THE FLORA OF THE NILGTRI AND PULNEY HILL-TOPS 35 



master a scientific description, however plainly worded, is few ; 

 but there are many who, helped in the first instance by pictures, 

 will proceed to elementary books and descriptions, and will — at 

 any rate in some few cases — end in doing useful work. It is thus 

 no small boon to Indian botanists to have in a readily accessible 

 form nearly three hundred carefully executed figures of varying 

 degrees of excellence representing typical examples of the flora, 

 indigenous and introduced ; we say to Indian botanists generally, 

 because the species figured are for the most part widely dis- 

 tributed throughout the continent. 



The letterpress, as w^e have said, is very carefully done ; the 

 descriptions of the species are full, and to each genus is added a 

 note as to its extent and world distribution, after the manner of 

 Hooker's Student's Flora. There is a key to the families, and to the 

 species of the larger genera, and a summary of its characteristics 

 is prefixed to each order. " The total number of species des- 

 cribed is nearly 500, of which 430 are considered indigenous " ; 

 these are distributed among 264 genera, exclusive of introductions. 

 There are ten species described as " entirely new," of which, how- 

 ever, " the usual Latin descriptions have already appeared in the 

 Keiu Bulletin " ; of these four are Eriocaulons, three Crotalarias, 

 while Lasianthics, Anaphalis, and Olea have one each. Certain 

 revisions of nomenclature have taken place, necessitating changes 

 in some of the names adopted in the Flora of British India, 

 which is referred to throughout. We regret to see that trivials 

 derived from personal proper names begin with a small letter — 

 a practice at one time in vogue at Kew, but subsequently dis- 

 carded in opposition to the Vienna Eules. 



A word must be said in praise of the get-up of the book, 

 which is printed at the Madras Government Press. The type and 

 paper are good, the typographical arrangements are excellent ; 

 there is only one index, which includes both text and plates. 



A School Flora, for the Use of Elementary Botanical Classes. 



By W. Marshall Watts, D.Sc. (Lond.), B.Sc. (Vict.), late 



Physical Science Master in the Giggleswick Grammar 



School. New edition, with 205 illustrations. Longmans, 



Green & Co. 1915. Pp. viii, 208. Price 3s. 6d. 



This book is intended to provide elementary students with a 



flora of such small size as to be easily carried on country 



rambles, which shall enable them readily to identify the common 



plants with which they will meet ; it seems to satisfy their needs 



quite well. Originally compiled for the local use of the botanical 



class at Giggleswick, it has been enlarged so as to make it 



equally useful for schools in other parts of the country. 



Plants having a higher census-number than 50 in the London 

 Catalogue, ed. 8 (1886), are reckoned as common, and printed in 

 capitals ; those probably not indigenous being in thin type. The 

 rarer species growing within reach of particular schools are in 

 small type, with the shortened place-names appended. Marl- 



