112 THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY 



hedges offer no obstacle sufficient. It is just the same with the 

 willow ' palms ' — flowering this year happily too soon, at least for 

 the Easter holiday crowd — every bush on the common, every 

 branch by the way broken down and disfigured as high as hand 

 may reach." It is many years since we expressed surprise that 

 the Selborne Society had not made its influence more felt in the 

 matter of plant preservation : the formation of an influential 

 "Plant Protection Section" is an important step in the right 

 direction, but so far we are not aware that any definite results 

 have followed : meanwhile the question becomes yearly of greater 

 urgency. Mr. Brown concludes his letter by an appeal to " the 

 local authority," which might, we would think, at least control or 

 modify the efforts of the roadmen who throw upon the roadside 

 turf the parings and hedge trimmings they annually remove, leaving 

 them there to destroy what yet remains of grass ; and who scrape 

 the hedge banks and hedge bottoms to the great benefit of the 

 nettles, which profit by the destruction of other plants and usurp 

 their place, to the great detriment of the charm of the countryside. 



The volume on Wild Floivers which is contributed by Mr. 

 Macgregor Skene, B.Sc, to Messrs. Jacks' series of "People's 

 Books " is arranged according to colour — a scheme which is 

 doubtless intended to save trouble in identification, but which 

 can hardly be considered scientific. Nor are we sure that it 

 attains its object, for folk see colours very differently — we should 

 not ourselves class Eed Campion as purple or Water-Plantain as 

 rose ; nor is it easy to see why Bladderwort is placed among 

 "flowers rarely found or very inconspicuous," seeing that it is 

 described as " fairly common " and the flowers as " large yellow." 

 Mr. Skene recommends Babington's Manual and Bentham and 

 Hooker's Handbook, but omits Hooker's Students' Flora, which is 

 more useful than either. As a companion to the Handbook he 

 recommends " Smith's Illustrations of the British Flora "; by this 

 is intended the volume of figures by Fitch, prepared for the 

 illustrated edition of Bentham's earlier Handbook (which Bentham 

 and Hooker's replaced), which were issued as a separate work, 

 with supplementary figures by Mr. W. G. Smith, in 1880: from 

 this are taken the numerous excellent illustrations in Mr. Skene's 

 book, which form its most attractive feature. The descriptions 

 are careful and accurate and the volume is a wonderful sixpenny- 

 worth. 



The February number of the Journal of Genetics contains a 

 " Preliminary Note on the Genetics of Fragaria," which includes 

 experiments with F. vesca and notes on garden hybrids ; it is 

 illustrated with one plate and cuts. Mr. E. S. Salmon writes 

 " On the Appearance of Sterile 'Dwarfs' in Hnnmlus Lnp7ilns," 

 with two plates. The other papers deal with zoological matters. 



Corrections. — In our last issue, p. 72, line 8 from bottom, 

 "not" should be inserted before " hitherto " ; on p. 86, line 14 

 from bottom, the words "of Cambridge (not Dublin, Mr. Wilson !) " 

 should read " of Dublin, formerly of Cambridge." 



