BOOK-NOTES, NEWS, ETC. 143 



with which they had nothing to do — and Sir Joseph Hooker in 

 particular for "the wonderful care" in assigning the native 

 countries to the species — that being in reality the least satis- 

 factory feature of the Index, — the actual compiler is not once 

 named, nor is he even cited in the title, as is the case in all the 

 other works mentioned. Mr. Jackson, whose indifference to the 

 way in which credit has been carefully withheld from him furnishes 

 an example of modesty as admirable as it is rare, no doubt 

 finds consolation in the fact that he has done a valuable piece 

 of work in a satisfactory manner, and that those who use his book 

 know whom they have to thank for it ; but it is none the less dis- 

 creditable that the honour of an undertaking which no one but he 

 would have carried through successfully should be persistently 

 ascribed to every one but the man who is justly entitled to it. 

 It is not surprising to find that the reviewer entirely misunder- 

 stands the scope of the Index. 



It is becoming abundantly manifest that the omission of any 

 prefatory matter to the Index Kewensis is causing, as we pointed 

 out must be the case (Journ. Bot. 1895, 347), considerable in- 

 convenience. The inaccurate prefatory statement by Sir Joseph 

 Hooker that the work had been carried out at the Kew Herbarium, 

 " with the aid of the staff of that establishment," coupled with the 

 notice in the Kew Bulletin (1896, 29) that it is "in no sense 

 intended to represent the views of Kew," naturally puzzles folk ; 

 and the writer of a letter in the Phannacentical Journal for Feb. 

 22nd reasonably enquires, " If the work is not to be considered an 

 expression of the views of Kew . . . why is it stated that the work was 

 done with the aid of the Herbarium staff? " The reply to the latter 

 question is not obvious, for it is well known that Mr. Jackson's 

 assistants in the compilation had no connection with the Kew 

 establishment, but were engaged by him for that special purpose. 



A SOMEWHAT lengthy notice of General Paris's Index Bryoloc/icus 

 (Paris : Kliucksieck) was given in this Journal for 1895 (pp. 26-29) 

 upon the appearance of Part i. ; and the great want of such an 

 Index among moss-students was pointed out. Part ii. (Dec. 1895, 

 pp. 325-644) is now in the market, and will be found to pick up 

 the thread of the subject in the genus Dicnemun, and to carry it on 

 to about two-fifths of the way through Hypnnm. This latter genus, 

 though not half finished, occupies thirty-nine pages; yet only 132 

 out of 322 recognised species are here included. It is of course the 

 immense synonymy of the older species and the numerous varieties 

 of II. capremforme and of the Harpidia which account for the 

 bulkiness of the genus. Fissidens, though boasting of 424 species, 

 needs but thirty-two pages for their enumeration. In this genus 

 nine species beginning with the letters "k" or "1" appear to have 

 been omitted, suggesting the loss of a page of the author's MS. 

 Other large genera, with their respective totals of species, are 

 Dicranum (179), Ectropothecium (170), Grimmla (123), and Houkeria 

 (234).— A. G. 



Late of arrival, but none the less welcome, are two parts of 

 Mons. Venance Payot's Ftorule du Mont-Blanc (Plantes Cryptogawes 



