354 



NOTICES OF BOOKS. 



The Potamogeto7is ( Pond Weeds) of the British Isles : with descriptions 

 of all the species, varieties, and hi/hrids. By Alfred Fryer, 

 A.L.S. ; illustrated by Robert Morgan, F.L.S. London : 

 L. Reeve & Co. Parts i.-iii. Price 15s. uncoloured, 21s. 

 coloured (net). 4to, pp. 24, tt. 12. 



We welcome the appearance of the first instalment of this 

 important work, and we trust that it will progress steadily and 

 rapidly towards completion. Undertakings of this kind have a 

 tendency to linger, and the result is a want of unity between the 

 parts of the work, and a consequent depreciation of its value as a 

 whole. When it is finished, we may hope for a detailed review 

 from one of the few botanists competent to deal with the genus ; 

 meanwhile our readers will expect to be told something about it. 



It is unnecessary to speak of the qualifications either of author 

 or illustrator for the task they have undertaken, especially in this 

 Journal, to which so many communications upon PotamogHon have 

 been contributed by Mr. Fryer with illustrations by Mr. Morgan. 

 That some such monograph was urgently needed, every British 

 botanist knows ; and it is satisfactory to find that we have among 

 us men capable of producing it. The only matter for regret is that 

 such a work is necessarily expensive ; it would be impossible to give 

 adequate illustrations of the species in fewer or smaller plates. 

 Perhaps when it is done Mr. Fryer will give us a brief synopsis of 

 his work, which will serve both as an advertisement of the mono- 

 graph and as a help to those who cannot afford it. 



Mr. Fryer begins his work with a description of the genus, 

 followed by a statement of his views as to species, and especially as 

 to "hybrid species." As to synonymy, Mr. Fryer is cautious, but 

 we gather that he does not in all cases intend to employ the earliest 

 name, preferring to leave matters of nomenclature somewhat in 

 abeyance until Mr. Arthur Bennett (whose generous help is grate- 

 fully acknowledged) "has published his complete nomenclature of 

 the genus." 



The present instalment contains descriptions and figures of 

 P. natans L., X fP. crassifolius Fryer, X P. fiuitans Roth, X P. 

 Kirhii Syme, and P. polygonifolius Pourret, with numerous varieties ; 

 P. coloratus Hornem. is partly described. There are numerous 

 synonyms and references, the abbreviations of which might have 

 been better expressed ; it is a matter of satisfaction to find that the 

 communications of various botanists to our pages are so frequently 

 quoted. We regret that Mr. Fryer has not given us a complete 

 account of the distribution of each species in Britain, and we would 

 venture to suggest that this should appear as an appendix. Such a 

 list should correlate the various records in county floras, which at 



* " Le seule r^gle sur ce point parait etre qu'une abreviation doit se com- 

 prendre facilement.'' — La Ph7jtographie, p. 272. 



t The sign x is prefixed to what Mr. Fryer calls a "hybrid species." 



