794 



sary to mention an hypothesis promulged by Mr. Forbes, at the 

 meeting of the British Association, held at Cambridge, in 1845, and 

 bearing on the distribution of plants in Great Britain : this hypothesis 

 we have always mentioned with disapprobation, considering that the 

 data used in its support were Mr. Watson's and not Mr. Forbes's, and, 

 moreover, that no such conclusions as those advanced by Mr. Forbes 

 were deducible from the data. We now call on our readers to examine 

 dispassionately Mr. Watson's observations, and to judge for them- 

 selves : we claim no weight or authority for our own remarks, but wish 

 all our readers to form their own unbiassed judgment : we cannot 

 afford space for the entire Appendix, and will not venture to garble 

 or abbreviate : our readers are referred to the book itself, which all 

 botanists must of necessity peruse, and which, we rejoice to say, has 

 taken the matter entirely out of our jurisdiction. No expression of 

 ours, in regai'd to Mr. Forbes, has originated in any other motive than 

 the desire to protect a favorite science from the injurious effects of 

 mixing the ideal with the real ; and this course we hope to pursue, in 

 all cases, without fear and without favour. The public acts of public 

 men are public property ; and it were not merely an act of cowardice, 

 but of dishonesty, to refrain from the candid expression of opinion 

 concerning them. 



It now only remains for us to give an example of Mr. Watson's 

 work, and to explain the areas as defined by the author. 



" 156. SiLENE NUTANS, Lilt II. 

 ' SiLENE ITALICA.' 

 ' SiLENE PATENS.' 



" Area (1) 2 3 [4] 5 * 7 8 * 10 * * * (14) 15 * * [18]. 



" South limit in Jsle of Wight and Kent. 



" North limit in Kincardineshire and Flintshire. 



" Estimate of provinces 7. Estimate of counties 12. 



" Latitude 50 — 57. Local type of distribution. 



" Agrarian region. Inferagrarian — Midagrarian zones. 



" Descends nearly to the coast level in England. 



" Ascends to 50 or 100 yards, in England. 



" Range of mean annual temperature 51 — 48. 



" Native. Rupestral. The distribution of this species cannot be 

 satisfactorily given ; partly, because the name has been misapplied, 

 and false localities consequently introduced into books ; partly, be- 

 cause it is doubtful where the true species is wild, and where it exists 



