790 



tory to the present time ; and which is, beyond all doubt, the best 

 book that has yet appeared on this most interesting subject. In ad- 

 dition to the greater amount of matter contained in the body of the 

 work, it has two valuable additions to the edition of 1841 : an admir- 

 able glossary of terms, constructed precisely on the model of that in 

 Newman's ' Introduction to the History of Insects ;' and a series of 

 beautiful plates, in which the general figure, fructification and struc- 

 ture of one species in each genus are delicately and elaborately ex- 

 hibited. In fine, it is a work which every collector of our Sea- weeds 

 must possess ; and, possessing it, he will need no more costly or ex- 

 tensive series of illustrations. 



There are, however, two points on which we incline to offer a 

 friendly criticism ; and the more so, because they are common errors, 

 — errors which occur in all of our systematic botanical works, — and 

 therefore errors which we think Dr. Harvey ought to have avoided. 

 The Jirst of these is what we might fairly term a straining after deri- 

 vations ; the second is the substitution of superficial for structural 

 leading characters in primary groups. We will give examples of 

 each. 



Derivation. " Ulva, Linneus. Name supposed to be derived from 

 Ul, water in Celtic."— p. 216. 



Our Latin dictionaries teach us " Ulva, weed of the sea." Virgil, 

 using the word, gives no hint at any derivation beyond his own lan- 

 guage. We have not the Mantuan at hand, but recollect three pas- 

 sages in which the word occurs : — 



Limosoque lacu per noctem obscurus in ulva 

 Delitui. 



Tandem trans fluvium incolumes vateinque, virumque 

 Infomii limo, glaucaque exponit in ulva. 



Nee vescas salicum frondes, ulvamque palustrem. 



Now suppose a school-boy denying the latinity of these passages, 

 and contending that Ulva was derived from the Celtic; it is a matter 

 of certainty he would have the school-calf of the Delphin edition 

 brought into unpleasant proximity with his calf s-head. Are we to 

 suppose Linneus had no Latin dictionary ? — are we to suppose he had 

 no Virgil ? — or wherefore should he wander into the Celtic for a com- 

 mon and well-known Latin word ? 



Character of primary groups. Dr. Harvey is unusually caustic on 



