16 ADDRESS OP THE EDITOR. [January, 



mous authority. As Helenus said to the Trojan hero, the mythic 

 founder of the ]\oman empire, " repetens iterumqiie iterumque 

 monebo" there is no such thing practised. Our correspondents 

 and contributors know in general, and if there be any who do 

 not know it, they are hereby informed, that they may get any 

 further information about any fact or contribution whatever, by 

 privately applying to the Editor, or by stating their requests 

 through the medium of the ' Phytologist.' 



In these cases, in modern advertising phraseology, an early 

 application is recommended. The most retentive of memories 

 are sometimes jogged in vain. The circumstances of long-past 

 discoveries are but indistinctly seen through the mist and haze 

 of bygone transactions ; memoranda are often mislaid, or, what 

 is as bad, cannot be found when wanted; occasionally they 

 never existed except in the good intentions and slippery recol- 

 lections of the discoverers. There is a term, well-known in law, 

 called " the Statute of Limitations," or seven years ; within which 

 time a claim must be made, otherwise it will be " barred " by the 

 said statute. 



Any query about facts published anonymously or undersigned 

 by initials or fictitious names, should be made early, for the rea- 

 sons above stated j it should not be delayed till, in legal phrase, 

 it is barred by the Statute of Limitations. 



It will be a pleasure to the Editor if his correspondents freely 

 take the liberty of consulting him on all occasions, either about 

 plants or contributions. He will heartily and readily afford all 

 the information he possesses, either privately or through the 

 medium of the magazine. But he shrinks from taxing the me- 

 mory and patience of his friends beyond certain limits, or, in 

 plainer terms, he would demur to ask a contributor for more 

 definite explanation of a fact which had been printed seven years 

 ago, even though it had appeared in the ' Phytologist.' Most 

 persons of experience know how teasing and worrying these 

 explanations of long-past observations become. We have not 

 forgotten the unbecoming squabbles and sharp altercations re- 

 corded in the Old Series of this journal, and therefore it is ad- 

 visable to confine the occasions for controversy within as narrow 

 bounds as practicable, and endeavour to avoid a renewal of the 

 unpleasant reminiscences of the years that are past. 



We have another word to say to our correspondents before 



