454 VIOLA-STUDIER. 



is put forward to cover want of knowledge — works wliicli miglit be 

 (and probably often are) written at as great a distance from their 

 subjects as the "foreign correspondence" of newspapers is some- 

 times said to be. 



In matters of detail the book is singularly good. It shows wide 

 reading and an intelligent i)ower of selection, and is written in 

 excellent English ; the references in footnotes are sufficiently 

 numerous to be useful, without being obtrusive; and there is an 

 excellent index. As to the nomenclature employed, there will be a 

 diflfereuce of opinion ; those who share our friend Mr. W. A. Clarke's 

 affection for the old names will gasp when they find Boretta aaitabriai 

 substituted for Dnlxecia polifuUa and Mariana in place of Sili/biim ; 

 while others, who have reconciled themselves to these changes as 

 necessary, will be glad that some one has had the courage to bring 

 them forward in a popular book. There is a glossary, as well as 

 instructions for drying plants, and suggestions of suitable books — 

 in a word, 0/>en-Air Studies is the very thing to put into the hands 

 of those who want in small compass an intelhgible and accurate 

 introduction to field botany. 



A word must be said in praise of the illustrations, which are as 

 fresh and excellent as the rest of the book. It is a new idea in 

 works of this kind to reproduce from photographs groups of plants 

 m situ ; and in so doing Mr. Praeger has set an example which 

 we trust will be widely followed. The "flowery meadow" is as 

 charming as the music in Parsifal which bears the same name ; 

 and the two photographs from Howth of Crithmum and Inula 

 critlimoides on their native rocks, as well as the study from the 

 Murrough of Wicklow, showing Eryugium, Convolvulus — we beg 

 pardon. Volvulus — Soldanella, and Glaucinm Jiavuw, are equally 

 successful. 



We congratulate Mr. Praeger on the excellence of his book, for 

 which we anticipate a wide circulation. It is very well printed, but 

 we would suggest to the publishers that they should not disfigure 

 "review" copies by putting a red ink stamp on the title-page. 



Viola- Studier : Morfologisk-biolof/iska och systematiska studier qfver 

 Viola tricolor (L.) och Jiennes niirnmre anforvandter. Med 14 

 delvis farglagda taflor samt 17 textbilder. Veit Brecher 

 WiTTRocK. Acta Horti Bergiani, band II., pp. 3-142, 1897. 



The forms and varieties of Viola tricolor L. have hardly received 

 adequate attention at the hands of British botanists. If we consult 

 the last edition of the London Catahxjue, we shall find that V. tricolor 

 and r. aroensis are retained as separate species, but to neither plant 

 are any forms or varieties assigned. This is rather to be deplored, 

 as from time to time certain plants coming under this head have 

 been identified and recorded for these islands, and it seems a pity 

 they should be lost sight of. Moreover, surely in the London Cata- 

 logue more consistency of treatment ought to be adopted, and we 

 ought not to run through, or nearly run through, the letters of the 

 alphabet with the forms and varieties of certain plants and entirely 



