1861.] ADDRESS OF THE EDITOR. 5 



how is B. to know this unless A. and B. have been previously cor- 

 responding ? The author in posse circulates his intentions, his 

 wants, and his wishes. " Give me/' he says, " your ideas on the 

 subject : how would you treat it?" And he seldom gets any facts, 

 suggestions, or hints, till the time is past when they can be 

 serviceable, and the disappointed author has frequently to com- 

 plain that the knowledge came too late. But let A, paint his 

 picture, or lay out his garden, or plant his shrubbery ; or let the 

 author in futuro write or compile his book, and then B. will be 

 able perchance to offer A. some fresh hint, or give hira some 

 original information. A. should not say it is too late. Apelles 

 and Zeuxis exhibited their paintings, — their works, not their in- 

 tentions, — and listened to the criticisms of cobblers, and used 

 them in the emendation of their celebrated productions. The 

 eminent printers of the sixteenth century stuck up their proof- 

 sheets on the gates of schools and colleges, and challenged the 

 students and scholars to detect an error in their composition ; 

 hence the immaculate editions of the Scriptures, classics, and 

 other works issued from the presses of those early and learned 

 typographers. 



If an author will venture to publish a county Flora or a Flora 

 of any sort, he will not have to wait long for criticism. Fault- 

 finders, who see blemishes or defects in the best workmanship, — 

 who see motes or spots on the sun, — and good-natured friends 

 with their sage advice, which sometimes comes too late, will flock 

 to the inspection and dissection of his work like bees to a honey- 

 pot. 



The German and Italian printers of the olden times stimu- 

 lated the acumen of the yoviths to whom they submitted their 

 proofs by offering a reward of a florin or of a crown for every 

 error discovered. A botanical author may get his work corrected 

 and save his pocket ; for scores of mistakes will be either courte- 

 ously or uncourteously brought to his notice. This botanist says 

 he has entered too many plants, that one asserts that he has 

 entered too few. One finds fault because the Beech is called a 

 native, another that Anchusa has no star, and that the Snowdrop 

 has no dagger. And probably no two botanists in Great Britain 

 will agree about the numbers and limits of species in Hieracium, 

 Salix, Rubus, etc. The author of a Flora will be shown his de- 

 fects for nothing ; and if he be wise, he may learn something from 



