158 THE JOURNAL, OF BOTANY 



naturalists of Finland, who have contributed no small part to the 

 study of European Natural History. The present memoir, which 

 will probably in due course be followed by the " Special Section," 

 will together form an excellent sample of the scientific work of 

 Finnish naturalists. With the fuller scope for the freer exercise of 

 its many activities by a country liberated from the trammels of an 

 imperial autocracy or the equally repressive tyranny of an amorphous 

 democracy, there is much hope in the future for the small band 

 of workers devoted to the advancement of Science. 



Frederic N. Williams. 



BOOK-NOTES, NEWS, etc. 



The Flora of Upsom and its Neicjlihourhood, by the Rev. T. N. 

 Hart Smith-Pearse, 1917 (Epsom : L. W. Andrews & Son, 3s. Qd. net), 

 is a summary of the work carried out by the Epsom College Natural 

 History Society since 1889, largely augmented by personal obser- 

 vations by the compiler. As the majority of the records were noted 

 during excursions in Term time, some species have been missed that 

 flower in the Easter and summer vacations, and many of the more 

 critical plants are omitted as ovitside the scope of the work. A special 

 feature is the exact date of the first flowering for each species, ex- 

 tendng over a period of twenty-five years ; it would be interesting 

 to compare these with similar observations in Northern England or 

 Scotland. A clearly-printed map (2 miles to Ig in.) indicates the 

 area included in the Flora, which is roughly a parallelogram with the 

 corners at Cobham, Wallington, Kedhill, and Gomshall ; thus its 

 northern boundary is only a mile or so above Epsom and the main 

 area chiefly southwards. In an Appendix, botanical extracts are given 

 from a IListorij of Epsom by *an Inhabitant' [Henry Pownall], 

 published in 1825, but we think this work has been taken rather more 

 seriously than it deserves. For example, Mr. Smith-Pearse quotes 

 Ahhemilla alpina, Althcea officinalis, Euphorhia FepUs, Lagurus 

 ovafus, Scrophularia Scorodonia, etc. with tlie remark, " never seen 

 at pi'csent"; the last two words might, we think, be omitted should 

 another edition be required, in which case an index should certainly be 

 added. 



As is well known to botanists, there is in the herbarium of Prince 

 Eoland Bonaparte at Paris a large collection of ferns, including the 

 very important herbarium of Dr. H. Christ of Basel. The Prince lias 

 sent us a set of his Notes Pteridologiques (Ease. I.-IV. Paris, 

 1915-17, published by the author) and some papers on African and 

 Indian forms. The object of the ' Notes ' is partly to indicate his 

 desiderata, and partly to give the public the benefit of the deter- 

 minations made of unnamed specimens in his own herbarium and in 

 collections which have been entrusted to him for naming. It is inter- 

 estino- to see that names have been fitted to some of the hitherto 

 undetermined specimens in such well-known numbered series as 



