36 THE JOURNAL OF ]',OTANY 



borough was, I believe, the first to start a Natural History 

 Society (about 1864), under that excellent all-round naturalist 

 the Eev. T. A. Preston. This movement is now clearly w^ide- 

 spread, lists having been received from no fewer than thirty 

 schools (all English, excepting Belfast) ; the most notable 

 absentees are Eton, Harrow, Shrewsbury, and Uppingham. 



" It has been sought to render the task of determining an 

 unknown plant as easy as possible by making each step of the 

 process to consist in deciding which of tioo opj^osite characters 

 the plant under examination possesses. . . . While the 

 arrangement of the tables is frequently arbitrary, and applicable 

 only to the particular set of plants included in this work, the 

 characters of each natural order have been given at some length, 

 and are those of the British plants of the order considered as a 

 whole." 



A synopsis of the natural orders and a key to the sub- 

 classes and natural orders precede the main subject, in which the 

 generic and specific characters are briefly, but sufficiently, 

 described. A good glossary, and an artificial key for the identifi- 

 cation of trees and shrubs (many of them cultivated) from their 

 leaves, together with an index, conclude the work. 



A few of the rarities alleged to occur near special schools are 

 very questionable ; for instance, Linum perenne certainly does not 

 grow wild near Taunton, nor Cotoneaster vulgaris near Charter- 

 house, nor Arhutus near Epsom ; and Garex divisa (" Malham 

 Cove ") was probably mistaken for C. disticha. Doubtless, how- 

 ever, the author had to take the fists as he found them. 



The nomenclature is old-fashioned. Hieraciujn Lawsoni does 

 duty for H. anglicum\ '' Cmnpanula'' kybrida comes between 

 0. glomerata and C. Traclielkmi. Natural sequence is at times 

 ignored ; thus, Potentilla Comarum separates P. Tormentilla from 

 P. iwociimheus, whereas P. verna and P. alpestris have been 

 treated as distinct species. Two or more London Catalogue segre- 

 gates are frequently combined under one name, the writer's aim 

 not being critical. 



Though small, the illustrations seem to be adequate ; one or 

 two floral diagrams are rather weird, and the drawing of Conium, 

 apart from the detached flower and fruit, hardly helps towards 

 identification. 



The book is well got up, concisely and modestly written, and 

 should be useful to beginners. Some shps occur; Lyciilm " har- 

 hatum," "Harden" Pink, '' Onopordmm," " Jasminium," Pinus 

 " exelsa." Viola tricolor is not mainly a feature of pastures, nor 

 Genista tinctoria of thickets, nor Gentimia Amarella of dry 

 heaths, nor G. campestris of chalk and limestone hills ; but an 

 observer's personal experience should be allowed for. 



Edward S. Marshall. 



