20 ADDRESS OF THE EDITOR. [January, 



if at their usual employment,) and who would think it an honour 

 to have their names printed in the ' Phytologist/ is with us a 

 special desideratum. 



During the time that this Address has been in hand, we have 

 been favoured with more than one communication, convincing us 

 that our humble efforts in the educational line have not been alto- 

 gether unappreciated, nor totally unproductive. A zealous north- 

 country correspondent, a veteran it is believed, like ourselves, has 

 hunted up his botanical friends on the eastern borders, and has sent 

 us a brace if not a leash to put in our botanical game-bag. What 

 is still more gratifying, we have received from the same district a 

 paper on local botany, drawn up by a youth, who will not be of- 

 fended to be described as a tyro, for he is in the strictest sense 

 in static pupillari ; but his knowledge, diction, and good sense, 

 would be creditable to some who are probably older than his 

 grandfather. He has read his ' Phytologist ' to good purpose, 

 and the fruits of his reading have appeared after not many years. 



It is by the united efforts of local botanists alone that the 

 Flora, of even a small kingdom like Britain, can be successfully 

 investigated. The ' Cybele,^ which is a collection and condensa- 

 tion of many of the facts known at the times when the several 

 volumes of the series were issued, is also a fair proof that science 

 or knowledge is continually progressive while books remain sta- 

 tionary. There are many facts now well-known about the British 

 plants, their history, area, census, habitats, climatic peculiarities, 

 etc., which were not discovered when the publication of this use- 

 ful work was begun, and it may be added since its conclusion. 

 A continuous work alone is the proper depository of such dis- 

 coveries. 



No recorder or reporter of fresh facts illustrative of the Phy- 

 tology of the British Isles will be deterred from communicating 

 his observations and the result of his experience by the super- 

 ciliousness and repulsiveness of the Editor, nor alienated by his 

 dictatorial demeanour. 



It is unquestionable that the ' Phytologist ' is the only work 

 that comprehends and continues the history of the British species 

 in recent times, and it must be the only source from which the 

 future historians of our Flora can draw their materials, and hence 

 the importance of enlisting into the ranks of its supporters all 

 the active, fresh, youthful botanical energy of the country. 



