278 REVIEWS. [Septembe?', 



for the information of Britisli botanists. It has already been 

 observed that there is a great resemblance between the plants of 

 the two kingdoms. 



In conclusion, it only remains for us to inform our readers 

 that this manual of the plants of Belgium is the beau ideal of a 

 local or national Flora. It is comprehensive^ concise, clear, and 

 simple. Beginners, whether young or old^ will find everything 

 in it necessary for the successful prosecution of the study. They 

 will require no other book for the first or second season of their 

 botanical researches. There is contained within a small space a 

 large amount of valuable information. The definitions hold the 

 juste milieu between prolixity and obscurity. No praise should 

 be awarded to a French author for precision and clearness, for 

 these are only the national characteristics both of the writers and 

 of their language and proper diction. Ce n'est pas clair, ce n'est 

 pas franqais, is a maxim applicable to this language, par ex- 

 cellence, or kut' €^o')(r]v, as a Greek would express it. The 

 French excel all other authors in epitomizing, in giving a dis- 

 tinct outline or a clear notion of a subject. Our author has 

 both well and wisely executed his task, and he wiU doubtless 

 receive the gratitude of his compatriots, and, we hope, also better 

 proofs of their obligations than such praise, honest though it be, 

 as he is invited to accept from the candid reviewer of his valu- 

 able work. 



The Natural History Review. January, 1860. London : 

 Williams and Norgate. 



In this number of the Review there appears a notice, and also 

 long extracts from a valuable publication on the Meteorology of 

 Swaffham Bulbeck, a village and parish seven miles east-north- 

 east of Cambridge, by the Rev. Leonard Jenyns, M.A., a work 

 which appears to be a valuable contribution to our knowledge of 

 climate. It is to be hoped that clergymen in other and distant 

 parts of the kingdom will follow Mr. Jenyns's good example in 

 publishing the result of their observations on this subject. 



When the popular notions about the influence which the moon 

 exerts on the weather, is considered, it may be admitted that 

 more information about the vicissitudes of cold and heat, rainy 



