156 THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY 



chiefly from Oxen, made by Plot and named by Bobart," which 

 are indicated as " in the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) " : these are 

 in vol. 113 of the Sloane Herbarium ; other plants connected with 

 Plot are in H. S. 168. 



The identification of the plants of the Morisonian Herbarium 

 is preceded by an account of the Herbarium itself and a list of the 

 collectors whose plants it contains. These largely correspond 

 with the contributors to the Sloane Herbarium, formed somewhat 

 later, an account of which it is known will be published by the 

 Trustees of the British Museum, though not as immediately as 

 was suggested by a note inserted in this Journal (1913, 316) 

 during the absence of the Editor. The Herbarium consists of 

 about 6,500 specimens, including many not named in the Historia 

 but identified here ; we can well believe that their identification 

 has been " a long and laborious task," even when alleviated by the 

 expert assistance which the authors acknowledge. Whether it 

 was worth all the trouble that has been expended upon it is, of 

 course, a matter of opinion ; the authors point out that as the col- 

 lection was not formed by Morison but was " organized by the 

 younger Bobart," " it might be consequently inferred that none of 

 the specimens illustrating [Morison's] volume can be regarded as 

 ' type-specimens ' ; but there can be no doubt that Bobart was 

 quite familiar with Morison's species, sufficiently so as to render 

 the specimens authoritative for reference." We ourselves do not 

 think the identification of first importance, inasmuch as a cursory 

 inspection of the detailed list shows that in many instances more 

 than one plant is represented under the same name: thus " C. 

 Madraspatensis panicula sparsa " is represented by two if not 

 three species (p. 116), and a note on the following page on a 

 specimen identified as " Juncoides niveum (L.) "'•' shows " a double 

 error " of a complicated kind. There is, we cannot but think, 

 considerable danger of basing too much upon the specimens and 

 their identification : thus, without necessaril}- endorsing Dr. Eobin- 

 son's conclusions as to the nomenclature of Oxalis corniculata — 

 his paper is in Journ. Bot. 1906, not " 1907" — we do not consider 

 that they are disposed of, as the authors (p. 13) seem to think, by 

 the correction of one of the synonyms quoted by Linnaeus. A 

 more thorough examination of the book would doubtless afi'ord 

 further matter for remark, but the publishers by issuing the 

 volume uncut have not rendered its contents readily consultable. 

 There is an excellent index of plant-names, but none of the 

 collectors cited nor of the English localities or counties in which 

 British specimens were collected ; both of these would have been 

 useful to those who consult the book, wdiich, whatever opinion 

 may be formed as to its positive utility, must certainly take rank 

 as a monument of industry. 



* This appears to be a new combination, as do " Juncoides sylvaticum 

 (Huds.) " (p. 113), " Centauriiim spicatuni (Pers.) " (p. 57) and others similarly 

 indicated ; these, we presume, will have to be cited as of " Vines & Druce." 



