NEW PUBLICATIONS, 269 
who professed himself, we believe, a personal friend of Mr. Webb. As 
long as the old state of things continued i in the possis all went on 
well; but when Italy began once more to agitat unity and nationality, 
the Duke of Tuscany had to fly from the vengeance of the people. In 
the hurry he forgot to leave behind the funds entrusted to his honour 
by the illustrious Webb, and though he has had several reminders, we 
understand that not a penny has as yet been restored. Science, es- 
pecially botanical science, has constantly to struggle with poverty ; and 
but few of the good things of this life are reserved for her. This was 
felt to its full extent by men like Smithson and Webb, both of whom 
entrusted their wealth to foreigners, on condition that it should be used 
or the advancement of science, free from the deadly influence of pro- 
fessional jobbery. It is vexatious when the good intentions of such 
noble-minded men are frustrated. There is much to be said about the 
Smithsonian fund, but the most serious charge does probably not 
amount to more than errors of judgment committed by its administra- 
tion. But no language ean be too severe in speakiug of the way in 
which the Duke of Tuscany has behaved about the trust confided in 
him, and we hope that when peaceful times have once more set in, the 
Italian Government will do all in its power to recover the funds left 
for keeping up Webb's Library and Herbarium. We felt it due to the 
illustrious botanist whose work is placed at the head of our article, to 
make this statement, because we know to what shifts he and his col- 
leagues are put with Webb's fund suddenly cut off, and hardly any 
money from the Italian Government to buy the most necessary new 
publications. It is impossible for him to be quite familiar with what 
is going on in the botanical world, and many a man with less enthu- 
siasm for science would long ere this have folded his arms and exeused 
his absolute abstention from work till better times by the obstacles 
before him. Knowing all this, we have no wish to dwell upon his 
shortcomings any more than is necessary for the due understanding of 
his labours. 
We do not hold Gossypium to be so difficult a genus as it is gene- 
rally represented to be. We in northern Europe can do little towards 
working it up, but a botanist of average ability residing in some tropi- 
cal or semitropical country could easily put it to rights. All he re- 
quires is to procure the seeds of the different species for growing in his 
garden. At present, when there is direct steam a be- 
tween all tropical and semitropical countries, this can be speedily 
