188 THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY 



Geographical Distribution of Plants in Ireland. In 1869, Professor 

 Babington published an able account of the British Eubi, with very 

 full descriptions of the numerous species into which the genus had 

 then been divided. This brings us to the year 1870, when yet 

 another guide to " the British Flora " appeared, and has received a 

 considerable amount of patronage, for this is the date of the first 

 edition of The Stnde^ifs Flora of the British Islands, by Sir J. D. 

 Hooker; the object of which, in the words of the author, was **to 

 supply students and field botanists with a fuller account of the 

 flowering plants and vascular cryptogams of the British Islands 

 than the manuals hitherto in use aim at giving." We are told by 

 the author that ''the ordinal generic and specific characters were 

 to a great extent original, but collated with those of Mr. Boswell- 

 Syme in his edition of English Botany.''' The book has many good 

 and useful features which distinguish it from other similar works ; 

 the distribution of each species throughout the world is shortly 

 stated ; also the total number of species in each genus. In the 

 critical genera — Rubus, Bosa, and Hieraciiwi — a plan of grouping 

 allied species or varieties is adopted which is intermediate between 

 those of Babington and Bentham. A third edition of this handbook 

 appeared in 1884, containing improvements in the classification 

 and characters of the orders, genera, and tribes in accordance with 

 the before-mentioned Genera Plantarum of the author and George 

 Bentham ; and since this date no new British Flora has appeared. 

 Such a work brought up to date is now much wanted. 



For the student of cryptogams two important works appeared 

 in 1871— M. C. Cooke's Handbook of British Fungi, and Rev. W. A. 

 Leighton's Lichen Flora of Great Britain, Ireland, and the Channel 

 Islands. This latter, a most elaborate work, went tlirough three 

 editions, the last in 1879. 



In 1873-4 the two volumes of H. C. Watson's valuable Topo- 

 graphical Botany appeared ; and a second edition, corrected and 

 enlarged by J. G. Baker and Rev. W. W. Newbould in 1883. This 

 well-known work affording a bird's-eye view of the distribution of 

 the several species of the British Flora, is indispensable to the field 

 botanist. It is to be hoped that a new edition, for which much 

 material has been accumulated, may soon be published. 



In 1878 a very interesting Dictionary of English Plant Najneswua 

 commenced by Messrs. James Britten and Robert Holland. In a 

 review of the first part it was truly stated that "such an extensive 

 series of the names of English plants has never before been seen." 

 The Dictionary was completed in 1886. Readers of this Journal 

 will also gratefully remember the very useful Biogrbphical Index of 

 British and Irish Botanists compiled by Messrs. James Britten and 

 G. S. Boulger, 1888-91.- In 1880 Dr. Braithwaite commenced to 

 publish a most complete work on the British Moss- Flora, with 



* [Mr. Clarke's modesty forbids him to refer to his interesting First Records 

 of British Flotvering Plants, which was first issued in this Journal and appeared 

 last year in a second (revised and corrected) edition ; but it cannot be omitted 

 from this enumeration. — Ed. Journ. Bot.^ 



