6 ADDRESS OF THE EDITOR. [January, 



all his instructors, though they are far from being unanimous ; 

 knowledge, like sorrow, never comes too late. But if he be senti- 

 mental, he may well say with the sentimentalist of old, " Grant 

 me patience, just Heaven ! Of all the cants that are canted in tbis 

 canting world, though the cant of hypocrisy may be the worst, 

 the cant of criticism is the most tormenting." 



In the last century, when the botanical public was smaller than 

 it is now, authors were few and far between. The revered names 

 of Hudson, Withering, Relhan, and Sibthorp were representative, 

 and their works embody the history of British Phytology for 

 above half a hundred years. There are now more works pub- 

 lished in a season than there were, in not very remote times, 

 issued in three generations. Then the cares and responsibili- 

 ties of authorship were probably more onerous than they are in 

 our days ; but the rivalry was much less, and the honour much 

 greater. 



Authors then were indeed inter aves rariores ; like the Phoe- 

 nix, which appeared after long intervals, and unlike this bird, 

 for they have perished and their works are forgotten ; their dicta 

 and opinions were received as oracular, and they themselves were 

 canonized among the celebrities in the annals of science. To 

 have only indicated a shade of doubt about the veracity of their 

 statements, and about the absolute perfection of their works, 

 would have brought upon the unhappy sceptic an avalanche of 

 contradiction, a torrent of reproof, an anathema as sincere if not 

 as formidable as the thunder of the Vatican in its palmiest days. 



The times are changed, — tempora mutantur et nos mutamur in 

 illis. Authorship is now less esteemed because it is not so un- 

 common. Authors are known ; formerly they were unknown, 

 except by a select few. In them the bid saying was exemplified, 

 " Omne ignotum pro magnifico." But reputations are still ob- 

 tainable even in botany ; there are niches in Flora's temple still 

 unoccupied, but they are not so easily achieved as they were in 

 the days of our forefathers. 



The authors of the county Floras, either published or in pro- 

 gress, are respectfully informed that the pages of the ' Phytolo- 

 gist ' are freely open to them for the announcement of their in- 

 tentions and for the publication of their desiderata. The Editor 

 will be most happy to receive and print all suggestions for the 

 improvement of local botany, and enter all additional informa- 



