BOOK-NOTES, NEWS, ETC. 229 



that an English translation of this useful compendium of crypto - 

 gamic botany may soon be forthcoming ; for it is a pity that the 

 text should be issued in Danish only, a tongue which is not 

 commonly understood. The figures are abundant, and are of 

 course easily appreciated. They form a remarkably fine series of 

 types selected throughout the cryptogamic kingdom. Many have 

 been specially drawn. 



A. & E. S. Gepp. 



BOOK-NOTES, NEWS, &c. 



A pleasant little function took place at the Criterion 

 Restaurant on the evening of June 9th, when, in commemora- 

 tion of the jubilee of this Journal, the present Editor, who has 

 filled that post for more than thirty-three years, was entertained 

 at dinner by a representative gathering of contributors. The 

 chair was occupied by Dr. Rendle, who in proposing the health of 

 the guest of the evening, summarized Mr. Britten's work. He 

 recalled the fact that Mr. Britten's connection with the Journal 

 began with the first volume, in which his name appeared as a 

 contributor. Before assuming the editorship in 1883, Mr. Britten 

 had for a time acted for the previous Editor, Dr. Henry Trimen, 

 after the latter left England for Ceylon. The Journal has been 

 not merely the recognized organ of British Botany, but had also 

 justified its title as regards foreign botany, and the scope of the 

 articles contributed covered a very wide range. The General 

 Index, promised in 1884, was still a desideratum. Special refer- 

 ence was made to Mr. Britten's contributions to botanical biblio- 

 graphy, and the great services rendered to working systematics by 

 his indication of the wealth of material contained in the important 

 early botanical collections in the Department of Botany of the 

 British Museum, and the hope was expressed that Mr. Britten 

 would shortly put the seal to his valuable contributions to historical 

 botany by the completion of his Catalogue of the Sloane Herba- 

 rium. Mr. Britten had also played an important part in the 

 movements of the last ten years, tending to the precision of our 

 Rules of Botanical Nomenclature, and the abandonment of the old 

 go-as-you-please methods. In his editorial capacity he had been 

 sometimes criticized by his contributors, but those contributors 

 who were loudest in complaint were frequently the most indebted 

 for the useful work done by Mr. Britten on their papers, the effect 

 often being to transform an almost hopeless muddle into a valuable 

 contribution. 



Dr. Rendle was followed by Sir David Pram, Dr. Daydon 

 Jackson, the Rev. E. S. Marshall, Mr. F. N. Williams, Mr. James 

 Groves, Mr. G. S. Boulger, Mr. H. N. Ridley, and Dr. Otto Stapf, 

 all of whom made reference to the useful place filled by the 

 Journal, and to Mr. Britten's wide knowledge of the literature of 

 taxonomic botany, which was always at the service of enquirers. 

 Several of the speakers also gratefully recalled the help they had 

 received from Mr. Britten during a period of friendship lasting 



