30 . NEW PUBLICATIONS. 3 
2 
varieties, a, maritimum, plate iii., and B, montanum, plate iv.,— and 7. 3 
flezuosum, Bernh., plate v. E 
We regret that the letterpress, which is entirely new, containing - 
important critical information here published for the first time, and | 
evidently the result of much study, is not associated with a series of - 
new drawings. It is not to the credit of English botany, that such | 
works as those of Sturm, Nees, and Reichenbach, can be carried on - 
simultaneously in Germany, while, in 1863, the best illustrations of © 
British plants are a reproduction of plates some of which were pub- - 
lished as long ago as 1790. But were we to stop here, we should con- - 
vey a very erroneous impression of the figures. They are evidently | 
printed from stone’; and in transferring from the plate, so many altera- - 
tions and additions have been made under the superintendence of Mr. - 
Syme, that it is sometimes difficult to recognize the plate of the origi 
nal Sowerby. The introduction in this way of a series of fruits, so 
useful in the determination of the Ranuneulacee, of roots and radical s 
leaves, and of other important characters, bring the published figures - 
up to our present state of knowledge, and incorporate the most recent 
observations in systematic botany. The number of new plates in the 
first part, no less than eight out of the twenty-four, surprises us. 63 
faulty figure of Thalictrum alpinum has been replaced by a very charac- - 
teristic drawing. An original and accurate plate of Thalictrum minus, - 
var. a. maritimum, is given, as also of Ranunculus heterophyllus ; while 
Ranunculus peltatus, var. vulgaris and var. floribundus, R. Drouetii, 4 
R. trichophyllus, and R. Baudotii, are figured for the first time 4$ 
British plants, the plates being those intended for the fifth volume of the 
* English Botany Supplement, and published here in anticipation. of 
that volume. 
Much has yet to be done before anything like a complete history 9 
our plants ean be written; those who accept Mr. Syme's views, and, 
influenced by them, examine our British plants and record their obser- 
vations, will help on such a desirable consummation.. How little do we 
know of the history of the various species—of their different appear- | 
ances at the various stages of their life—of the geographical distribu- 
tion of allied ‘forms ’—of the influence of soil, moisture, climate, ete. 
on these ‘forms,’—and many similar questions! With definite infor- 
mation, it will be an easier matter to determine the value of allied. 
forms ; and it is our hope that the pages of our Journal will be, month - 
