362 NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
tinued on the same extensive plan, but gave place to ‘Cybele Bri- 
tannica,’ which is, or ought to be, familiar to every student of British 
botany. Previous to these important contributions, very little was 
known respecting the distribution of plants in Britain; Mr. Watson, 
in fact, has been not merely the pioneer, but the only one who has 
directed special attention to the subject, and any other observations 
have been chiefly local and supplemental. 
While so much has been done in Britain, a * Cybele Hibernica? has 
been till now a desideratum ; facts have been recorded respecting sta- 
tions, comparative rarity, etc., of Irish plants; the present work, while 
containing a large amount of information under such heads, embraces 
more. In the preface the authors inform us that— 
“The work originated in a desire to furnish not only a revised list of the 
wild plants of Ireland, but also a classified summary of their localities. Thirty 
years having now elapsed since the publication of Mackay’s ‘ Flora Hibernica, 
within which period many additions have been made to Irish botany, many 
plants have eur better known, and the range of others has been greatly 
extended. With the view of meeting the requirements of geographical perci 
we have endeavoured to arrange our materials somewhat after the plan of M 
Watson's ‘Cybele Britannica’ (whence our title) ; and thus we hope died the 
tails collected will be found methodized in such order as to be available to 
those who study the range of plants, while the traveller will also be able to use 
ok as a botanist’s guide through Ireland.” 
Respecting the qualifications of the authors for the proper accom- 
plishnient of such purpose, we feel assured that they combine a 
thorough knowledge of native plants, with the utmost scrupulosity in 
admitting species as Irish without due proof, no matter by whom re- 
corded, as well as extensive acquaintance with Hibernian vegetation 
founded on personal observation. 
Questions in botanical geography relate not merely to existing con- 
ditions, but have a bearing also on changes during former epochs; 
and in the present instance it is important to receive authentie infor- 
mation as to what plants of Europe have reached Treland, one of its 
most westerly fragments, and one of the “back settlements" open to 
qm colonists from the Continent. 
uthors judiciously adopt Mr. Watson's * types," as affording a 
Sichem means of comparison. The flora of Ireland is chiefly re- 
-markable for the occurrence of a few plants characteristic of the west 
and south of Europe, which reach a higher northern latitude than on 
