134 



THE NATURALIST. 



" British and Garden Botany," by 

 Leo H. Grindon, Svo., with nu- 

 merouLs Illustrations. (Routledge, 

 1864.) 



To quote from Mr. Grindon's pre- 

 face, " This book is intended for per- 

 sons who take an interest in plants 

 and flowers, whether wild or growing 

 in gardens, and who are wishful to ac- 

 quire a knowledge of such portions 

 of botanical science as are useful, 

 agreeable, and easily at command, 

 though without leisure to study Bo- 

 tany in its minute details." With 

 this object the author has devoted 

 the first sixty-seven pages to an 

 elementary treatise on Botany, and 

 an explanation of most of the terms 

 used in a description of a plant. 

 Then follows an " Artificial Key to 

 the Families, &c., described in the 

 book." 



This key is somewhat novel in its 

 arrangement, and answers the pur- 

 pose for which it is intended better 

 than any other attempt of the kind 

 we have seen. It does not profess 

 to be exactly an analytical key to 

 species in general, but rather an 

 " index" by which any plant under 

 examination may be easily found in 

 the descriptive part of the work ; 

 though at the same time for the 

 discrimination of species it is an 

 admirable guide. By a proper and 

 careful use of it any plant in fioiver 



may be easily determined, and one 

 is not obliged to wait, as in other 

 " keys," for the fruit, or ripe seed, 

 before a species can be satisfactorily 

 made out. This is certainly a step 

 in the right direction, and will be 

 very useful to the young botanist. 



In the descriptive portion, which 

 occupies 747 pages, under each Bri- 

 tish order containing exotic species 

 grown in greenhouses or gardens, a 

 few remarks on such species are ap- 

 pended ; and those orders, which 

 are not represented in our native 

 flora, but include species occasion- 

 ally cultivated, are introduced, with 

 remarks on the species as before. 



In those critical genera, Ranun- 

 culus, Eosa, Bubus, Hieraciuni, and 

 Salix, no attempt is made to unravel 

 the complicated question of species 

 versus varieties, but each genus is re- 

 duced to a minimum number of 

 species : thus Salio), of which Prof. 

 Babington describes thirty-one spe- 

 cies, is reduced to fifteen ; though 

 under each described species is 

 mentioned a large number of plants 

 given as varieties. Whether the 

 author intends to reduce the num- 

 ber of British species to fifteen, 

 or only to describe those of most 

 distinctive characters, we are not 

 aware. 



One thing we must find a little 

 fault with, the undue preference 

 given to English names of plants. 

 These names being in many cases 



