186 THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY 



Italian Eiviera, and Mr. Stuart Thompson has succeeded in 

 supplying it. For this he is especially well quaHfied, for besides 

 a good general acquaintance with European plants, he has 

 acquired a special knowledge of the plants of the region, more 

 particularly of the Department of the Var, which has an 

 especially rich flora — 2140 species of phanerogams alone being 

 recorded for it. His previous volumes on alpine and sub- alpine 

 plants have moreover already shown his competence for the task. 



The book is wisely planned so as to include within its covers 

 all that is needed to render the descriptions intelligible to the 

 intelligent amateur. There is a chapter on collecting and 

 presei'ving plants, a glossary of botanical terms, and a synopsis 

 of families. Mr. Tansley's general introductory essay, although 

 comprised within nine pages, is a clear and readable account of 

 the general features of the vegetation, which are also presented 

 by the excellent reproductions of Mr. Thompson's photographs. 

 Keys to the genera are given under each order ; the descriptions 

 of the species should present no difficulties to those who are 

 accustomed to work with a British flora, and indeed can without 

 difficulty be mastered by those who attempt the w^ork of dis- 

 crimination for the first time. They will be aided in their work 

 by the coloured figures, much reduced from the admirable 

 drawings of Mr. Clarence Bicknell, who has generously allowed 

 the author to make use of these. Their insertion may be justified 

 on the principle that half a loaf, or even a smaller portion, is 

 better than no bread ; but those who know Mr. Bicknell's volume, 

 published in 1885, on the Floioering Plants and Ferns of the 

 Eiviera, will share with us the hope that more of his drawings 

 may be reproduced in a style worthy of the originals. Mr. 

 Thompson in his preface usefully summarizes the literature which 

 has already appeared on the plants of the region ; and acknowledges 

 the help he has received from various botanists — a curious 

 sentence towards the end of the penultimate paragraph needs 

 revision. " The nomenclature does not follow rigidly the Vienna 

 Eules of 1905 ; and in some cases a well-known name is purposely 

 left, even though it may not be the earliest." We are glad that 

 Mr. Thompson has not felt it necessary to coin what are called 

 " English names." 



It remains to be said that the book is admirably printed on 

 thin but opaque paper, is suitably bound and is light in the hand. 

 We anticipate for it a large sale. 



Genera of British Plants, arranged according to Engler's ' Sijllahm 

 der Pflanzenfamilien' {Seventh edition, 1912), luith the 

 addition of the Characters of the Genera. By Humphrey 

 G. Carter, M.B., Ch.B. Pp. xviii. -f 121. Price 4s. net. 

 Cambridge : at the University Press. 

 Arranged according to any reasonable system of classifica- 

 tion, a book with such a subject should prove a welcome addition 

 to the literature of British botany. So much attention is paid 

 nowadays — too often vainly, it must be said— to hair's-breadth 



