[June, 1861.] 161 



List of Local Botanists. No. 1 . 



Our readers are indebted to the obliging and active Secretary 

 of the Todmorden Botanical Society for the list of Lancashire 

 and Yorkshire botanists published in this number of the ' Phy- 

 tologist/ This is only a small portion of the names and ad- 

 dresses kindly furnished : the remainder will appear on a future 

 occasion. The Editor desires that all other botanists, willing to 

 assist in completing the list, will communicate with him direct, 

 and thus save Mr. Stansfield the trouble of applying for permis- 

 sion and of transmitting the names. 



To our obliging correspondents in Alnwick, Perth, and Sy- 

 denham, our kind acknowledgment of their zeal and goodness is 

 due, and our thanks are hereby gratefully tendered. 



The catholic principles on Avhich the Todmorden Botanical 

 Society is established, *and the energetic efibrts of its members 

 to render science subservient to the noblest and best interests of 

 mankind, have been warmly commended in these pages ; and the 

 example of their readiness in offering to aid strangers who, for 

 botanical purposes, may visit their respective localities, is pro- 

 posed for imitation by their more southern brethren. 



We again beg to submit to the notice of all our readers that 

 an eminent and dignified station, in the domains of science, will 

 be accorded, not to those who know most, but to the men who 

 make the best use of what they know, or by helping the weaker 

 members of the brotherhood, not by eagerness to show their 

 own superiority. 



Our botanical creed is a short one, and soon said, but it is of 

 a very comprehensive character. Our readers do not, after 

 having had it expounded, both by word and work for seven 

 years, need that it should be restated. But we propose one for 

 those who are not able, out of the discordant principles now 

 prevalent, to compile their confession of phytological faith. 

 They need not swear allegiance to Linnseus, nor to the doctrines 

 of his school. They may adopt the system of Jussieu or of 

 De CandoUe, or that of any of the great scientific notabilities of 

 modern times. They need neither be splitters nor lumpers, as 

 the two prevailing sects of British botanists are now, not very 

 elegantly nor courteously, designated. The sole article we 

 should propose as a test of a real, not a pseudo-botanist, is this, 



N. S, VOL. V. Y 



