374 NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
are practically monacious or diccious, in consequence of the flower 
being so arranged as to prevent self-impregnation, is so interesting 
that every additional fact bearing on the subject has a value. 
Luzula campestris, De Cand., adds another to the list. The three 
stigmas are protruded through the apex of the flower-bud some days 
before the sepals open and expose the anthers. In the specimens I 
marked for observations, six days elapsed before the flower opened, 
after the pistils had been protruded to be operated on by the pollen of 
other flowers. This was in a cloudy week, and probably the exact 
time might vary with the weather. In all cases the stigmas wither 
away before the flower opens. 
After fertilization the stigmas generally twist around one another ; 
and after the anthers have shed their pollen, they twist in the same 
way, withering up in a very short time. An interesting fact in Luzula 
is the slight adhesion at the articulation of the subpedicels with the 
main flower-stalk,—the gentlest force being sufficient to draw them 
out of their sheaths. It is perhaps owing to this weakness that the 
pedicels are often drooping when in fruit.—Proceedings of the Acad. 
of Nat. Sc., Philadelphia, 1868, p. 156. 
NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
Compendium of the Cybele Britannica ; or, British Plants in their Geo- 
graphical Relations. By Hewerr CorrTRELL Watson. Part First. 
Thames Ditton : Printed for Private Distribution. 1868. (Pp. 200.) 
We welcome this, the first part of an important addition to British 
botanical literature. The well-known book of which it is an abridg- 
ment is in the hands of most of those who take an interest in the 
topography of our native plants; but, however valuable, it is an 
eavkward book to consult, in consequence of its bulk, and of the nume- 
rous additions to previous volumes in volume three, and in the * Sup- 
plement’ printed in 1860. The circumstances under which the new 
work is issued are these: Though the printing of it was commenced 
in January, 1868, other botanical employment unexpectedly prevented 
the author from completing the manuscript. He has now judged it 
