650 



to the root the power of even bearing a bud. Again, another species 

 of Aphis attacks what gardeners call the Midsummer shoots, and 

 these shoots thus attacked, particularly in apple-trees, and very par- 

 ticularly in the Ribstonc-pippin, produce flowers in place of leaves, 

 and spread open rosy blooms to the hot suns of July and August : 

 ergo, on morphological principles the leaves are normally blossoms, 

 although usually assuming the form and functions of leaves. Now all 

 this does not negative the assertion that the pistil is composed of four 

 leaves, but we think it abundantly shows that such a conclusion is 

 at present conjectural only, and does not take rank with the esta- 

 blished facts which are generally supposed to be ' The Rudiments of 

 Botany.' 



Again, this really clever book occasionally, we may perhaps say 

 frequently, wants that perspicuity which is so essential in an elemen- 

 tary work. The reader will perhaps observe this sufficiently in the 

 paragraph already cited, but we will take the next, in order to avoid 

 repetition. 



"There are other perennial plants which have their stem under 

 ground, and display above ground every summer a new stalk bearing 

 jloivers, which again dies down to the ground in autumn, as, for in- 

 stance, the Asparagus or the Hop, or looses its Jloiver- stalk every year, 

 and produces a tuft of leaves, which live through the winter ; as, for 

 instance, the Daisy and the Flag." — p. 21. 



In both extracts the italics are our own. Now we have to remark that 

 the word again seems unmeaning, because the stalk in question has not 

 died before. Indeed, the student will have great difficulty in deducing 

 any meaning whatever from this obscure paragraph ; but the bota- 

 nist, after two or three perusals, and recurring to his knowledge of 

 the plants mentioned, will perceive the terms loosing and dying are 

 not intended to be contrasted, but are used to express the same 

 meaning : he will also perceive that Mr. Henfrey, in addition to the 

 provincial, and we think inelegant, word loosing, has given a new and 

 incorrect name to the stem of the Asparagus and Hop : he calls it a 

 stalk bearing powers, and then contrasts it with the true flower-stalk 

 of the Daisy and Flag. Again, the leaves of the Daisy and Flag 

 should be distinguished from the others as persistent. Mr. Henfrey 

 knows all this : he is a good structural botanist, and his writings 

 abundantly testify his knowledge ; the confusion does not exist in 

 his mind, but in his mode of expression. " Botany, like every science 

 and art, requires that particular names should be applied, in an 



