I860.] REVIEWS. 151 



Britisli Flora.^ Few botanists could in this matter have done so 

 well as our author, and we do not doubt that this portion of his 

 book will be gratefully appreciated by many country botanists, 

 who do not care to procure tAvo or three extra volumes, when 

 they thought that one would be sufficient to initiate them into 

 the study. 



Contrary to the practice usually followed, no brands or marks 

 of foreign origin are affixed to the suspected plants, though due 

 notice is taken of their claims when treating of the stations and 

 range of each species. G. 



A Sketch of the Natural History of Brighton and its Vicinity. 

 By Mrs. Merrifield. Brighton : W. Pearce, 1860. 



The authoi', in her preface, states that it was not her aim to 

 " give a history of the different natural productions of this dis- 

 trict, but merely to indicate the species, both vegetable and 

 animal, which have been found here.^^ It is an extensive sub- 

 ject, and would form abundant materials for at least a dozen of 

 volumes, if treated with historical and descriptive detail. This, 

 however, was not the intention of the fair compiler, and she has 

 eAdnced a sound discretion in confining her work within mode- 

 rate bounds. Students in any one department or in several of 

 the branches of natural science, provide themselves with manuals 

 on the distinct and independent divisions which in their totality 

 constitute what is called Natural History. These embrace a 

 larger area, and are more comprehensive in the information they 

 afford, than what is to be expected in a sketch which combines 

 the substance of the whole range of the natural history of the 

 British Isles. 



The county of Sussex contains at least two- thirds of the 

 species contained in the Fauna and Flora of Great Britain. 

 The vicinity of Brighton probably contains three-fourths of the 

 natural objects which are found in the entire county. Hence it 

 may be inferred that the naturalist who has collected, examined, 

 and arranged the subjects of any one of the departments em- 

 braced in this sketch of the Natural History of Brighton and 

 its vicinity, has attained a not inconsiderable insight into that 

 particular branch of natural science. 



