316 THE JOURNAL OF BOTANY 



the previous volume, is eminently critical, and abounds with 

 valuable notes of biological as well as of taxonomic interest. Dr. 

 Briquet has our good wishes for the speedy completion of this 

 useful work. 



We learn from a recent issue (August 23rd) of The Gardeners' 

 Chronicle that the establishment of a National Botanic Garden in 

 the Union of South Africa is assured. The Government has pro- 

 vided a site — Kirstenbosch, an estate on Table Mountain — and 

 promises a grant, including £1000 per annum for upkeep, provided 

 that additional funds be forthcoming from other sources. To 

 secure this additional support a National Botanic Society of South 

 Africa has been founded. Sir Lionel Phillips and Sir P. de Villiers 

 Graaff have been appointed by the Government to act as trustees 

 for the Garden, and Prof. Pearson has undertaken the honorary 

 directorship. 



Newspaper Botany. — Mr. B. Paul Neuman, writing in The 

 Westminster Gazette of Aug. 30 asks : "Is the field scabious that 

 grows on its native downs in true Montessori fashion the 

 perfection of its own kind, or is that perfection to be found in the 

 larger, more richly coloured, more sweetly scented flower which 

 the gardener by his interference has produced?" The botanist 

 will be able to answer Mr. Neuman's question by pointing out 

 that the two Scabiouses referred to belong to different species, if 

 not to different genera. 



We have received the Report of the Botanical Exchange Club 

 for 1912 (vol. iii. parts 3 and 4, price 3s. 6d. each ; Blackwell, 

 Oxford), which was issued in August, and which we hope to notice 

 later. 



Mr. & Mrs. P. Amaury Talbot are continuing their work of 

 botanical exploration in Southern Nigeria. It may be remembered 

 that an account of their collections in the Oban district was 

 recently elaborated by members of the staff of the Department of 

 Botany and published by the Trustees of the British Museum. 

 On their return to Nigeria last year Mr. and Mrs. Talbot continued 

 their work in the Eket district and have despatched several con- 

 signments of plants to the National Herbarium. Though less 

 interesting botanically than the Oban collections, those from 

 Eket contain a number of novelties, descriptions of which it is 

 proposed to publish in this Journal. 



The Editor hopes to complete his Catalogue of the Sloanc 

 Herbarium, on which he has been engaged since his retirement 

 from the National Herbarium, during the coming winter. 



The death is announced of Mr. Peter Ewing, which occurred 

 at a nursing home in Glasgow on the 3rd of August. 



