v 
366 NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
already done good service in several of its branches ; the marine Alge 
have been well examined by the late Professor Harvey and others ; and 
where such lichenists as Mr. Carrol and Admiral Jones are at work, 
there can be no lack of contributions 
The British Association granted £25 to aid the publication ; and 
while it is gratifving to see such a list of subscribers appended, still 
the expense of the book must have been but partially provided for. 
The authors deserve the thanks of botanists and of those who take 
an interest in the progress of natural science. All such, not already in 
the list of subscribers, can best show their appreciation by becoming 
purchasers; and as the work is excellent of its kind, it ought to be in 
the libraries of the various educational and other institutions of 
Treland. ep 
List of British Ferns and their Varieties. Compiled by P. NEILL 
Fraser. Edinburgh, 1866. 
The interest that has for some years been taken in the cultivation of 
these plants, and the passion for new varieties, has brought out the re- 
markable fact that in clearly defined and easily recognized species there 
is scarcely any limit to variations, which, under cultivation, retain their 
peculiarities so as to form permanent varieties. As long as the plants 
are multiplied by fragments of the original individual, every peculiarity 
adheres to the various plants, but when reproduced by spores only 
some of them are true to the variety, others present the normal form of 
the species, and the remainder exhibit intermediate forms between those 
of the species and the variety. Mr. M*Nab gave some interesting facts 
in regard to his experience in growing seedling varieties at a recent 
meeting of the Edinburgh Botanical Society (vide p. 368). Mr. Fraser 
is known to be critically acquainted with this order of plants, and his 
catalogue consequently has a very different value than those prepared 
by florists. He has endeavoured to discover the synonymy of the 
varieties, and would be glad to have named specimens, that he may 
continue this work, and still further reduce some of the so-called 
varieties to their proper place as synonyms in his list. He enumerates 
46 species of British Ferns, and he requires thirty-three closely- -printed 
octavo columns to contain the list of their varieties! Athyrium Filiz- 
femina, Scolopendrium vulgare, and Polystichum angulare have sup- 
