BOOK-NOTES, NEWS, ETC 39 



that the Assistant Directorship (of which post Mr. Dyer, as he 

 then was, was the first occupant) was created. Lord Eedesdale, 

 however, finds legitimate consolation in the warm praise w^iich 

 Sir Joseph bestowed on him in the dedication to vol. cxxiii of 

 the Botanical Magazine. But we do not think that Lord 

 Eedesdale is himself quite fair to his predecessor, Mr. Ayrton, in 

 charging him with attempting to reduce Kew " to the level of the 

 nursery-maid and her perambulator." Those who are old enough 

 to remember the controversy which raged with violence during 

 1872 will, we think, feel that, although Ayrton's attitude and 

 action could hardly be defended, he was somewhat unfairly 

 treated by his powerful and successful opponents. 



At the meeting of the Linnean Society on November 18th, 

 1915, Dr. E. J. Salisbury, F.L.S., showed a series of lantern-slides, 

 entitled " Photographic Studies of Welsh Vegetation." The follow- 

 ing is an abstract of his remarks : 1. The Vegetation of the Lime- 

 stone : (a) The limestone cliffs ; vegetation of Festuca ovina and 

 hairy species, such as Arabis hirsuta, Geranium sanguineum, 

 Parietaria officinalis ; fleshy species as Brassica oleracea and 

 Spergularia rupestris ; or leathery-leaved species, as Thalictrum 

 minus, Cotoneaster vulgaris, and Hedera Helix, (b) Limestone 

 pasture, with the dominant species Festuca ovina, accompanied by 

 many of the common chalk-dow^n species. Characteristic plants 

 are Helianthemum canum i., Spir(Ba Filipendula, Veronica spicata 

 var. hybrida, and Spiranthes autumnalis. Locally small woods of 

 Quercus sessiliflora occur, though usually confined to siliceous 

 soils. Exposure effect. 2. The vegetation of the Siliceous Soils : 

 {a) The Quercus sessiliflora woods, with associated trees as Betula 

 spp. and Pyrus aucuparia. Where the water-content is high, but 

 the soil not acid, Fraxinus becomes common. As a result of 

 felling or exposure Betula j^ubescens may become the dominant 

 tree. The average light-intensity in summer is about 7-6 per 

 cent, of the maximum diffuse illumination outside. The shrub 

 layer is usually poor. The flora of the drier parts largely consists 

 of heath species ; in the wetter and more acid parts, Vaccinum 

 Myrtillus is often abundant ; towards the base of the slopes the 

 ground flora is often almost entirely cryptogamic. Epiphytes, as 

 Poly podium vulgare, Fmllania spp., and lichens are often abun- 

 dant. In the valley bottom the Quercus sessiliflora woods merge 

 into Alnus woods, with a light intensity of about 3 per cent, or 

 under, [b) Scrub chiefly of Cratcegus. 3. The subalpine Vegeta- 

 tion ; {a) The subalpine lakes with Subularia aquatica, Lobelia 

 Dortmanna, Littorella lacustris, and Isoetes, with absence of 

 marginal vegetation. (6) The subalpine pastures {Nardus, Lyco- 

 podium spp., etc.). 



Messrs. Wells Gardner send us a pretty book — Plants We 

 Play With (3s. Qd. net), by H. E. Eobertson — which, though not 

 precisely botanical, deals with British plants and the simple 

 amusements which children associate with them. There is 

 " conquers," played with horse-chestnuts, and "champions " — in 



