784 



been found in the study and description of species, or in their syste- 

 matic classification. 



"As this latter kind of knowledge is increased in amount and accu- 

 racy, the botanical geographer becomes facilitated in his own studies ; 

 and of course his investigations will be most successful with those 

 plants and those countries, which have been most thoroughly examined 

 by the collectors and describers of species. 



"Britain and Germany, Sweden and France — countries whose floral 

 productions have been long stuided and known — may now be said to 

 have their botanical geographers, as well as their technical discribers 

 of plants. And the same department of phytological science is be- 

 coming an important feature even in the descriptive Floras of countries, 

 the plants of which are now, for the first time, publishing in distinct 

 and complete Floras ; as witness the admirable works on the botany 

 of Russia, of the Canaries, and of the Antarctic Lands, — respectively, 

 by Ledebour, Webb, and Hooker." 



For the sake of convenience Mr. Watson has grouped the counties 

 into eighteen provinces, which is in every respect better than the mi- 

 nor political divisions. A list of these provinces is given below. 



" 1. Peninsula. — Cornwall, Devon, Somerset. 



2. Channel. — Dorset, Wilts, Isle of Wight, Hants, Sussex. 



3. Thames. — Kent, Surrey, Berks, Oxford, Bucks, Middlesex, 



Herts, Essex. 



4. Ouse. — Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridge, Bedford, Huntingdon, 



Northampton. 



5. Severn. — Gloucester, Worcester, Warwick, Stafford, Salop, 



Hereford, Monmouth. 



6. South Wales. — Glamorgan, Caermarthen, Pembroke, Cardi- 



gan, Brecon, Radnor. 



7. North Wales. — Montgomery, Merioneth, Caernarvon, Den- 



bigh, Flint, Anglesea. 



8. Trent. — Leicester, Rutland, Lincoln, Notts, Derby. 



9. Mersey. — Cheshire, Lancashire. 



10. HuMBER. — York. 



11. Tyne. — Durham, Northumberland. 



12. Lakes. — Westmoreland, Cumberland. (Isle of Man). 



13. West Lowlands. — ^ Dumfries, Kirkcudbright, Wigton, Ayr, 



Lanark, Renfrew. 



14. East Lowlands. — Berwick, Roxburgh, Peebles, Selkirk, Had- 



dington, Edinburgh, Linlithgow. 



