VI 



publications. It is by this means that it retains a position in the 

 scientific literature of the day, truly gratifying to its proprietor, a posi- 

 tion to which his own labours have contributed so little, that he feels 

 he may, without any breach of decorum, boast of a success for which 

 he is so completely indebted to the assistance of his friends. The 

 utility of a journal which brings its information almost up to the day 

 on which the subscriber receives it, cannot be called in question; and 

 it is with great pleasure that I perceive on a reference to the dates of 

 the papers published during the present year, that thirteen days is 

 the average time between writing and publication : if this despatch be 

 contrasted with the sluggish movements of publishing Societies or 

 more technical periodicals, a reason for the preference given by our 

 botanists to the ' Phytologist' is at once disclosed. A paper is des- 

 patched to the ' Phytologist' not merely in the belief, but in the know- 

 ledge, that it will appear in the number that next issues from the press. 



A striking feature in the present volume is the importance and ad- 

 mirable character of the reviews, for most of which I am indebted to 

 the kindness of contributors. 1 have always seen the advantage 

 that must accrue from obtaining reviews from competent pens, and 

 1 have only trusted my own to criticise the labours of others when I 

 have felt myself on safe ground. I wish in this place also to remark 

 that the observations on System which occur in the notice of Steele's 

 * Hand-book of Field Botany ' are liom the pen of a kind contributor 

 whose important services I have often had occasion to notice during 

 the progress of this journal. 



The botanical, books of the year are : — 



Cyhele Britannica, by H. C. Watson, Phytol. ii. 782. This work 

 is replete with information on the geographical distribution of British 

 plants ; it also contains valuable remarks on species and species- 

 making. 



Vegetable Physiology, hy Arthnr Henfrey, ii. 804. A very useful 

 book to the student of structural Botany. 



Mantial of British Botany, by Charles Cardale Babinyton, second 



