his recent official visit to the Cameroons 

 and Nigeria. He described the settlement of Victoria and gave its 

 history, passing to the Botanic Garden there having an area of about 

 200 acres, with laboratory, herbarium, and museum buildings, now 

 awaiting the restoration of their proper function. The site is 

 admirable, and the soil good; connected with this garden are the 

 experimental plots of tea and cinchona at Buea, at an altitude of 

 3300-3600 feet on the Cameroon Mountain. He then sketched his 

 journey in Nigeria and his visit to the Bauchi Plateau, Northern 

 Provinces, where he had the good fortune to enlist the services of 

 Mr. H. V. Lely, the Forestry Officer of the district, and others for 

 collecting specimens of the local flora. Over 600 specimens have 

 already been received at Kew from Mr. Lely, which so far as they 

 have been determined show a large proportion of new species. The 

 flora of the plateau shows interesting affinities with the flora of 

 Abyssinia and Nyasaland. 



Me. H. H. Haines, CLE., is publishing (Adiard and Sons) 

 T/ie Botany of Bihar and Orissa—'' a.n account of all the known 

 indigenous plants of the Province and of the most important or most 

 commonly cultivated exotic ones," — of which the second jmrt has 

 reached us : the first, not yet issued, will contain the " introduction 

 and general remarks on the Botany of the Province." The author 

 was until recently Conservator of Forests for the region indicated, 

 and the work bears evidence of intimate acquaintance with its flora. 

 The arrangement followed is in the main that of the Flora of 

 British India : " adherence to the International Code has caused, 

 unfortunately, several departures from the names used in that monu- 

 mental work " ; in some instances, however, from motives of con- 

 venience, "well-known names have been retained in spite of these 

 Rules," the " new name " being added as a synonym and hence not 

 available for citation. There is a clavis to both genera and species, 

 with ver}^ full descriptions and references to economic uses : also a 

 new verb — we are told that Odina wodier "coppices freely." 



Messrs. Lotell Reeye have published in a handsome quai-to 

 book (4 guineas net) Illustrations of the Flonwrim/ Plants and 

 Ferns of the Falkland Islands, by Mrs. E. F. Vallentin, with 

 descriptions by Mrs. E, M. Cotton. The plates, sixty-four in number, 



