118 REVIEWS. 



— with the tropical character of the great majority of species, 

 when botanists agree in representing the general aspect (de- 

 rived from the majority of individuals) to present the fea- 

 tures of a much more northern latitude ; — with the large pro- 

 portion of arborescent and shrubby species, on a rocky mass 

 where the woods are limited to a few ravines, or short narrow 

 valleys half monopolized by cultivation ; — and with the very 

 great diversity in the species themselves, the proportion of 

 orders and genera to species, and the comparative number of 

 monotypic genera, being far greater in the Hongkong Flora 

 than in any other Flora of similar extent known to me. The 

 very large number of endemic species — of species known to 

 us only from the island — is probably occasioned by cur igno- 

 rance, already alluded to, of the vegetation of continental 

 south China." 



A fitting acknowledgment is given for the important con- 

 tribution to this Flora furnished by the botanical collection 

 (of above 500 species) made by Charles Wright, as botanist 

 of the U. S. North Pacific Exploring Expedition under Cap- 

 tains Ringgold and Rodgers, duplicates of which were oblig- 

 ingly and most properly furnished by direction of the Com- 

 mander and the enlightened Secretary of the Smithsonian 

 Institution. 



In aid of the colonial botanists or amateurs who may use 

 this Flora, the author has prefixed (with some minor altera- 

 tions) the admirable brief outlines of Botany and Glossary 

 prepared for his popular British Flora. 



In these Outlines the subject is regarded, not from the mor- 

 phological or the physiological, but from the descriptive point 

 of view. It opens with a statement of the nature and design 

 of a Flora, and of what a botanical description ought to be. 



" These descriptions should be clear, concise, accurate, and 

 characteristic, so that each one should be readily adapted to 

 the plant it relates to, and to no other ; they should be as 

 nearly as possible arranged under natural divisions, so as to 

 facilitate the comparison of each plant with those nearest 

 allied to it ; and they should be accompanied by an artificial 

 key or index, by means of which the student may be guided 



