3-10 THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY 



often witnessed with delight at the 'Old Vic ' and elsewhere" — :i 

 reiniirk which suggests that Mr. Liw is imperfectly acquainted with 

 London topography. 



With such help, it seems strange to read that of Sweet Briar " a 

 few score would still be very welcome ; also hundreds if not thousands 

 of Violets — not the scentless giant freaks of importing foreigners — 

 nor the cranky mongrels of experimentalizing, hybridizing, soul-less 

 scientists and enterprising nurserymen, but our own sweet simple 

 English Violets." Mr, Law mars the little volume by writing of this 

 kind, and by a stupid diatribe against " horrid absurd uncouth Latin 

 names": he is better employed in describing the long birders and 

 flat beds, the knott garden, and the old designs, which have been, or 

 will be, carefully followed — 'the illustrations from various sources are 

 an attractive feature of the book. We venture, however, to doubt 

 whether the hope that on the " wild bank or heath " " every species 

 known in Shakespeare's time will eventually find a place " is capal)le 

 of fulfilment; this and the gloss *'oxlips " appended to Bacon's " liet 

 ground set with violets and primroses" suggest that Mr, Law, like 

 Shakespeare, " did not trouble himself much about botany" — what, 

 by the way, does he mean by saying that " Harrison's giant musk 

 has entirely robbed the old common musk of our gardens of its 

 delicious fragrance " ? All the same, he has given us a pretty little 

 volume. 



The Determination of Lichens in the Field. By W. Watso.st, D.Sc. 

 Reprinted from the 'Journal of Botany.' Taylor & Francis. 

 28 pp. Price 2s. net. 



As the study of Ecology advances, a knowledge that goes beyond 

 Phaneroo'ams becomes imperative. Plant successions and associations 

 may, and often do, include a large and varied number of cryptogams 

 — hepatics, mosses, lichens &c. ; and the need of some method whereby 

 these plants may be-^ readily recognised in the field has become 

 insistent, even though detailed knowledge may not be desired. 

 ])r. Watson, in this publication, has met the demand, as far as lichens 

 are concerned, by providing a simple (though artificial) key to the 

 genera and even in some cases to the species, based on easily distin- 

 guished characters ; helpful notes are also given. His one aim has 

 been that of ready identification, and an examination of the key gives 

 the assurance that he has succeeded. The ''compleat botanist" 

 should be more or less familiar with all forms of plant life, and 

 Dr. Watson has surely earned his gratitude by enabling him to 

 overcome the preliminary difiiculties of lichenology, especially if time 

 and circumstance forbid more extended study. 



A, L. S. 



BOOK-NOTES, NEWS, etc. 



Theee has long been a muddle in the United States over the 

 common Polypody; and we have to thank Mr. M. L. Fernald for 

 setting the matter straight by his careful investigations of Foly- 

 2)odii(m virgi]iianum and P, vuhjare (BhoJora, xxiv. 1922, j^p. 125- 



