517 



Bromfield, in his Catalogue of Hampshire Plants, yet I mean no cap- 

 tious application to that gentleman in particular, of want of faith in 

 other observers, and I think his labours to elucidate the Vectian Flora 

 highly meritorious ; but botanists perhaps too generally indicate 

 scepticism in former observations, when not tallying with their own 

 learning or experience ; and thus lookers-out, though not always 

 complaining, have found themselves served with an unexpected writ 

 of error, which, if allowed on every pretence of doubtful authority, 

 would suppress fact and nullify truth. I think, too, before a contem- 

 porary botanist is publicly declared to be in error, some communica- 

 tion should be made to him, when possible, on the point in hand. 

 Much advantage would result from this mode of proceeding, and the 

 enquirer would seldom find his trouble thrown away. I have myself 

 often been applied to by personal strangers on facts open to elucida- 

 tion, and mutual satisfaction has in most cases resulted from the ap- 

 plication. 



Edwin Lees. 

 Cedar Terrace, Henwick, Worcester, 

 April 7, 1849. 



Notice of the ' Letters of Rusticus on the Natural History of 

 Godalming? London : Van Voorst. 1849. 



Knapp's ' Journal of a Naturalist ' and White's ' Natural History of 

 Selborne ' are equally original books, although the records preserved 

 by White without doubt led Knapp into a train of similar observing. 

 There is great similarity about these books, the same freshness, the 

 same absence of book-making, the same truthfulness of observations, 

 and, we regret to say it, the same weakness in favour of hypothesis. 

 White discriminating between the willow wrens, or describing the in- 

 sertion of the peacock's train, is altogether an abler and a more philo- 

 sophic man than White contending for the hibernation of the swallow, 

 or imagining a hedgehog attacking the tap-root of a plantain, and eating 

 it to the crown as we eat a radish. As far as observations go, Rusticus 

 is an author of the same kind, but he has no hypothesis — no specula- 

 tion : his writings are simple narratives of what he sees ; and on this 

 account, and also because such kind of writing is now all but extinct, 

 we think them peculiarly valuable. De Geer, Reaumur, and others of the 

 good old school are vividly brought to mind while perusing his pages, 

 and we prophecy a rich harvest to compilers from so rich a source. 



